On Sunday 9th February 2025, I was invited to join the Projections in Time panel since I worked on ‘Doctor Who’ in the summer of 1984 .
An email arrived with this wonderful invitation:
“Over the last few years, I have been part of a team at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, organising screenings based around a number of television series, but the most popular and regular of these events have been based around Doctor Who.”
“In conjunction with the Doctor Who Appreciation Society, the next event at will be a screening celebrating Vengeance on Varos, a Doctor Who story made in the studio at BBC Television Centre.
The story will be shown, followed by Q&As, as well as a photo studio session, in which fans can have a photo with the guests, and an autograph session. So far, Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, Nabil Shaban, Gerladine Alexander, Stephen Yardley and Forbes Collins will be joining us. You can buy tickets here.
“I always do my best to include crew at these events as I think they have more of an overall impression.” Apparently those on the production team have been very popular and do well at the autograph table. I’ve been thinking up some stories.
Sophie Neville working on the set of Doctor Who in TC6 with Nibil Shaban, Martin Jarvis and Forbes Collins
Below is a plan of the day after, lunch for the guests, with two panels of guests.
“At the autograph table we’ll provide photos to sign, although attendees normally bring their own items. There are normally a handful of posters of the event, which we ask all of the guests to sign, which are then sold for charity.”
The story was recently re-released on a Bluray – with studio footage.
In 1983, I worked for the director Andrew Morgan on the BBC adaptation of Arthur Ransome’s books ‘Coot Club’ and ‘The Big Six’ that was screened under the title ‘Swallows and Amazons Forever!’ and is now available on DVD.
Swallows And Amazons Forever! (Coot Club & The Big Six) SPECIAL EDITION [DVD]
Andrew cast Colin Baker as Doctor Dudgeon. I had found Henry Dimbleby to play his son Tom Dudgeon, the hero of the story.
Colin Baker as Doctor Dudgeon in ‘Coot Club’ – photo Sophie Neville
I also took this photo, below, of Patrick Troughton who played Harry Bangate the eel man in in ‘The Big Six’.
Patrick Troughton playing Harry Bangate the eel man in ‘The Big Six’ – photo Sophie Neville
Many of those working on our crew worked on episodes of Doctor Who at some stage, including Di Brookes, Liz Mace and the sound recordist Colin March. I have written about the Doctor Who connection here. Having read Andrew Morgan’s memoir, I remember that Colin found out that he’d been offered the part of The Doctor while he was with us on location in Norfolk. He was thrilled.
Assistant Make-up Designer Penny Fergusson with John Woodvine who played PC Tedder in ‘Coot Club’, having appeared in ‘Doctor Who’
If we could promise a big enough audience, I could ask if Riverside Studios would host a similar event celebrating ‘Swallows and Amazons Forever!’ Please let me know if you’d be interested in coming in the comments below. I’ll ask Colin Baker if he could come when I see him on 9th February.
Those who played Time Lords had other incarnations. As a researcher, I invited Peter Davidson to sing on the chat show Russell Harty’s Christmas Party, which was fun, and appeared with Tom Baker in Sherlock Holmes. He was brilliant in that role. I wore rather a tight corset.
Sophie Neville with Tom Baker in ‘Sherlock Holmes’
You can read more about the adventures I had working in film and television in ‘Funnily Enough’, now also available on audible.
Funnily Enough – the paperback with black and white illustrations
“The smell is just the same.” Suzanna Hamilton began rowing me across Coniston Water from Bank Ground Farm, taking us back to childhood days.
“It sounds the same.” The colours, the landscape, the feeling of being out on the water was still magical.
Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville at Coniston Water in the Lake District
As girls, Suzanna and I had appeared as Mate Susan and Able seaman Titty in Richard Pilbrow’s original film of Swallows and Amazons, adapted by David Wood and released in cinemas on 4th April 1974. It starred Dame Virginia McKenna and Ronald Fraser but it was the two of us who were invited to return to the film locations in 2003 to be interviewed by Ben Fogle for an episode of the long-running BBC series Country File. Thanks to sunshiny weather and the support of Geraint and Helen Lewis, his report proved so successful that it was repeated on Country Tracks and featured in the series Big Screen Britain alongside iconic landscape movies such as The Dam Busters and Whistle Down the Wind.
We had been talking about swimming off Peel Island soon after we began filming Swallows and Amazons in the Lake District in May 1973. The director, Claude Whatham, was fresh from making a BAFTA nominated adaptation of Cider With Rosie when he cast Sten Grendon as young Laurie Lee, and the rock-and-roll movie That’ll Be The Day starring David Essex and Ringo Starr. Although happy out on the water, he knew little about boats. The producer, Richard Pilbrow, had insisted on finding children who could sail well rather than audition young actors and teach them to sail, and advertised the opportunity in sailing clubs. This was pivotal. Simon West (who played John), Kit Seymour (Nancy) and Lesley Bennett (Peggy) all had experience with a natural feeling for the wind and emanated confidence. They were only given a couple of days to get used to sailing the little boats used as Swallow and Amazon before filming began and yet their skill ended up making the film a classic.
