Film History – Sophie Neville

May I call you Titty?

Sophie Neville rowing to Cormorant Island — Sophie Neville as Titty and Stephen Grendon as Roger rowing to Cormorant Island

Google my name – Sophie Neville – and you will come across rather astonishing newspaper headlines ingrained in the internet’s listing system. They are remarkably popular articles.

Everyone, it seems, wants to know what it is like to be called Titty.

Simon West and Sophie Neville — *Simon West as John and Sophie Neville as Titty on location on Peel Island, 1973*

Titty is not my own name, but I have been known as Titty since 1973, which is quite a time for a girl. It is a titualar title in that I have no power. I can do little more than respond with good humour to those who see me as a living representative of ‘Swallows and Amazons’. Like it or not, letters, emails and messages keep arriving addressed to Titty. They are all wonderful, some so enchanting they have been kept along with the old black and white stills taken on location. I attempt to answer each one.

TITTY WALKER - Swallows and Amazons

Sophie Neville as Titty – a photo montage of put together by a fan of the film

It can be amusing – I found there was a Facebook group called ‘Titty from Swallows & Amazons is one hot cookie.’ When I asked to join the group, all the other members fled. You can see for yourself. It is still there. I am pretty sure they were a group of fashion students – or hope so.

I automatically respond when the name is called and wave back, as I’m sure the Able-seaman would. It is quite fun seeing the reaction of passers-by if children call out ‘Titty!’ when they see me coming, but as one church warden pointed out, ‘At least your real name is not John Prescott.’

What creepy people don’t seem realise is that I can see the words typed into search engines that bring people to my own website. I’ve had some crackers. It was the navy blue gym knickers I wore to play the part of Titty that attracted quite a bit of unfortunate attention. I had to remove a few photographs featuring this particular item of my costume and talk about the green parrot instead. Children often ask if I still have one.

I woke one morning to a comment from Australia alerting me to a peTITTYon in the Daily Telegraph – you could cast your vote online ‘More support for Titty!’ was one cry.

Altounyan Children - Susie, Taqui, Titty (seated) and Roger — *Susie, Taqui, Titty and Roger Altounyan in 1928*

Although Titty Walker is a fictional character, with adventures of her own, she was inspired by a real child known to Arthur Ransome when he was writing ‘Swallows and Amazons’ back in 1929. I have written about her here and have more photos of her on this website. Titty Altounyan’s real name was Norah Mavis Altounyan but she preferred the nickname of Titty. Ransome explained in a note to Miss Joyce Cartmell that ‘Titty is short for Tittymouse which is what she was called when she was a baby. Nobody ever calls her anything but Titty now’. Tittymouse was a character in English folktale Titty Mouse and Tatty Mouse.

If anything, Titty Altounyan lived rather reluctantly with the fame that came along when the novel became a bestseller. Her descendants were upset to hear that the character’s name was changed to Tatty in the 2016 film adaptation of ‘Swallows and Amazons’. Her daughter was tearful about the lack of consultation and her niece outraged. They saw it as ‘history being re-written’. Ransome was a journalist but what he would have thought of the editor of the Guardian coining the ‘Titty Tatty’ story, which others called ‘Tittle-Tattle’ or the ‘Tittygate debate’, I do not know.

I learned that it wasn’t until after 1929, that the word ‘titty’ took on meaning as a mammary gland. The character’s name was changed to Kitty when the BBC made a black and white television serial of the book back in 1962 when Susan George played the part. Ransome was still living in the Lake District at the time. He seemed to accept the name change, but loathed additions to the story-line and the attitude of the director who had wanted to blast rocks from the entrance to Peel Island on Coniston Water. As you can see from an earlier post, I was contracted to play the part of ‘Titania’ in the movie made in 1973, but the name TITTY was typed throughout the screenplay. Mrs Ransome was the script editor.

