sailing film – Page 11

Rowing to Cormorant Island ~ filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on Derwentwater on 15th June 1973

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

‘Pull harder, Roger!’ ~ hardly a line from Shakespeare, but one that has lodged deep in my memory. Titty was even bossier in Arthur Ransome’s books ~

“You keep time with me, Boy,” said the able-seaman.

“All right.”

Official film still from StudioCanal — Sten Grendon as Roger and Sophie Neville as Titty rowing Swallow (c)StudioCanal

Titty lifted her oar from the water. Roger gave one pull.”Boy,” said the able-seaman, “you mustn’t say ‘All right’.”

“Aye, aye, sir,” said the boy.**

When we auditioned for Swallows and Amazons the emphasis was on sailing. Could we sail? In fact I needed to be good at rowing. Titty and Roger row back form the Charcoal Burners, I rowed the Amazon from Wild Cat Island and here we were rowing across Derwentwater to Cormorant Island. This was more difficult than normal as Swallow was wired to the camera pontoon.

When I look at the 16mm footage my father took of me rowing at home before we left to film in the Lake District, I cringe. My blades were high above the water, hitting the surface with terrible splashes but I seemed to achieve my objective. I managed to fit an improvised mast to our Thames skiff and even made my own sail. It doesn’t look great, but I think Arthur Ransome would have approved.

Cormorant Island and the camera boats — Swallow finding Amazon anchored near Cormorant Island on Derwent Water with the camera pontoon and safety boat: photo~ Daphne Neville

Simon West and Suzanna Hamilton joined us for the scene when the Swallows lower the Jolly Roger and start to sail the captured the Amazon back to Wild Cat Island. I can only imagine that I changed my costume in one of the support boats. The scene may have been shot with two cameras on different boats.

Cormorant Island3 trimmed — Sophie Neville playing Titty Walker in the captured Amazon, with David Cadwallader, Bobby Sitwell, Dennis Lewiston, Claude Whatham and two electricians holding reflector boards on the camera punt: Photo ~ Daphne Neville

This shot shows Claude Whatham using the grey punt,* which somehow managed to accommodate Dennis Lewiston, the 35mm Panavision and quite a few crew members, while Richard Pilbrow remained on the camera pontoon with Eddie Collins operating the 16mm camera.

Capturing Amazon — Richard Pilbrow and his film crew on the camera pontoon with Eddie Collins operating the 16mm camera. Simon West and Stephen Grendon sail Swallow. Suzanna Hamilton is climbing aboard the Amazon with Sophie Neville

I remember the scene itself as being difficult to achieve in terms of sailing. Swallow has a keel, and Amazon with her centre board is much the faster dinghy. It is not like racing two boats of the same class. After hauling up the anchor Suzanna and I battled to turn the Amazon, not wanting to wiggle the rudder and jeopardise her pins. I remember Simon calling advise over the water. He stalled and we caught up, trying to get close together for the shot. The result was a photograph used on the front cover of the next Puffin edition of the book.

Swallows and Amazons book cover 1974 — Stephen Grendon, Simon West, Sophie Neville and Suzanna Hamilton on the cover of the 1974 Puffin edition of ‘Swallows and Amazons’

* I may be wrong about these photographs. The still surface of the water in the shot of Titty alone in Amazon suggests that it was taken later on, when we filmed the burglars landing on Cormorant Island with Captain Flint’s trunk, but we probably had a very similar set up on this more sparking day ~ 15th June 1973.

Contact sheet - sailing Swallow & Amazon on Derwentwater

We went on to film various shots of us sailing on to Wild Cat Island, when I think the camera was in Swallow capturing close-ups of a triumphant Captain John. He did indeed do well.