Farewell and adieu to you fair Spanish ladies
We had instruction from a sailing director in the form of a good looking actor called David Blagden. He’d recently crossed the Atlantic in a nineteen foot yacht called Willing Griffin but was unfamiliar with blustery Lakeland winds and did not know how to break down a script. Simon, aged eleven, ended up explaining to Claude how to get a decent shot. Suzanna took her lead from him and I clung to the gunwales, trying hard not to shiver in a costume designed by Emma Porteous that consisted of no more than a short yellow dress and enormous pair of navy blue gym knickers.
It was unusual for a movie to feature so many scenes set in two small boats. Mike Turk, whose family had been building boats since 1295, and Nick Newby of Nicol End Marine on Derwentwater, took up the challenge of constructing Claude a cross-shaped pontoon to act as a mobile camera mount so that our dialogue could be captured. This extraordinary vessel had two outboards but wasn’t easy to handle. The dinghies were wired to it with underwater cables but tended to pull away. The base to Swallow’s mast broke, proving safety was an issue, but the idea eventually worked.
Richard Pilbrow and his film crew on the camera pontoon
A grey punt was also used. I remember Simon West towing it as he rowed us into Rio. It was easy to transport from one lake to another but must have been tippy. Somehow David Cadwallader, the grip, managed to keep the horizon horizontal using no more than a spirit level. Shadows were lifted from our faces by using huge reflector boards apt to catch the wind. It must have been impossible to use filler lights out on the water, although they somehow managed to power a number of sets on Peel Island.
Sophie Neville in the Amazon with DOP Denis Lewiston, his 16mm camera and a reflector board ~ photo: Martin Neville
Richard Pilbrow kindly sent me Swallow’s pennant from his home in America. Unlike Ransome’s original sketch of the crossed flags, the bird flies away from the mast, which is technically incorrect, but I was thrilled to receive the genuine film prop used in vision. If you look closely you can see some of the stitches I made whilst in conversation with Mother, played by Virginia McKenna.
It would have been good if Swallow’s hull had been painted white in line with illustrations in the books. Her varnished planks are a nod to the 1970’s when everyone was busy stripping pine, but the important detail is that she has a keel rather than a centerboard. It makes her difficult to turn, and markedly slower than Amazon, but grants her stability. This feature may have saved us when we really did just miss colliding with the MV Tern on Windermere, which alarmed my father who was on the Tern’s deck. He knew how difficult Swallow would be to turn with the larger vessel taking our wind. We were fully laden with camping gear and yet totally lacking buoyancy of any kind.
Simon West as Captain John sailing Swallow. Sten Grendon plays the Boy Roger
One secret of filming Swallows and Amazons is that it was set on four different lakes, a smelly lily pond that served as Octopus Lagoon, and Mrs Batty’s barn where night sailing sequences were shot with Swallow mounted on a cradle. One challenging scene was when the Swallows were cast off from Wild Cat Island to sail north to the Amazon River, leaving Titty behind to light the lanterns. I slipped underwater whilst pushing her free of branches overhanging the landing place but regained my footing and waved them off. Simon caught ‘a fair wind’ but the boom swung so far out that Suzanna held the mainsheet by the figure-of-eight knot and Swallow sped up Coniston Water like a ‘pea in a peashooter’, as Ransome wrote in Winter Holiday. A gust hit them broadside as they cleared the island and Swallow gybed, but Simon calmly stood to catch the boom, scarified the wind and took her on up the lake. Watching the sequence still brings tears to my eyes.
Simon West and Suzanna Hamilton at the helm of Swallow with Stephen Grendon in the bows, while Sophie Neville looks on from the shore of Peel Island
No one had given much consideration to the rowing involved in the story. Built as a run-about boat by William King of Burnham-on-Crouch, Swallow has two sets of rowlocks but it was tricky to keep time when she was wired to the camera pontoon. The first scene attempted was when the Boy Roger and I had to row her back from the charcoal burners with Susan at the tiller.
Sophie Neville as Titty and Stephen Grendon as Roger rowing to Cormorant Island
We rowed again on Derwentwater, making our way out to Cormorant Island to look for the treasure. It took everything in me, but I later managed to row Amazon out of Secret Harbour in one take at the end of a long day filming. The action was repeated with Denis Lewiston, the lighting-cameraman, and his 35mm Panavision camera in the stern. Cold, with wet feet, I completed the scene but had to be carried ashore by a frogman acting as the safety officer. Titty later anchors Amazon off Cormorant Island on Derwentwater, but the shot of her wrapped in the sail, sleeping aboard, was taken in the darkened barn at Bank Ground Farm. The fishing scenes were recorded on Elterwater with Swallow moored near the reedbeds.
Sophie Neville as Titty and Simon West as John
My one regret is that we didn’t follow the book when sailing the captured Amazon back to Wild Cat Island. The wind was up and Claude Whatham needed Simon to sail Swallow ahead of the Amazon which was lashed to the pontoon. I originally took the tiller as Titty is urged to in the story, but had trouble with the rudder and Susan is at the helm on the cover of the paperbacks brought out to accompany the film and a DVD distributed by the Daily Mail.
I was somewhat surprised to see Swallow outside Elstree Studios where we went to post-sync the film. They set up a tank on the sound stage so that Bill Rowe, the dubbing editor who was to win an Oscar for The Last Emperor, could capture the sounds so taken for granted and yet so evocative of handling wooden boats. I was concerned that she’d been given away (and she nearly was) but, as Richard Pilbrow made plans to adapt other Ransome books, she was sent to Mike Turk’s warehouse in Twickenham and stored with maritime props such as the Grand Turk, a replica of HMS Indefatigable, built in 1996 in Turkey for Hornblower.