Simon West and Sophie Neville bring Swallow into the Secret Harbour on Wildcat Island

Simon West as John and Sophie Neville as Titty in Swallow 1973

Ransome’s brilliance was that he made Able-seaman Titty, the little sister into the heroine of ‘Swallows and Amazons’. CS Lewis did the same by making Lucy Pevensie heroine of ‘The Chronicles of Nania’. It is not surprising that most little girls reading the story want to ‘be Titty’. They find the syllables easy to pronounce and don’t give a second thought to an alternative meaning to the name. It is accepted as genuine, and they tend to regard jokers as immature. ‘May I call you Titty?’ one five-year-old asked. What could I say? She knows that her cat has titties on her tummy but that’s not rude and it’s no reason to change the name in her eyes. I am assured that girls in the US don’t bat an eyelid. Boys may snicker at first but are soon swept away by the story.

The voyage really has proved Swallows and Amazons Forever. I warned the cast of the new movie that they were in for the long-haul – but it’s a voyage that I am sure will prove both amusing and delightful. Swallows & Amazons flags drawn by Sophie Neville The crossed flags my publisher asked me to draw (with permission)

later used on the call sheet of the new movie

You can read about how I came by the part and what it was like to be on location in ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’ now available as an audio book.

The audiobook of 'The Making of Swallows and Amazons' — The new audiobook

Story strips that accompanied the original film ‘Swallows and Amazons’ when it was launched in cinemas in 1974

“The graphic novel version of ‘Swallows and Amazons’?” Not exactly. These illustrations made up a five-part “serialisation strip” or “picture strip” provided for cinemas to include in promotional material advertising screenings of the original movie. They were designed to be, “particularly suitable for running on the Children’s Page of your local newspaper for the five days proceeding the film’s premiere.”

These were distributed in April 1974 along with colour photographs, black and white stills and background information on the characters and the actors who played them. The quotes are quite fun: ‘Ronald Fraser has few illusions about either his face or his dramatic abilities. “…it’s the old hooter that does it you know… I read Swallows and Amazons many years ago as a young rip and seem to remember imagining myself as John, leader of the Swallows. Now it turns out that I’m Uncle Jim after all.”‘

Dame Virginia McKenna said how much she loved the books, explaining that she was on a family holiday in Sardinia when she was offered the part of mrs Walker. Her husband, the film actor Bill Travers, accepted on her behalf, knowing she would love working in the Lake District.

Swallows and Amazons story strip featuring Sophie Neville as Titty

The film director, Claude Whatham was also profiled. He had previously made the movie “That’ll Be The Day” with Ringo Starr and David Essex, which was released in cinemas with an LP featuring pop songs of the 1950s.

The LP that accompanied ‘Swallows and Amazons’ was narrated by David Wood, the screenwriter who had adapted Arthur Ransome’s novel. It is rather wonderful to have a recording of Wilfred Joseph’s iconic score. I was amazed to find pictures of myself on the cover.

Specialist advertising material such as this, being over fifty years old, is both rare and collectable. Four jigsaw puzzles and the Puffin paperback were produced, featuring film stills taken on location by Albert C Clarke.

There were puzzels, such as this maze, along with pictures to colour and “spot the difference” blocks, which you can see on an earlier post on this website. All these ideas were probably generated by our wonderful film publicist Brian Doyle. I’ve written about the preview screenings and his work on an eariler post here.

Brian was on location the entire time we were filming, showing around journalists almost every day. You can read the full account of how we made the film in ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’, which is now available as an audiobook, narrated by me, Sophie Neville.

We had a full house for the last illustrated talk on The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974)

Sophie Neville, who played Titty in the original film ‘Swallows and Amazons’, gave a special talk on what is was like to take the lead part in a feature film at the Museum of Carpet in Kidderminster, on Saturday 21st February.

Richard Pilbrow, who produced the original film ‘Swallows and Amazons’ had been married to Vicky Brinton whose family donated many of the items on display at the former mill, along with a huge poster in the conference room.

Sophie was born in Worcestershire, seven miles from the venue. Her great-grandfather, Canon Hastings Neville, was a curate in Kidderminster and one of his ten sons, the Olympic athlete Dick Neville, pioneered the manufacture of woolen carpets in New Zealand, developing a crossbreed of sheep for the purpose. In 1960, he employed Richard Pugh-Cook who returned to the Midlands and founded the Museum of Carpet thirteen years ago.