Sailing Swallow & Amazon by Cormorant Island

**Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome, 1970 Jonathan Cape edition

You can read more about our adventures here:

Better drowned than duffers ~ filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on the afternoon of 14th June 1973

Sophie Neville as Titty Walker

14th June ~ my Diary at Bank Ground Farm

Claude Whatham had no Peak of Darien at Bank Ground Farm, Arthur Ransome’s location for Holly Howe. But he did have buttercups and daisies, the flowers so evocative of childhood summers spent in the English countryside. The field that runs down to Coniston Water looked glorious that sunny day in June 1973. It was glowing.

Claude had used wild flowers to good effect when he made Laurie Lee’s memoir Cider with Rosie for the BBC in May 1971. It had been one of those months of endless sunny days in Gloucestershire but we were in Westmorland now, where buttercups bloomed later in the year and sunny days were cherished. This was Claude’s afternoon for low angle shots.

The view from Bank Ground Farm over Lake Coniston as it was in 1973

We arrived to find that a huge hole had been dug in the meadow for the camera, with a picnic for us spread out the other side of it. We thought this was very exciting. I’m not sure whether Mrs Batty felt quite the same joy about the excavations in her field. I was sad that we didn’t have a fire with a kettle, as they do in the book of Swallows and Amazons, but that was kept as a feature of island life and camping yet to come.

The hole at Holly Howe — Sophie Neville, Simon West, Suzanna Hamilton, Gay Lawley Waklin, Bobby Sitwell, Dennis Lewiston, Albert Clark: photo~ Daphne Neville

Roger came sailing down clutching the telegram from our father, reaching out to deliver it over the hole. I understand that this was based on the cryptic telegrams that Ernest Altounyan sent his children Taqui, Susie, Titty and Roger, the children who acted as models for the Swallows. It has become the iconic response to Health and Safety ever since.

Claude Watham having just spoken to Stephen Grendon playing Roger at Bank Ground Farm. Who is in the foregound? : photo~ Daphne Neville

What we ended up saying altered slightly from David Wood’s original screenplay. ‘Dispatches?’ – Ransome spells the word ‘Despatches’ but apparently both spellings are correct.

John referred to Daddy as ‘Father’. I’m not sure why. He did so in his letter. It is daddy in the book, but perhaps Claude considered ‘Father’ as having a more period feel. I stuck more to Ransome’s dialogue, as you can see if you compare the film script with my diary entry above. This was because I knew his book so well, and never saw the script. The acting credit must go to Simon West who sat holding the telegram, graciously absorbing my bossiness, whilst I grappled with the words.

David Wood's screenplay of 'Swallows and Amazons' — David Wood’s original screenplay of ‘Swallows and Amazons’

Holly Howe15 — Sue Merry typing up continuity notes on location at Bank Ground Farm: photo ~ Daphne Neville

Back in 1973 it was the job of the ‘Continuity Girl’ to take notes on any changes made to the script. Sue Merry, ever present in her dark coat, took on this role. Today she would probably be known as a ‘Script Supervisor’ but her Aviator sunglasses and black polo-necked jersey would be the height of fashion. Sue also took notes technical notes for the film editor and director, indicating which Takes were favoured and which had been spoilt, giving the reason. In those days we had no monitors. The camera lens would be unscrewed after each take and checked carefully. If any fluff was found, Bobby Sitwell the camera assistant would call out, ‘Hair in the gate!’ Sue would quietly note this down and David Bracknell, the first assistant, would call out, ‘Set up to go again’. And we’d go again.

Blu-ray reading telgram

Sue was also responsible for the continuity, and would take numerous Polaroid photographs as an aide-memoir. This scene followed the one of Mother giving Roger the telegram, which had not yet been shot. Virginia McKenna hadn’t arrived back in Cumbria. Looking back, this seems a huge gamble. Would they ever get another sunny day while the buttercups were still blooming, a day to match – exactly – the weather of 14th June?

Sue would sit and type up her notes on location, using a portable typewriter that sometimes was set up for her on a spindly picnic table. This method of working was different from the BBC, when a ‘production assistant’ would type up her notes at the end of each day. Would it have been so that one copy of her notes, typed on triplicate paper, could be sent to the laboratory with the exposed film? It meant that her evenings were free.