When Mike’s collection was eventually auctioned in 2010 I was alerted, first by my father, then by Magnus Smith. We found Swallow’s details online, took one look at the photos and clubbed together to purchase her, launching SailRansome at the 2011 London Boat Show. The idea that others could go out in her with an experienced skipper was greeted by John McCarthy who recorded the sounds of sailing Swallow for Paddling With Peter Duck, his programme made for BBC Radio 4.
Peter Willis in the Nancy Blackett with John McCarthy
The Arthur Ransome Society now own both historic dinghies. Rupert Maas valued Swallow highly when she appeared on BBC Antiques Roadshow in 2021.Everyone gasped but her true worth is akin to Captain Flint’s hidden treasure: instead of gold ingots his trunk contained precious memories that no doubt kept him on course when the storms of life blew in. Just as Arthur Ransome’s books grant us solace, my prayer is that many will be able to grab the chance of sailing the little boats that take us into the stories immortalized on film so long ago.
Back in 1974, none of us knew that Amazon had been used in the BBC adaptation of Swallows and Amazons made just eleven years previously and broadcast in 1963. I met the White family when they brought Amazon from Kent to Cumbria to feature in Country File. Ben Fogle had found their twin daughters on Peel Island, looking very much like Nancy and Peggy in damp bathing costumes having been swimming in the lake. It has been extremely generous of them to enable other families to sail such a precious boat.
Not so very long ago, a few TARS joined me at Keswick for a talk and screening of Swallows and Amazons at the Alhambra cinema when we grabbed the chance to go aboard the Lady Derwentwater. Nick Newby explained how she had been decommissioned in 1973 to appear as Captain Flint’s houseboat. Her temporary conversion was overseen by Ian Whittaker, the set dresser who went on to be nominated for a number of awards and won an Oscar in 1993 for his work on Howard’s End. The Lady Derwentwater has since been given a new stern but is in good shape, back in her role as a passenger launch.
The mfp Vinyl LP of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ with Sophie Neville and Simon West bringing Swallow into her harbour
Arthur Ransome was taught to sail on Coniston Water by the Collingwoods in a boat they kept below Lane Head, now known as Swallow I. People often ask if the original Swallow II, a sea-going dingy with a standing lugsail built by William Crossfield, and sailed by the Ransomes, is still around. After being kept on a mooring in Bowness Bay, where she was looked after by a boatman called John Walker, she was sold in September 1935 and sadly ‘vanished without a trace’.
The Amazon, originally named Mavis, and also sailed by the Altounyan family, now resides in the John Ruskin Museum at Coniston where she can be visited much like a great aunt. Ransome’s dinghy Coch-y-bonddhu or Cocky, the model for Scarab in his books, restored and owned by TARS, is on display at Windermere Jetty, the museum where the fourteen foot RNSA dinghies used in the 2016 movie of Swallows and Amazons have been moored. A few of the steamboats used to dress the scenes set at Bowness-on-Windermere or Rio in 1973, such as Osprey and George Pattinson’s launch Lady Elizabeth, may be in residence. They are currently restoring the SL Esperance used by Ransome as his model for the houseboat.
In 1983, I worked behind-the-scenes on the BBC drama serial of Coot Club and The Big Six (and wrote Extras for the DVD titled Swallows and Amazons Forever!) We spent three months filming on the Broads, using the four-berth gaff sloop Lullaby to play the Teasel, a vintage dinghy for Titmouse and a punt for Tom Dudgeon’s Dreadnaught. They have all been kept at Hunter’s Yard, near Ludham in Norfolk where you can hire classic boats. While exploring the Broads you can track down the Death and Glory, Janca, used to play the Hullabaloo’s Margoletta, and the wherry Albion used for Sir Garnet along with yachts like Pippa that were also featured in the serial. Hopefully, Arthur Ransome’s ‘good little ship’ the Nancy Blackett, bought with his ‘Spanish gold’ or royalties, will one day star as Goblin in a film adaptation of We Didn’t Mean To Go To Sea. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?
Arnaldo Putzu’s poster for the EMI film Swallows and Amazons (1974)
Half a century has passed since the original film Swallows and Amazons first came out in cinemas, the good little ships featured sailing improably on the poster. Thanks go to Magnus Smith, Rob Boden, Diana Wright, Marc Grimston, and all those who have looked after and lovingly restored the inspirational boats that appeared in the movie. They mean so much to so many. Three million cheers to those at The Arthur Ransome Society who are working with Hunters Yard in Ludham to make both little ships available for hire in 2025 .
Amazon will soon be available to hire at Hunter’s Yard, Ludham
If all goes to plan, you will be able to take them out. When you do, smell the freshness for me. Stroke the varnish, take in the feel of the ropes, the weight of the oars. It may be chilly, but that too is part of the experience of liaising with old boats out on the water.