About seventy people packed into the conference room to listen to the talk, which enjoyed a great response. “The degree of factual information contained in it is amazing…all those details of 50 years ago conveyed with such clarity and enthusiasm!”

“….such an inspiration to so many people especially younger people who have such different lives these days – another era then, it seems, but one we should not forget.”

“a great success – everyone seemed to have throughly enjoyed your talk, hearing about the other side of filming!”

Sophie signed copies of her books after the talk when she had a chance to meet ‘Swallows and Amazons’ enthusiasts and a little girl hoping to become a film actress. The event was covered in the local news.

Finding the scrapbook I kept whilst filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in 1973

I thought I’d lost it! But, on clearing out our mother’s house, my sister found the cuttings book I kept whilst making the original movie ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in 1973.

It includes a plan of the London double-decker bus where we received rudimentary lessons on location. Three bunkbeds on the top floor were meant to be used so we could rest after lunch. Mum said she forced me to lie down everyday but I can only remember a couple of occasion, once when I was reluctant, once when I was freezing cold after a swimming scene.

We changed into our costumes at the top of that bus, enjoying warmth from a gas stove that leaked rather alarmingly on one day necessitating an evacuation.

The exterior looked liked a conventional Routemaster with added curtains.

Lesley Bennett's photo of the double decker buses at Bank Ground Farm in 1973

Once sitting at my desk, I found my italic fountain pen and began keeping a diary. One version of the first seven days spent in Cumbria is pasted into the scrap book. I later re-wrote a slightly more detailed and interesting version in a couple of notebooks and wrote about how I got the part of Titty, and the filming from different perspectives.

These pages describe the day spent travelling to Ambleside and a couple of days spent getting to know each other along with Dame Virginia McKenna, who played the Swallows’ mother, the producer Richard Pilbrow, David Blagden who was in charge of the sailing and the film director Cluade Whatham.

Encouraged by my mother, we began pasting in newspaper cuttings.

Newspaper cutting published in May 1973 detailing the beginning of filming the original movie 'Swallows and Amazons' in Cumbria

The Times and the Guardian were at Havethwaite Railway Station to take photographs on the first day of filming. The BBC Radio 4 newsreader, Alan Smith, who grew up in Cumbria, was a film extra that day and can be spotted standing in train doorway with his brother. He wrote to me with his memories of the day.

I began adding photos from contact sheets that Albert Clarke, the film’s stills photographer, took of the cast and crew. I wrote about the opening locations here.

There are pages of dictation and a few sketches of the film props. I drew the yellow Austin ‘taxi’ we drove in at the station.

There were some cuttings that I hadn’t seen for years until until I opened the pages of this mislaid cuttings book. Others can be found on earlier posts.

Sophie Neville's collection of newspaper cuttings while making Swallows and Amazons

I took pages of dictation, learning about the plants and geology of the Lake District, about Beatrix Potter and the National Trust, but it’s a wonder any schoolwork was accomplished at all. We spent so much time on set. I fell behind in French and Maths but gained respectable exam grades that summer, gaining 80% in Geography. Perhaps I wrote about glacial lakes.

You can read more about the adventures we had whilst filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in books detailed on this website.

'The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974) by Sophie Neville' — Different editions of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974) by Sophie Neville’

There is now an audiobook on ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’ published by The Lutterworth Press and available on all online platforms including Audible.

Working behind-the-scenes on Swallows and Amazons in 1973

Daphne Neville with Sophie Neville while filming 'Swallows and Amazons' in Cumbria — Daphne Neville with Sophie Neville while filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in Cumbria in 1973

It wasn’t until we were making preparations for the 50th Anniversary of the EMI film ‘Swallows and Amazons’ that I began to list all the work my mother, Daphne Neville, accomplished behind-the-scenes.