Filming Swallows and Amazons in 1973 — We were allowed to help fill in the hole at the end of the day.

Sue Merry had worked for Neville C. Thompson before on The Boyfriend, Ken Russell’s movie that starred Twiggy with Tommy Tune, Barbara Windsor and Glenda Jackson. She later worked on The Wicker Man, Anthony Shaffer’s harrowing film directed by Robin Hardy that featured Edward Woodward, Christopher Lee and Diane Cliento, Britt Ekland and Ingrid Pitt. She went on to work with Dennis Lewiston and other members of our crew on The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the movie that starred Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon and such unexpected artists such as Meatloaf, Christopher Biggins and Prince Andrew’s old flame Koo Stark, who played a bridesmaid. Sue also did the continuity for Nicolas Roeg on The Man Who Fell to Earth, starring David Bowie, before moving into television to work on The Professionals and The Comic Strip Presents… All quite fun!

But on that day in June 1973, she was the girl with the daisies in her hair, wearing a coat thick enough to indicate that although sunny it was still quite chilly in the Lake District.

You can read more in ‘The Secrets of Filming Swallows and Amazons (1974)’

‘Look, John! Steamer ahead!’ ~ Near disaster whilst filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on 8th June 1973

Filming the Tern on Windermere in 1973 — Ronnie Cogan having a cigarette with one of the Supporting Artistes. Terry Smith the Wardrobe Master is going below in the background. photo: Martin Neville.

It was a glorious summer day to film on Windermere. Conditions were perfect. My father had been asked to appear as a film extra in the scene in Swallows and Amazons when the the crew of Swallow narrowly miss colliding with a Lakeland steamer, that transporting tourists up and down the lake.

Martin Neville aboard MV Tern on Windermere — Martin Neville wearing 1929 costume aboard MV Tern on Windermere in 1973

He was the tall dark native in a blazer and white flannels aboard the elegant MV Tern. A lovely way to spend a sunny morning in the Lake District. Until your daughter nearly drowns.

The Tern on Windermere, built in 1890 — MV Tern on Windermere was built in 1890 with a steam engine, converted to diesel in the 1950s, and is still operating today.

Simon West, Suzanna Hamilton, Sten Grendon and I were sailing the Swallow, on our voyage to the island. The twelve-foot dinghy was laden with camping gear and had no buoyancy. We did not wear life jackets.

At the start of the day, Swallow was attached to the camera pontoon so that Claude Whatham, the film director, could capture our dialogue on film. The camera crew then went aboard the Tern and we sailed free, with the safety boat some distance away, behind the camera. Other boats were keeping modern boats clear of the shot.

swallow-with-the-tern-1

In the script Roger is down to say, ‘Steamship on the port bow’. I think what came out was, ‘Look John! Over there – steamer ahead!’

The Tern had a young, inexperienced skipper who was coping with a notch throttle, as you can see if you watch the movie.

Script of David Wood's adapation 'Swallows and Amazons' — The screenplay of David Wood’s adaptation of Arthur Ransome’s classic book ‘Swallows and Amazons’ set in the Lake District in 1929

My mother, who normally looked after us, had been obliged to drive to Bristol as she presented a weekly programme for HTV with Jan Leeming called Women Only and had been summons to promote the channel at the Bath and West Show. Dad must have been acting as our chaperone, responsible for our safety. A sailor with years of experience racing on the Solent, he took a keen interest in all the boating scenes, but I’m sure he didn’t have a chaperone’s licence. As we sailed towards him, on an intentional collision course, he foresaw that the larger vessel would take our wind.