Sophie Neville and Sten Grendon in Swallows and Amazons 1974
When I played Titty Walker in 1973, I tried to capture something of the style of the 1920s and portray her as the nine year-old girl in the illustrations Arthur Ransome’s drew in his book Swallows and Amazons. Although I shared the Scots/Irish/English ancestry of Titty Altounyan, a real little girl who the character had been based on, I lacked her Armenian heritage and dark, bobbed hair. However, Mrs Ransome had insisted that in the film Titty was to be played by ‘an English Rose’. Dame Virginia McKenna had accepted the part of our mother, who grew up in Australia, it seemed right that one of her children might have fair hair.
Virginia McKenna and Sophie Neville on Peel Island ~ photo: Daphne Neville
My Scottish grandmother would have been aged sixteen in 1929. She loved clothes and had great style. People say that I look like my mother but I bear a greater resemblance to Granny in her youth.
I’d inherited my father’s long legs, which made me a couple of inches taller than Simon West who played my elder brother, John. Since this would clearly look wrong on screen, I was encouraged to devise ways of disguising my height, but this was difficult to do in boats.
Sophie Neville as Titty and Simon West as John
We often had to sit on the ground in Swallows and Amazons. The long legs needed to be folded up, exposed as they were by the short dresses or divided skirts designed by Emma Porteous.
Sophie Neville as Titty
I remember meeting Emma at a fitting at Angels Costumes on Shaftesbury Avenue in London when I tried on the original silk dress worn for our arrival at Holly Howe. It came with a straw hat similar to one I’d worn as a child.
Simon West, Stephen Grendon, Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville as the Walker children dressed as they arrived at Holly Howe at the start of their holiday in the Lake District ~ photo: Daphne Neville
I had no idea how well known Emma Porteous was to become. She designed the costumes for the James Bond movies, along with Aliens and Judge Dread. Finding the boy’s school uniforms must have been a bit dull for one so talented but she found elegant vintage dresses for Dame Virginia McKenna who looks elegant in every scene.
Stephen Grendon, Simon West, Virginia McKenna, Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville, trying not to look as tall as she was in 1973 ~ photo: Daphne Neville
Emma had most of my clothes made up for me. These included a brushed cotton nighty, worn at Holly Howe, pajamas for camping, and a swimming costume with little legs. Mine was far from glamorous being red, wooly and apt to ride up in the most unflattering manner. I was given a smart yellow coat to wear in the train, but it was too hot in the compartment and, although pretty, it was never seen in the finished film. It had buttons in the shape of flowers and may have been an original garment from 1929.
Sten Grendon, Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville
The silk dress revealed my ‘passion killers’. These navy blue elasticated gym knickers were an item of clothing requested by Claude Whatham, the film director, who remembered wearing long underwear himself. He insisted that I tucked my dress into these voluminous knickers, which the crew called ‘passion killers.’ This seemed natural as it was common practice. I’d done it myself, as had the Altounyan girls, but the tucking in became difficult to maintain and my legs were too gangly to warrant exposure. The knickers contained a hanky, used on two occasions. Growing up in the 1960’s – with a Scottish grandmother – I’d keep a hanky in my own over-knickers so found this quite natural. Even aged eleven my school uniform listed gym knickers (brown) and underpants.
Sophie Neville as Titty in 1973
Emma admitted to my mother that the dresses she’d had made for me would have been longer in 1929. She chose shorter, ‘out-grown’ hemlines as a nod to ‘Seventies fashion but these made my skinny legs look even more alarming.
Mum liked the pale yellow dress with scalloped detail. I didn’t then, but do now, although I don’t have the right colouring wear either yellow or green.
Simon West and Sophie Neville on Peel Island in 1973
By the time I was pretending to be Robinson Crusoe, the yellow dress had been paired with a grey cardigan buttoned up to my neck for warmth. The quality of the material gave it a more natural, scruffy look than the white spotty dress with a Peter Pan collar. This looked a bit new for Titty, although it was much like the dresses Granny made for me, by hand, when I was aged nine. There was a little bit of smocking below the shoulders. I rather preferred Susan’s low-waisted gingham dress.
Simon West, Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville
Did anyone find jackets for us to wear out on the water? No! We froze but the flimsy costumes we wore sailing to the island do give them impression of an idyllic summer holiday.
Sophie Neville, Suzanna Hamilton and Simon West sailing Swallow in 1973
Emma only ever made one visit to the location, early on when Dame Virginia McKenna was on set. Our clothes were looked after by the wardrobe master Terry Smith who kept them crumpled up in suitcases rather than on a costume rail. He had no assistant or dressers except for my mother who helped him fit the film extras with costumes and had me wriggling into mine.
Wardrobe Master Terry Smith with Sophie Neville and her mother Daphne Neville outside the Make-up caravan on location near Keswick in Cumbria
Apart from the school shoes I arrived in, we wore white(ish) gym shoes, which were forever getting wet. I would have preferred gumboots but the Swallows wore ‘sand shoes’ in all the books, so that was that. Terry dried them with the help of a gas heater, which once leaked dangerously in the Routemaster bus that was used as our dressing room. There could have been an explosion.
Sophie Neville as Titty Walker
People often ask what my favourite costume was. This undoubtedly consisted of the floral blouse and dark divided skirt, which equated with the illustrations in the books. I went to such an old-fashioned convent so was used to wearing a tailored divided skirt on the school games field and found it always hung well. Mum buttoned up the collar so that I could wear a vest underneath when we were sailing. It was in this Tomboy-ish outfit that I discovered the treasure and bordered the houseboat. Ultimately this style sold the movie, although my blouse was painted an alarming shade of pink on the film poster designed by Arnaldo Putzu. I got away lightly. He depicted Virginia McKenna in orange.