Daphne Neville accompanying Suzanna Hamilton, Kit seymour, Sten Grendon, Simon West, Sophie Neville, and Lesley Bennett out to the houseboat on Derwent Water

When I was offered the part of Titty Walker, she’d been invited to work as a chaperone, along with Sten Grendon’s mother, Jane Grendon. This proved to be a pretty demanding job. Getting us ready and into the minibus every morning alone must have been challenging. We stayed at the Oaklands Guest House where there were only two bathrooms shared between twenty-three residents – the eight of us, various students from the Charlotte Mason College of Education and the five members of the Price family who owned the house. We had to move out over Whitsun when it had been booked by holiday makers.

Dressed for the Cumbrian weather: Daphne Neville with Liz Lomas ~ photo: Richard Pilbrow

Mum was pretty horrified by the spaghetti hoops, cuppa soups and pasties given to us for supper and asked if we could have a fruit bowl in our school bus. Location catering in 1973 was good but aimed at providing electricians with meat and two veg, rather than food for children. We enjoyed salads and chicken drumsticks but baked beans could ruin a take and sugared food made us over-active and probably annoying.

Location catering — Suzanna Hamilton, in her red tracksuit top, seeing what the location caterers had for lunch on the set of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ by Coniston Water

On film sets you normally have female costume assistants or dressers to help change actresses into their costumes. On ‘Swallows and Amazons’ we had Terry Smith the wardrobe master and my mother. Whenever there was a scene with film extras, Mum helped him to fit them with shoes and hats, helping the ladies into costumes for the opening scene at the station.

Terry Smith, Sophie Neville and Daphne Neville on location in the Lake District — Wardrobe Master Terry Smith with Sophie Neville and her mother Daphne Neville outside the Make-up caravan on location near Keswick in Cumbria

Our hair was cut and looked after by Ronnie Cogan but mine had to be washed every night by Mummy. She moved me into her bedroom, which was tiny, but had a basin. This seems a small thing, but watch the film and you see my hair flying around the whole time indicating the ever-present wind.

Daphne Neville and Ricahrd Pilbrow on Peel Island on Coniston Water in 1973 — Daphne Neville and Richard Pilbrow on Peel Island on Coniston Water in 1973 Amazons

Mum tried to keep us warm on location, getting us into life jackets and sunhats before we were taken off to the set, which was often either a boat or island.

Daphne Neville with Sophie Neville and Simon West on Coniston Water

Having won prizes for archery, she taught the Amazons to shoot with a bow and arrow for their scene on Wild Cat Island.

Daphne Neville teaching Lesley Bennet, who played Peggy, how to shot with a long bow

She also took a vast collection of behind the scenes photos, some of which were very good.

Ronald Fraser with Daphne Neville and Sophie Neville on Derwentwater in 1973

I couldn’t bear it when Ronnie Fraser flirted, but Mum enjoyed every moment of being on set. She longed to appear in the film as a supporting artist. My father, Martin, appeared in five different shots but Mum missed the crowd scene at Bowness and sequences taken aboard the MV Tern the next dau.

Jane Grendon with other film extras on the original movie ‘Swallows and Amazons’

Back home, she had a part-time job working for HTV who had given her leave but called her back to Bristol to present an episode of Women Only and promote the channel at the annual Bath and West Show. You can read more about this on her website here.

A Day Off in Blackpool — Suzanna Hamliton, Simon West, Claude Whatham Sophie Neville, Kit Seymour, Jean McGill with Daphne Neville kneeling at Blackpool funfair in 1973

While other members of the film crew were given one day off a week, our chaperones’ work never ended. Jane took us shopping or on walks up into the fells. Mum came with us on a trip to Blackpool.

Sophie Neville having her hair cut on location for the part of Titty Walker in 1973

She must have driven me to Epsom for a pick-up shot in September when members of the Walker family had more haircuts and enjoyed being reunited.

Daphne Neville with Stephen Grendon, Suzanna Hamilton, Sophie Neville, Jane Grendon and Simon West

While we hated the publicity that came with marketing the film, Mum embraced it to the full, collecting every newspaper and magazine article.