Filming on the Tern in 1973 — Three men of Cumbria who were happy to have short-back-and-sides haircuts on the deck of the MV Tern on Windermere in 1973 ~ photo: Martin Neville

My father watched from above as we only just turned in time, missing the steamer by a mere nine inches as her bow wave bounced us away and we sailed on. Ronnie Cogan had to buy him a whisky. They knew Sten could hardly swim, that any of us could have been entangled in the ropes and camping gear if Swallow had gone over. Clinker-built dinghies can sink quickly. It was a sunny day but the water was icy and very deep.

We did not know it at the time, but Dad nearly took me off the film. He had a meeting with the producer when he tested the BOAC life jackets we rehearsed in. Mine did not inflate.

swallow-with-the-tern Phil Brown, who belongs to the Arthur Ransome Group, said: “Tern was re-engined in 1957 with two diesel engines. Interestingly she was to have been named SWALLOW, but after a last-minute change, she was launched in June 1891 as TERN.”

It is said that children bounce. The next day, I sat school exams: geography, science and maths.

…‘Carry on Matron’. I wonder what near disasters they had on that film.

Blu-ray John rowing swallow

You can read more in the ebook ‘The Secrets of Filming Swallows and Amazons (1974)’ available from Amazon Kindle, Kobo, iTunes and all other online retailers:

‘Away to Rio’ filming Swallows and Amazons in Bowness-on-Windermere on 7th June 1973: Part Two

In Arthur Ransome’s book Swallows and Amazons Titty is left keeping watch on an island, so small it is little more than a rock, whilst the Swallows sail into Rio Bay in search of the Amazons. Luckily for me, this is not so in the film. Susan declares, ‘They must be making for Rio’ and the scene cuts to a band playing in the municipal park at Bowness-on-Windermere. John rows into the bay pretty sure that the Amazons have given them the slip, Susan suggests that we could explore Rio and I happily declare, ‘We could buy rope for the lighthouse tree.’ And that is what we did – leaving the boy Roger in charge of Swallow. It was such a hot day I whipped off my grey cardigan before I leapt out of the boat, no doubt causing havoc for the Film Editor.

Rio Bay ~ Film crew on the jetty — The Swallows approach the jetty in Rio. Empty camera boats are moored in the foreground beside a period launch. Are those green boatsheds still standing today?

Simon Holland, the Set Designer on Swallows and Amazons had transformed the busy Bowness of 1973 into a Lakeland town of 1929. To do this he must have had a huge amount of glass fibre boats moved. These were replaced by the beautiful wooden launches and skiffs of the period.

Martin Neville on Jetty in Rio

You can see my father in white flannel trousers, his dark hair cut short, standing on the jetty in front of the lovely old green boathouses that then overlooked the bay. He is talking to the owner of the launch with the green and white striped awning.

BW Rowing to Rio

Much of the first part of this sequence was filmed from the grey punt used as a camera boat. It seems that Simon West, who played John was towing this as he rowed up to the jetty. It was a hot day and for once we were all feeling the heat.

Rio Bay ~ Ice Creams — Kit Seymour and Jane Grendon watch the filming on the jetty whilst Tamzin and Perry Neville eat ice creams with the one man in Cumbria willing to have a short-back-and-sides. You can just see the period cars parked in the background

Although the Swallows spurned the conventional attractions of tripperdom, we spotted the Stop-me-and-by-one ice cream cart like lightening. I was entranced by the old cars, the pony and trap and the number of people dressed to populate Rio. They were organised and directed by Terry Needham, the Second Assistant Director. To our delight we found Gareth Tandy, the Third Assistant, was dressed in period costume too, his Motorola hidden under a stripy blazer so he could cue the Supporting Artists and keep back the general public without having to worry about appearing in vision himself. To his dismay he had had to have his hair cut. We all thought this a distinct improvement. He looked so handsome! I’m not sure if you can see him in the distance when we are climbing out of Swallow. You can just see my sisters walking towards the town at this point with Pandora Doyle, Brain Doyle’s daughter.