Sophie Neville in ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (1974) by the film poster artist Arnaldo Putzu
I was asked recently if I was able to keep any of my costumes. I was told they would be used in other films and wonder if they could still be at Angels Costumes.
I do still have the dress I wore to the premier, along with a pink gingham prairie dress that my mother wore to the wrap party that has shot back into fashion.
The Neville girls off to the premier of Swallows and Amazons in 1974
My mother wore Donny Osmond caps on location. One of these sunk to the bottom of Derwentwater, but I wear a purple velvet one of the era. It should probably be on display at the V&A but I find it useful in the rain. The film producer, Richard Pilbrow, sent me Swallow’s flag. It is the very best of accessories anyone could wish for.
The navy blue woolen hat that I wore to the original sailing audition has been attacked by moths but was stuffed into a cupboard with other memorabilia from the film. I’ll bring as much as I can along to Windermere Jetty for the 50th Anniversary of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on 29th and 30th June 2024. Join us there if you can.
10.00am – The exhibition at Windermere Jetty opens. See Arthur Ransome’s dinghy Scarab, Swallow and Amazon from the 1974 film along with Titmouse from the BBC serial of Coot Club and other interesting boats.
There will be a display of 1974 movie memorabilia.
The Altounyan family hope to bring the original Amazon once called Mavis.
Enjoy the Swallows and Amazons lakeside camp and knot tying.
10.30am – Heritage boat trips on the steamboats Osprey and either Lady Elizabeth or Penelope who appeared in the Rio scenes. (This is at an extra cost)
10:30am – Film screening of Swallows and Amazons (1974)
5:00 pm – final showing of film Swallows and Amazons (1974)
Strolling Singers will perform as and when the mood takes them
6:30pm Close
The film crew of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ wait with Swallow at the end of the jetty while Simon West, Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville line up by the launch
10.00am – The exhibition at Windermere Jetty opens. See Arthur Ransome’s dinghy Scarab, Swallow and Amazon from the 1974 film along with Titmouse from the BBC serial of Coot Club.
The Altounyan family hope to bring the original Amazon once called Mavis.
There will be a display of 1974 movie memorabilia, a Swallows and Amazons camp and activities for children.
10.30am – Heritage boat trips on the steamboats Osprey and either Lady Elizabeth or Penelope who appeared in the Rio scenes. (This is at an extra cost)
Richard Pilbrow told me that the most difficult thing he ever had to do was to persuade Mrs Ransome to grant him the rights to make ‘Swallows and Amazons’ into a movie.
But he did. He found funding from EMI Films and asked Dame Virginia McKenna to play Mother.
Virginia McKenna at Bank Ground Farm in 1973 ~ photo: Daphne Neville
Neville Thompson put together a great crew
Second Assistant Terry Needham, Associate Producer Neville C Thompson and Production Manager Graham Ford with the unit motoroller on a sunny day in June 1973
with Denis Lewiston as DoP,
Dennis Lewiston, director of Photography on ‘Swallows and Amazons’ ~photo:Richard Pilbrow
the Oscar winning set dresser Ian Whittaker,
The local fisherman, Ian Whittaker, Simon Holland and Gareth Tandy ~ photo: Daphne Neville
and the avant guard director Claude Whatham fresh from making ‘That’ll Be the Day’ with David Essex and Ringo Starr.
Claude Whatham with the children he eventually cast as the Swallows
Filming on location in the Lake District wasn’t easy.
Producer Richard Pilbrow and Production Associate Neville C Thompson on Derwentwater in the Lake District in 1973
How they lit the scenes on Peel Island I do not know.
Dame Virginia McKenna as Mother with Sophie Neville as Titty WalkerKit Seymour with Claude Whatham, 1973
It rained so hard that Simon Holland had to order black drapes from Pinewood Studios so they could shoot the night scenes in Mrs Batty’s dusty barn.
Sophie Neville as Titty
But the film worked because Richard had insisted that the children playing the lead characters could sail.
Filming Swallows and Amazons (1974) from a camera pontoon
The film didn’t make much at the box office but it worked well on television.
Sophie Neville as Titty Walker in the ITV trailer for the movie of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ when it was first shown on television in 1977
I’m told it has been broadcast more than any other British Film. Having a U certificate it has allowed many parents a lie-in on Sunday mornings.
Simon West, Sophie Neville, Suzanna Hamilton and Sten Grendon in Secret Harbour
Families assure me that they have watched the VHS or DVD thirty times or more. StudioCanal remastered it for cinemascope Blu-ray and we filled the big northern cinemas.
Sophie Neville with Suzanna Hamilton
The good news is that, fifty years after the premier in Shaftesbury Avenue,
Sophie Neville and Suzanna Hamilton with Ronald Fraser in Swallows and Amazons
we are restoring the dinghies: Swallow and Amazon for families to sail.
I wrote up the diary I kept on location as a twelve year-old. Richard sent me the flags.
Different editions of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974) by Sophie Neville’
At the 50th Anniversary celebrations this April a man in the audience stood up to say that as a young doctor, he was working at a hospital on Good Friday. As he walked around he found peace in every ward, sick children snuggled up and happy. They were all watching ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on television. Richard’s gift.