Sophie Neville and cast of Swallows and Amazons off to the Puffin Club Party at the Commonwealth Institute in London — Sophie Neville, Suzanna Hamilton, Daphne Neville, Lesley Bennett, Kit Seymour, Sten Grendon and Simon West off to the Puffin Club Party at the Commonwealth Institute in London

She took us to London for a Puffin Club show at the Commonwealth Institute devised by Kaye Webb,

Kaye Webb's Puffin Club 1974 — Kaye Webb’s Puffin Club Show – April 1974

and to the Lord Mayor’s Show when we rode on a float set up by EMI Films.

Suzanna Hamilton, Stephen Grendon, Leslie Bennett, Simon West and Kit Seymour sailing the streets of London in 'Swallow' — Suzanna Hamilton, Stephen Grendon, Leslie Bennett, Simon West and Kit Seymour sailing the streets of London in ‘Swallow’

Mum was thrilled when invitations to the film premier arrived and bought me a green dress to wear to the ABC Cinema in Shaftesbury Avenue where it was held.

Daphne Neville at the London premier of 'Swallows and Amazons'. It was billed along with 'The Exorcist' — Daphne Neville at the London premier of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in Shaftesbury Avenue.

She framed a film poster and kept every photo, every scrap of paper related to the film along with the LP and other items of movie memorabilia.

Fifty years later the items were valued on BBC Antiques Roadshow as being worth over £4,000.

To read Daphne Neville’s articles on being a chaperone, please find three earlier posts on this website beginning here.

The Saucepan and her mother on a scenic railway in Cumbria in 1973 ~ photo: Martin Neville

Daphne is currently staying at Denville Hall in Northwood, west London, with other retired actors. You can become a Friend of Denville Hall here.

A full account of making the original movie can be read on the ebook ‘The Secrets of Filming SWALLOWS and AMAZONS (1974)’ where you can read the first section free of charge.

Seven odd things that happened on the way to the forum

Like Arthur Ransome, I have ‘lived many lives in one.’ He also wrote, ‘Memory picks and choses’. Here are a few unusual ones:

A photograph of Sophie Neville photoshopped to look like Charlotte Rampling for ‘Broadchurch’

This gave me a fright: I was watching the ITV police series Broadchurch when I saw a photograph of me, aged seventeen, featured on screen. Only it wasn’t me. My face had been photo-shopped to look like a young Charlotte Rampling. Above is a screenshot. Here is the original:

No one had asked my permission, but what can I do but take it as a compliment?

Around this time I was briefly involved in the HTV series Kidnapped. I played a boy. But opposite David McCallum (The Man From U.N.C.L.E), so who was I to argue. And I was paid.

I got the part in an odd way. They had forgotten to cast anybody for the role, but the producer had previously cast my sister in Arthur of the Britons and knew we lived only a few miles from the location. I agreed on the morning the scene was shot.

Sophie Neville in 'Kidnapped' — Appearing as a messenger boy in ‘Kidnapped’ produced by Patrick Dromgoole for HTV. What did they do to my hair?

I later stood in for the little boy who played Gerald Durrell in the first BBC drama series of My Family and Other Animals. Brian Blessed thought it hilarious. I was working behind the camera by that time but was skinny enough to squeeze into the costume.

Sophie Neville standing in for the little boy playing Gerald Durrell getting a kiss from Brian Blessed who played Spiro — Sophie Neville standing in for the boy playing Gerald Durrell getting a kiss from Brian Blessed who played Spiro

I was once on a train when the director of Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners asked if I could get to Gloucestershire to clear out my mother’s attic. I ended up filming with him for the next three or four days. It was exhausting – and unpaid – but a lot of de-cluttering got done. Check the apron from Seville. I’d bought it on honeymoon.

Sophie Neville filming in Gloucestershire with Betty TV

Piratøen – is the title for Swallows and Amazons in Danish – seen here on a flier that I only came across recently. I’d just had my DNA analyzed to discover I am 3% Danish due to admixture a few generations back. Do I look Danish?

Although I’ve worked on over 100 films and tv programmes, I have mostly been behind the camera, so don’t expect anyone to know who I am. They don’t. The marketing executive at StudioCanal had not, at first, wanted me to help promote the remastered DVD of ‘Swallows and Amazons’, which is understandable as Dame Virginia McKenna has the star billing. Then she must have watched the ‘filmen for hele familien’. I ended up giving Q&As at twelve cinemas. Some had audiences of 250 and the screenings were so popular that customers were being turned away.