Rio Bay ~ donkeys and rowing skiffs — 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 ~ all photos on this page : Martin Neville

Jane Grendon, our chaperone looked fabulous in her 1929 costume. It was the one and only time I saw her in a dress.

Rio Bay ~ Jane Grendon — Jane Grendon as a Passer-by with her pram in Rio Bay ~ photo: Daphne Neville

She was wonderful. Being in costume enabled her to keep an eye on all the children playing on the beach. I know she would have kept them going and maintained safety as they flung pebbles into the water or rushed about with the donkeys that were giving rides along the shore – no one wearing helmets of course.

Another excitement of the day was that Claude Whatham had given Mr Price, the owner of the Oaklands Guest House where we were staying, the part of the native. The native who says, ‘That’s a nice little ship you’ve got there.’ Mum said that Kit Seymour, Suzanna Hamilton and Lesley Bennett had spied him, pacing the garden at Oaklands trying out every possible way of saying this line. ‘That’s a nice little ship you’ve got there.’ Then, ‘That’s a nice little ship you’ve got there,’ leaving the girls in fits of giggles.

BW Swallows in Bowness — John Susan and Titty walking past the hotel

After we leave the general stores, me clutching bottles of grog, you can see Tamzin in a pink dress and straight back riding a chocolate coloured donkey along the beach while Dad is pushing out a rowing skiff with a log oar. Roger looks on from the Jetty to see Perry riding another donkey in a yellow dress while Tamzin walks by in the opposite direction with none other than Mr Price, in his striped blazer, who is walking along towards the boathouses holding a little boy’s hand. I am sure it was one of his own children but it looks a bit dodgy because while Roger watches my sisters and Pandora throwing stones into the lake from the beach were the skiffs are pulled up, David Price comes walking along the jetty and delivers his line: ‘That’s a nice little ship you’ve got there.’ It’s shot in rather a creepy way. John did warn Roger to ‘Beware of natives.’

Rio Bay ~ Jetty — 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

A moment later Pandora and my sisters are surrounding the ice cream man while John, Susan and Titty return, striding along the jetty like the three wise men, carrying rope, buns and bottles of grog.

My father’s all time passion in the form of a very graceful steam launch passes, almost silently, in the foreground. A happy, happy day. They only sad thing was that we didn’t have time to film inside the bun shop, which was such a pity as it looked glorious. Claude had been obliged to re-take a scene when some ladies – real life ladies in 1970’s garments and bouffant hairdos – had come scootling out of the Public Conveniences in the middle of a take.

Newspaper article on Rio

What none of us knew was that is was nearly our last day on earth. The same Supporting Artists, including my father, had been booked for the next morning…

My father added:

‘George Pattinson, the man who revived the steamboat world, along with Roger Mallinson, was the character in Elisabeth the little steamer.’

‘The Bowness skiffs were not like the Thames version. The outriggers caught the oars and allowed a fisherman to let go of the grip if and when he caught an Arctic char, the Windermere fish, the oars were retained. A heavy boat.

I remember the rope was huge, fat and unsuitable! Daphne was not around as she had to go south to present Women Only for HTV. She was devastated to leave the donkey scene.’

You can read more about our antics in the paperback or ebook of ‘The making of Swallows and Amazons’ available from online retailers, good bookshops, and libraries worldwide. You can read more on Amazon here.

Setting sail from Wild Cat Island during the filming of Swallows and Amazons 0n 2nd June 1973

If it is tricky navigating in and out of the Secret Harbour on Peel Island, leaving from the Landing Place under sail in a clinker built dinghy can prove even more hazardous. You need a decent shove to get going so you can catch the wind, escape from snaring tree branches and avoid the danger of flat rocks lurking just under the surface of Coniston Water. This was my job on a rainy, grey day in the Lake District in 1973. With a telescope in one hand.

On the filming of 'Swallows and Amazons' in 1973

In the finished film you don’t see the shot when I slipped in the water up to my waist, and kept on shoving. The “Don’t forget about the lights, Titty ” scene had to be re-shot on a sunnier day.

bw Susan sailing past Peel Island2 — 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.