Arnaldo Putzu’s poster for the EMI film Swallows and Amazons (1974)
Richard and Molly’s dream became an inspiration to many.
Molly and Richard Pilbrow in 1973
Here you can see Richard and Molly with Claude Whatham, Neville, Fred, Abigail, Suzanna Hamilton and me at the sailing audition held in Burnham-on- Crouch. Simon West who was cast as Captain John went on to win the Optimist British Championships and represented the UK overseas.
Richard and Molly Pilbrow, Claude Watham, Fred Pilbrow, Sophie Neville, Suzanna Hamilton, Abigail Pilbrow
The original film ‘Swallows & Amazons’ was first screened at a preview in London on 31st March 1974.
Brian Doyle, the film publicist, noted it in his diary. This was sent to me by his daughter, Pandora Doyle, who was taken along with her mother Jo and friend Alison.
The cast of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ either joined them there or at an afternoon press screening on 2nd April. We certainly went to one preview. It utterly amazed us. We had not remembered the Lake District being so sunny.
The premiere was also held at the ABC cinema in Shaftesbury Avenue, London, at a Royal Gala Premier on 4th April 1974.
The film has since been dubbed into at least eight different languages and screened all over the world. A number of different titles have been used from ‘Svaler og Amasoner’ to ‘El Capitan Pirata’.
They do not provide a release date for the Czech Republic, but it has been dubbed into Czech twice and is popular there. You can easily buy copies of the French version
Caught shrieking on the cover of the French DVD of ‘Swallows and Amazons'(1974)
It is now screening on Netflix Europe and Amazon Prime.
There was a big splash when ‘Swallows & Amazons’ was first screened in Gloucester. Sten Grendon, who appeared as the Boy Roger, and I were taught to swim at the leisure centre there. Chris Maloney, who was awarded an MBE for his part in founding the Special Olympics, began to coach me when I was ten. I’ve been told that he also taught Sophia Loren to swim for ‘The “Goodness Gracious Me” Heiress’.
As we lived locally, Sten and I were asked to attend the first screening at the newly converted triple screen ABC in Gloucester, which was daunting. They were also screening ‘The Sting’ and ‘The Great Gatsby’ that both starred Robert Redford.
Chris Maloney later got Suzanna Hamilton and I jumping off the high board at Gloucester Leisure Centre. She was far braver than I.
On Saturday 6th April at 2.00pm there will be a 50th Anniversary screening of the original film ‘Swallows and Amazons’ followed by a Q&A with cast and crew hosted by Brian Sibley and the screenwriter, David Wood at the Cinema Museum in London. More info and link to ticket sales here.
On Saturday 29th & Sunday 30th June 2024 a Swallows and Amazons Festival is being held at Windermere Jetty Museum near Bowness-on-Windermere in Cumbria hosted by Lakeland Arts and The Arthur Ransome Society. We are hoping that members of the cast and crew will be able to come and share their stories, including Kerry Darbishire (below) who still lives in Cumbria. Now a poet, she appeared in the opening scenes as Vicky’s nurse.
Kerry Darbishire who played Vicky’s nurse in ‘Swallows and Amazons'(1974)
The Arthur Ransome Society is bringing Swallow and Amazon, the dinghies used in the film which they now own, along with Titmouse from ‘Coot Club’. The steamboats Osprey and Lady Elizabeth that appeared in the Rio scene of the 1974 film will be at Windermere Jetty. Hopefully the original Amazon owned by the Altounyan family, and Arthur Ransome’s own dinghy Coch-y-Bonddhu that he used as the model for Scarab will be there with the RNSA dinghies that played Swallow and Amazon in the 2016 movie. There may well be trips on MV Tern and the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway.
Sophie Neville with Titmouse – now beautifully renovated
Saturday 13th July – A screening of Swallows and Amazons (1974) at the Riverside Cinema in Woodbridge, Suffolk.
People who read the paperback on ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’ ask how I could remember what happened on each day in such detail, but I had the diaries I’d kept on location and was able to rewatch the film on my laptop, studying the detail.
Aged twelve, I was a little older than Simon West who played Captain John, so I was able to recall more. He now reckons that having my mother on location with me must have helped as we would have discussed each day at the time and would have naturally chatted about shared experiences. She also took hundreds of behind the scenes photos, along with home movie footage captured on her cine camera.
Daphne Neville with Sophie Neville while filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in Cumbria. Kit Seymour is walking along the jetty in the background.
Fans of the DVDs write in from all over the world offering encouragement: “I was able to catch up on Swallows and Amazons Forever! I’ve only been waiting a lot of decades to watch this. It was fabulous and you embodied Titty. I now need to re-read Ransome’s book and yours.” Suzie Eisfelder, Melbourne, Australia
Once screened in cinemas with ‘The Sting’ and ‘The Great Gatsby’, ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (1974) has been labelled a Vintage Classic. The good thing about this is that the DVD includes an interesting Extras package. Here is one of the original reviews:
David Wood OBE shares an insight into filming one of the most outrageous British films of all time.
Filming If…. is the first written memoir about the cult classic film with rather a short title directed by the talented Lindsay Anderson in 1968. David Wood co-starred as one of the three public school boys, alongside Malcolm McDowell (Mick) and Richard Warwick (Wallace), who led a revolution against authority. This was regarded by many as a metaphor for the social and political situation in the UK.