Sophie Neville speaking about Swallows and Amazons at Kendal cinema — Sophie Neville giving a Q&A in Kendal

And yet when a friend of mine told a lady that I was in ‘Swallows and Amazons’ she smiled apologetically and said she’d keep ‘an eye out for me.’

‘Why are you here?’ I was asked at Windermere Jetty in Cumbria. We had gathered to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the release of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in cinemas. How should I have answered that question? I replied saying, ‘I’ve been asked to give talk.’

Sophie Neville appearing on BBC TV at Windermere Jetty in Cumbria

You can now listen to the story of how the original film of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ was made on Audible.

The HTV series ‘Kidnapped’ (1978) is available on YouTube. Blink and you miss me, but the music is wonderful.

New finds relating to the original movie ‘Swallows and Amazons'(1974)

Having been released in cinemas in April 1974, the original movie ‘Swallows and Amazons’ was not accompanied by computer games but by puzzels, jigsaws and competitions. Here are a couple found recently whilst clearing out my mother’s house. You can see more on a post added to this website here.

Few films are set in 1929, and yet it was that period, nearly a hundred years ago that gave the first film adaptation a certain style.

Graham Potter wrote saying: “I have just finished a DVD of S & A and found how much easier it is to see the details on the TV than in a cinema having to look from side to side. I was surprised to see how little sailing was shown and how the Amazons were not seen much. I think you were 12 or 13 at the time but looked younger. I have to to admit to enjoying the glimpses of the navy blue knickers in the opening scenes.”

One of the set of four jigsaw puzzles made when ‘Swallows & Amazons’
was released in cinemas in 1974, along with a Puffin paperback

Graham goes on to say, “I was surprised to see how you carried all the exciting scenes: left alone on the island, finding the secret harbour , dealing with leading lights , capturing and hiding Amazon, dealing with Mother’s visit during the night sailing, giving Captain Flint a good telling off for blaming John for firework and not listening to his warning about potential theft at his houseboat. Then the great finale when you are able to present him with his stolen life’s work in the trunk. Perhaps it was planned that you didn’t have too many lines to remember, as it enabled a very young girl to contribute such a lot to the film.”

This is very kind but I believe the film was made by the fact that Simon West who played John and Kit Seymour who played Nancy were good sailors. You can tell when they are sitting in a moored boat. While Claude Whatham was an exceptional director, ahead of his time stylistically, the director of photography uplifted the film by insisting we waited for clouds to pass. What else? – a hardworking and talented crew put together by Nevill Thompson. Simple costumes that never dated. Natural, well cut hair and a lack of make up – all the facets of filmmaking that you are not meant to notice.

Maybe our spiritedness as children carries the original film on. We are all in our sixties now, but the characters we played have become imaginary friends to many. As Shakespeare wrote, ‘Our revels now are ended. These our actors, as I foretold you, were all spirits and are melted into air, into thin air.’ The Tempest Would Ransome have agreed? I only know he discussed Shakespeare with Karl Radek.

I came across an essay in one of my school exercise books that I must have written aged twelve whilst on location. I was trying to explain that only about three minutes of what will be the finished film are captured during a long day’s filming on location. The piece is not well written.

We went on to learn about the Spanish Main, which may have been requested by Claude Whatham, the director of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ so that I would know what Titty was talking about. On 1st June 1973, I was on location in the Lake District filming in the capture of the Amazon in Secret Harbour on Peel Island.

Perhaps I should add these remenants to a future edition of ‘The Making of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (1974)’. You can order the illustrated paperback from libraries, find it for sale online, or listen to the audiobook:

‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974)’ – a book review

Chloe Williams has just written from Ontario in Canada, to say, “Some books entertain. Some enlighten. And some, like The Making of Swallows and Amazons and The Secrets of Filming Swallows & Amazons, manage to bottle something impossibly rare: the feeling of looking back through a child’s eyes and realizing it was all real; the lake, the sails, the laughter and somehow, you were part of it.”