What you see is a long-shot, on a grey day, with Titty waving furiously from the shore, as Swallow leaves Wild Cat Island. You can not see that her dress is soaking wet but the trees on the island indicate just how windy it is. While Susan is waving back, Roger is looking out for rocks for all he is worth. John is sailing hard, running with the wind, with the boom right out and white water on his bow. He hung on, as he had to, until Swallow passed the big rock, before coping with a dramatic jibe. You see him rise to handle this, while Susan ducks. She needed to. It was so violent the mast nearly broke, but John ‘scandalised’, spilling excess wind and sailed on. The film cuts to two closer shots of the jibe taken on the sunny day, then cuts back to the long shot when Susan bobs up and Swallow sails at speed, north up Coniston towards grey clouds and rain over Langdale.

BW Swallow about to jibe

My father watched all this from the shore, knowing the risks, knowing Stephen Grendon aged nine, who played Roger couldn’t swim well. But Simon West was proving himself yet again as a very good sailor. He was totally confident. You can tell – even from a distance – how calm he was, how instinctively he read the wind. He knew it would hit him with force as he left the lee of the island.

Swallow on Coniston

These wet windy days in the Lake District were a worry to the Producer and a challenge for the crew. They had already lost a number of days to rain. Whilst Claude Whatham, the Director was always trying to find a way of making the best use of his time, David Bracknell, his First Assistant Director had to make things happen. The practicalities of each day rested on his shoulders.

David Bracknell, First Assistant Director on ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on the shore of Coniston Water near Peel Island ~ photo: Martin Neville

Just co-ordinating our transport out to Peel Island, so that we while the camera crew were never waiting for us we were not missing time at our lessons – would have been difficult. Getting the tea urns out there twice a day, must have been a struggle. I’m not sure what we did about anyone wanting the loo. There wasn’t even a bucket on the island.

Claude Whatham and his crew on the camera punt — First assistant David Bracknell, director Claude Whatham, grip David Cadwallader and DoP Dennis Lewiston (seated) with three local boatmen ~ photo: Richard Pilbrow

Working in purple trousers, with a Motor-roller on his hip, David kept things safe and kept things going whatever the weather. He would call for ‘Quiet’, before each take, calling, ‘Camera? Sound? then: Mark it!’ The clapper board would be named and snapped shut before Claude the Director shouted ‘Action!’ Then off we’d go. And the rule was to keep going – whatever happened – come the hell of slippery rocks or high water – until the Director shouted ‘Cut!’ David would then take over command and set up either for a re-take or a subsequent shot. Once a scene was completed he’d move the crew on for a new sequence.

Setting off for Peel Island — The cast of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ setting off in the Capri for Peel Island, my mother in her bobble hat, a journalist taking photographs and Brian Doyle, the film Publicist, wrapped up warm ~ photo: Martin Neville

David Bracknell was very experienced. He’d worked on a number of hugely popular Carry-on movies, which according to Maureen Lipman, were made at terrific speed. Prior to Swallows and Amazons his credits included Carry on Abroad, Carry on at your Convenience, (I’d seen this at school; it’s all about lavortaries) Carry on Henry and Carry on Loving with Kenneth Williams, Sid James and Charles Hawtrey. He’d worked on Far from the Madding Crowd with Julie Christie, Alan Bates and Trevor Stamp, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg with Janet Suzman and Peter Bowles, Bless this House with Sid James, Diana Coupland and Sally Geeson and Battle of Britain, which starred Michael Caine, Trevor Howard and Harry Andrews, Ian McShane, Susannah York and Laurance Olivier. By 1984 he was working on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, in 1986 on Shaka Zulu with Edward Fox, Robert Powell and Trevor Howard again. We were in capable hands.