If…. celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The book contains David’s memories of the personalities involved, the day-to-day challenges, and the reception given to the avant garde film, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. David Wood reflects the brilliance of Lindsay Anderson and his team. With a foreword by Malcolm McDowell and an afterword by George Perry.
Filming If…. has been highly endorsed and enjoyed by many:
“…What a brilliant thing you have done, recalling what it was like beingdirected by the great Lindsay Anderson, and being part of this hugelyimportant film and its dazzling cast.” – Joanna Lumley OBE
“David Wood has written a wonderfully evocative insider’s view of the shooting of one of the best British films ever made.” – Sir Alan Parker
“If…. is a classic movie – I was at the première in 1968 and we all sensed itthen… I’ve a feeling this book’s going to be something of a classic, too.” – Gyles Brandreth
“What are you waiting for? David Wood’s gentle memoir of the film and itslegacy is required, one-sitting reading.” – Total Film Magazine
David Wood went on to write or adapt a huge number of plays, musicals, television programmes and feature films. The first screenplay he wrote was for ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (1974). He wrote to me with stories of working with the audacious Mrs Ransome, which I posted on this website here.
David’s movie ‘Back Home’ won a gold award at the New York Film and Television Festival in 1991. He went on to receive enormous acclaim in the West End, winning an Olivier Award in 2013 for his stage adaptation of ‘Good Night Mr Tom’, and the JM Barrie lifetime achievement award for his contribution to children’s arts in 2017. You can find his website here.
This question is often typed into search engines. Arthur Ransome was living at Low Ludderburn above Windermere when he wrote ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in 1929, setting it on ‘The great lake in the north’. Like me, he undoubtedly did a bit of wondering, and was inspired by many of the locations that can be seen from Windermere, envisaging the island Blake Holme as a model for ‘Wild Cat Island’ and Silver Holme as ‘Cormorant Island’ nearby.
Martin Neville aboard MV Tern on Windermere
The ‘native shipping’ on Windermere was brought to life in the 1974 film when the Swallows narrowly miss hitting the MV Tern.
MV Tern on Windermere was built in 1890 with a steam engine, converted to diesel in the 1950s, and is still operating today.
On the deck of the MV Tern on Windermere in 1973 ~ photo: Martin Neville
It was a tricky sequence to shoot and since Swallow lost her wind in the lee of the steamer she only just managed to turn in time.
You can read more about this near disaster in the diary I kept here
My father’s view of Swallow attached to the camera pontoon from his position on MV Tern ~ photo: Martin Neville
The other big scene was shot at Bowness-on-Windermere, referred to as Rio in the story.
Rio – or Bowness-on-Windermere in 1973
Steamboats such as Osprey and the Lady Elizabeth, who is currently residing at Windermere Jetty museum, appeared in the background.
The film crew of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ wait with Swallow and Stephen Grendon at the end of the jetty while Simon West, Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville line up by the launch
Had we arrived in Rio? Arthur Ransome confirmed this in a letter to a young reader:
When the movie was made in the summer of 1973 the original green boat sheds, featured in Ransome’s sequel ‘Swallowdale’ were captured on film.
Is that the steam launch Osprey moored to the jetty?
Kit Seymour who played Nancy was watching the filming. You can just see the original bandstand with period cars parked in the background.
The bandstand and shelter on Glebe Road were also caught on celluloid, along with the traditional Windermere skiffs. You can see more photos of the filming on this website here.
The Price children, Perry Neville, Jane Grendon, Tamzin Neville and Pandora Doyle in their 1929 costumes on the shore of Lake Windermere at Bowness in 1973
The Swallows in Woodland Road, Windermere in 1973
After buying rope for their lighthouse tree in Woodland Road, the Swallows walk down Church Street past the Stags Head Hotel.
John, Susan and Titty walking down to the jetty
Other scenes were shot nearby, with the film opening on a steam train running along the River Leven on Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway. You can add details about the locations yourself by contributing to the website Reelstreets which logs film locations in the United Kingdom.
Talking to the engine driver on the first day of filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in 1973 (Photo: Daphne Neville)
When Richard Pilbrow, the film producer asked Mrs Ransome to point out more, she claimed the Peak at Darrien could be found on Windermere. She may have been thinking of a headland at Waterhead but in the end the opening titles shot was taken from Friar’s Crag on Derwentwater with the Borrowdale Fells in the background. The secret is that the 1974 film ‘Swallows and Amazons’ was also shot on Coniston Water, Elterwater and a lily pond near Skelworth Fold.
The Kirkstone Foot Hotel, Ambleside in 1973
In real life, Richard based his production office at the Kirkstone Foot Hotel near Ambleside at the northern tip Windermere and it was from here that we practiced sailing Swallow and Amazon in May 1973. Here is a description written by my twelve-year-old self:
Preparing for filming Swallows and Amazons by sailing on Windermere
Virginia McKenna, who starred in the film as Mrs Walker, was accommodated at the Langdale Chase Hotel on the lake. The wrap party was held there to the great excitement of children in the cast. You can see the view on the hotel website here.
Dame Virginia McKenna on Windermere in 1973 – photo: Philip Hatfield
The 40th Anniversary DVD includes an Extras package on the locations and you can read more in ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’, available online in different editions here or direct from The Lutterworth Press.