“These aren’t just behind-the-scenes diaries. They’re sun-dappled time machines. Your voice, both in memory and in your original childhood notes, is a miracle of tone: witty, observant, buoyant, and deeply human.”

Of the original movie, she wrote: “What A Christmas Story is to snowglobes and childhood winters, Swallows and Amazons (1974) is to summers on the water and you’ve preserved that magic with charm, heart, and astonishing detail.

“What makes these books unforgettable isn’t just nostalgia. It’s how alive they are. We feel the smell of old sails and camera tape, the blur of location shoots, the uncertainty and excitement of being a child caught in a grown-up world of filmmaking yet utterly at home in it. We meet legends like Virginia McKenna not as distant stars, but as fellow travelers in the adventure. And it’s a joy.”

The Making of Swallows and Amazons seems to resonate with:

Readers of nostalgic memoirs that celebrate childhood, nature, and storytelling
Adults who are captivated by the lake-country magic of Arthur Ransome
Film lovers who cherish insider views of filmmaking
Educators and parents seeking real-life adventure stories for young readers
Fans of Call the Midwife, The Durrells, and 84, Charing Cross Road

“The joy and authenticity in your books mirror exactly why Swallows & Amazons (1974) still has such a hold on people’s hearts. The memoirs don’t just tell the story of making the film, they recreate it, letting readers smell the lake air and see the magic unfold through a child’s eyes.”

I’m hoping the audiobook will also amuse readers. It’s now available on all the online platforms including Audible, where isis being offered for free on their membership trial.

‘What is the film of Swallows and Amazons about?’ Nigel H Seymour’s review of the 1974 movie made on location in the Lake District

The Eternal Swallows and Amazons by Nigel H Seymour

I recall being contacted by a friend who had just passed his driving test, and wished to spend a lazy day in the Lake District where he’d insisted on hiring a rowing boat in Bowness on Windermere in order to ‘enjoy the beauty of the lake’. While heading out from the jetty towards the ‘Lily of the valley’ island in rather a clumsy fashion, I was asked. ‘Who do you want to be, the Swallows or the Amazons?’

At a later date I was given the book ‘Swallows and Amazons’ written by Arthur Ransome together with a video and an original vinyl of the music soundtrack. Turning the pages of the 1930 novel was like opening a door to several other worlds for suddenly the lakes swept in like the most refreshing breeze that kindled an inner passion for hills, mountains, lakes, sleepy streams and mists, early morning stillness on the water and sailing adventures.

Watching the film for the first time was a turning point in my rather dull experience of being at school in the north west of England with its drab corridors, gray walls and endless smoking chimneys out to the horizon.

Within a very short time I too have taken a seat on a train en route to the Lake District in 1929 that had a family travelling together in one of those wonderful old carriages consisting of four children and their mother who were to spend a holiday together in a beautiful farmhouse nestling in the trees by the lake.

For some reason William Wordsworth’s immortal words ran through my mind: ‘Beside the lake beneath the trees fluttering and dancing in the breeze.’

The story touches on many human aspects that we all learn to accept as a part of our evolvement into adulthood and which today seems to have got lost in the quest for an increasingly fast world understanding and a computer generated experience.

The joy of the family arriving at the farmhouse and standing there looking out over the glorious Lakeland towards their dream island where it’s hoped they will be able to embark on a camping holiday after receiving permission from their absent father.

The four children, John Susan Titty and Roger Walker, all displayed an individual aspect of evolvement, with Titty engrossed in the book ‘Robinson Crusoe’, using her vivid imagination to create the island realm and keeping a hand written diary, while John seemed to be moving towards a Naval leaning by spending his time learning the basics of Morse code, boat handling and navigation. Young Boy Roger enjoys stuffing himself with anything he can possibly eat, appears to be showing signs of enjoying the great outdoors, and wants more adventure. Susan comes across as the mother figure who thinks about the younger siblings and what they all will be eating while on their adventures.