The original movie ‘Swallows and Amazons'(1974) was filmed mainly on Peel Island on Coniston Water in the southern Lake District. It is here that you find the Secret Harbour described in Arthur Ransome’s books. He explained, ‘no island on Windermere has a harbour quite so good.’
Simon West, Sophie Neville, Suzanna Hamilton and Sten Grendon in Secret Harbour
The BBC Television adaptation of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ made in black and white in 1963, starring Susan George as ‘Kitty’, was also shot at Secret Harbour. The director said he wanted to dynamite some of the rocks, which did not go down well with the Ransomes.
The entrance to Secret Harbour can’t easily be seen from the shore, which of course is what makes it so secret. With the right vessel, you can go there yourself, but it has not been possible to camp or light a fire there since the property was bequeathed to the National Trust in 1932.
StudioCanal have recently made this photo of Captain John available as a print from their website where you will also find the photo of Secret Harbour above.
You can attempt to swim to what is known in the books as Wild Cat Island, but only if you are hardy and used to cold water. I could hardly manage a few strokes.
Falcon with Amazon in Secret Harbour: photo Geraint Lewis
The appearance of the natural harbour changes dramatically depending on the level of the lake. Rocks are revealed as water levels drop. The inlet can attract a number of canoeists but if you arrive early, you should be able to explore the island for yourself.
Sophie Neville (Titty) with Simon West (John) looking down into Secret Harbour
See if you can find the steep rocky cliffs of ‘Wild Cat Island’. Does this shot, above, appear in the original film?
The rocks at the end of Peel Island where the Collingwood family traditionally had picnics
We filmed the ‘Not a breath of wind’ scene on this lookout point to the right of the photo above.
The Swallows on Wild Cat Island
See if you can find this tree that Titty tried to sleep in.
‘Up a tree for fear of ravenous beasts’ ~ photo: Daphne Neville
The shot of Nancy and Peggy surrendering to the Swallows was taken from the lake showing the mossy rocks to the western side of the island.
Lesley Bennett and Kit Seymour as the Amazon pirates dancing with rage on Peel Island
We discovered rocks on the eastern side were easier for collecting water and gutting perch for supper. This shot shows us behind-the-scenes.
Sophie Neville, Suzanna Hamilton, Stephen Grendon, Lesley Bennett and Kit Seymour with David Blagden on Peel Island Coniston
This is the scene that was improvised after Susan showed Roger how to fill the kettle.
The landing place today looks very different to what you see on the film as the shingle beach built up by our art department has all-but washed away.
Simon West as Captain John rowing towards the Landing Place
Claude Whatham and David Bracknell with Swallows, Amazon and the 35mm Panavision camera at the Landing Place on Peel Island – photo Richard Pilbrow.
Arthur Ransome may have had in mind the beach at Low Peel Near on the mainland opposite the island, which would match his illustrations. This is where Houseboat Bay was set in the 2016 adaptation of ‘Swallows and Amazons’. Sponsored by Yorkshire Film, they used Plumpton Rocks in North Yorkshire for the campsite as it has interesting rock formations. You can read more about the locations they used on Visit England’s website here.
The camp site featured in the original film can be found in the middle of Peel Island. The secret here is that a couple more trees were ‘planted’ so that the tents could be strung up in line with descriptions in the book. As children we never knew this but I worked it out on a later visit.
Sophie Neville playing Robinson Crusoe in the movie Swallows and Amazons (1974)
You can see the pine tree next to Captain Nancy is listing to one side in this shot.
One secret was that the night scenes set at the camp site were shot inside Mrs Batty’s barn at Bank Ground Farm.
Sophie Neville as Titty
The art department cleverly set up tents there and lit a real fire.
In 1973 there were no tall pines on Peel Island. A huge effort was made to take a lighthouse tree there, but the scenes ended up being shot on Friar’s Crag on the mainland above Derwentwater.
It was here that the ship’s lantern was hoisted up the tree.
A different location again was used for the lighthouse tree when the Swallows first spot the Amazons as the houseboat needed to be seen beyond them.
Simon West, Suzanna Hamilton, Sophie Neville and Stephen Grendon as the Swallows at the Lookout Point on Wild Cat Island
The secret is that this tree was no more than a log planted by the prop men. You only ever see its base.
The island first spied by the Swallows is Rampsholm on Derwentwater with the Borrowdale Fells rising behind it. It makes an iconic shot for the opening titles..
‘Swallows and Amazons’ 1974
You can also see it in the background of scenes shot near Cormorant Island.
Amazon moored near Cormorant Island on Derwentwater with Rampsholm in the distance
Rampsholm was portrayed as Wild Cat Island in the 2016 film adaptation of Swallows and Amazons produced by Nick Barton. You can see the photos and find out about the locations used on the National Trust website here
Arthur Ransome was also inspired by Blake Holme on Windermere, which he would sail past in Swallow II. It is a small island near the shore where the 1963 BBC drama was filmed but by 1973 it was felt to be too close to the caravan park on the mainland.
The Coniston Launch Company have information on how to visit Peel Island here. Remember that is it located quite far from Coniston and that you can’t camp on the island.
The Gondola on Coniston Water today, re-built and restored by the National Trust and powered by steam.
Sophie Neville 