The story unfolds as the children receive the go ahead in a telegram from their father to sail over to their island to camp in a borrowed dinghy called ‘Swallow’. A burgee is sewn up to fly from the mast depicting a swallow. This news is received with unadulterated delight by the children who immediately begin the preparations.

The lake and mountainous surroundings featured in the film begin to open up as the children undertake their journey to discover sailing rivals in Nancy and Peggy Blackett who live in one of the houses bordering the lake and own a dinghy named ‘Amazon’ that sports a ‘pirate’ burgee.

Initial rivalry erupts between the Walkers and Blacketts, which results in eventual harmony as the two sides join forces to capture a common enemy who just happens to be the Blacketts’ ‘Uncle Jim’ who owns a houseboat on the lake and is busy writing a book.

The Swallows and Amazons decide to host an expedition to capture Jim (‘Captain Flint’) and the houseboat, and, to determine who should be the leader, they make an attempt at capturing each other’s boats.

This requires sailing at night and some pretty shady manoeuvres, which are grievously frowned upon when discovered by the Walkers’ mother when she made a journey to the island to check up on the children and found Titty on her own. John has to confront his mother and explain his reasons to sail in the dark. She reluctantly accepts his explanations but with a proviso that no further actions of this sort will occur again for the remainder of the holiday.

Titty won the day by seizing an opportunity to capture the Amazon boat while the Blackett’s were on Wild Cat Island, making the Walkers the winners. This leads up to the finale where there is a sea battle as the Swallows and Amazons launch an assault on Captain Flint and the houseboat when he is captured and made to walk the plank. The end of the film sees Titty gifted with Flint’s pet parrot who seemed to have taken quite a shine to her, and everyone resolves to be kindred spirits for ever!

After watching this film my mind was transported to the lakes and sharing the beautiful sunny days, crispy clear water and blue skies with the backdrop of the mountains the wooden jetties and a sailing journey into Bowness for supplies. I could sense myself seated in the lugsail rig and feeling the tug on the main sail as the boat crept closer to the wind before going about and heading away onto another tack.

I was carried with the family into that other realm and other time where innocence and responsibility were coming to the fore, where family values were held dear and independence was something young people strove to achieve within the simplicity of their everyday existence. For the brothers and sisters to go camping on a small island in the middle of a lake away from any overseeing adult, and to arrived there by sailing over in a borrowed boat, leaves little to the imagination.

There was a sense of adventure with the children, and a wanting to show they could be responsible and look after themselves, something in today’s society we have to a degree lost touch with. That immortal sense of adventure within a landscape never changes, except within its own light that we know and love today as the Lake District.

This film is a journey into another dimension and another world steeped with love and belonging, adventure and moral understanding, which is shared between a family and accepted.

The characters are bought to life almost as if they are an infinite, integral part of the immortality of the story, each giving that picturesque understanding the viewer finds impossible to explain.

After watching this film one arrives back in real time with a resounding bang! We wonder why such a simple story can create such an iconic understanding, why watching this film can make you feel happy, totally complete and yearning to return again and savour that wonderful, eternal landscape we have all learned to grow and love as The Lakes.

Do think of leaving a review of this film on the International Movie Base site. The link for ‘Swallows and Amazons'(1974) is: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072233/

Letters from the film set – written whilst filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in the Lake District in 1973

I’ve been asked to post the hand-written letters that my mother wrote on location while we were making the original film of ‘Swallows and Amazons’. It is amazing they have survived. This was sent to my great aunt who lived on the Solent and knew Buckler’s Hard where Arthur Ransome once moored.

Letter written about the filming of 'Swallows and Amazons'

Mum mentions Claude Whatham, the director, David Blagden our ‘sailing teacher’ who played Sammy the Policeman and Dame Virginia McKenna, the star of the movie who played my mother, Mary Walker.

This must be the cutting from the Daily Mail that I hadn’t seen for more than fifty years and yet remember the photos as being over-exposed. Mum marked me with an X, as in ‘X marks the spot.’

You can find other letters on my previous post.

‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’, narrated by Sophie Neville, is now available as an audiobook on all platforms, along with Audible where you can listen to a free sample.