My father recognised this, watching patiently from the base camp with Perry and Tamzin, my younger sisters. I fear it must have been terribly dull for them, especially on the cold grey days, but we were all together and did have a chance to explore Westmorland, as you will see when I reach tomorrow.

Perry Neville by Coniston Water near Peel Island — My sister Perry Neville on the shore of Coniston Water in Cumbria with Stephen Grendon and Peel Island beyond~ photo: Martin Neville

You can read more about the making of Swallows and Amazons here:

Filming The Swallow and The Amazon from a pontoon out on Coniston Water ~ 31st May 1973

Swallow and Amazon with the pontoon — The dinghies Swallow and Amazon with the camera pontoon at Peel Island on Coniston Water ~ photo: Martin Neville

How do you film two girls sailing a thirteen foot dinghy talking to their brothers sailing along in another small dinghy while calling out to two other girls in red bobble hats dancing about on a wooded island which both the small boats are approaching?

The scene looks so simple on paper. It is the one when the Swallows sail back to Wild Cat Island with the captured Amazon to find Nancy ‘dancing with rage’ and Peggy anxious to get home before breakfast. One page of script.

Claude Whatham soon discovered that he was shooting the most complicated of sailing scenes. On a cold grey day in the Lake District.

It is extremely difficult to describe how he managed this, but I will attempt to do so.

31st May 1973 ~ My diary

Sophie Neville's diary 1974

There was no room in the dinghy Amazon to film Susan and Titty sailing. This had to be done from a boat or vessel lashed along side. The production had a pontoon hired from Mike Turk in Twickenham and managed with the help of Nick Newby at Nicole End Marine near Keswick. It was a sizeable raft equipped with four outboard engines and surfaced with a number of flat ‘camera boards’.

Swallow and the pontoon Basically rectangular, it had arms added on either side. The idea of this cross-shaped platform was to enable Claude to film us either side-on, from astern or across the bows of the dinghy, which was wired by its keel to the pontoon. The camera was normally on a tripod. The original idea was that it could be mounted on a short section of track but I don’t think this ever happened. Electric lighting was not something that could be used on this pontoon but two large reflector boards were used to light our faces instead.

The result was a shot used on the cover of a book and a DVD marketed by the Daily Mail in 2008.

Sophie Neville on the cover of the Daily Mail DVD

As well as the director and camera crew, the sound recordist and ‘boom swinger’ were on board the pontoon along with Sue the continuity girl. Costume, make-up and our chaperone would be in a separate safety boat, in this case a Capri. This would mill about with the life jackets, sunhats and warm clothes that we wore between set ups. The crew all started off wearing life jackets, but as you can see they were soon discarded. They were dangerous things, old BOAC ‘life vests’ with so many flappy straps that you were at risk of being trapped under water by them.

Blu-ray Amazon Pirates

The pontoon was operated by two boat men under the eye of David Blagden, the sailing director. They had to work with Claude and the wind so that when we were sailing, while the pontoon travelled with us. This was tricky enough on open water. If we were near the shore it could become more difficult. As you can imagine the dinghy could easily start to sail away from the clumsy pontoon – or worse. Our mast socket broke that first day. They needed my father on that pontoon. He there, quietly was watching from the shore.

The Camera Pontoon on Coniston Water — The camera pontoon on Coniston Water with Amazon attached to it and Swallow sailing to the other side of Peel Island during the filming of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in 1973~ photo: Martin Neville

Although we had all read the book of Swallows and Amazons, and were devoted to adhering to every detail, no one remembered that John and Titty sailed the captured Amazon back to Wild Cat Island. She had a centre board which was a new thing for the Walkers so John decided to let Susan helm their familiar boat. I wish this had been detailed in the script. In the film, John was with Roger in Swallow whilst Susan and I were in the Amazon, which was a pity. I can only imagine that Claude decided this because he was trying to achieve a very difficult ‘three shot’. He was relying on John – on Simon West, who was aged eleven – to keep sailing Swallow in the right position, whilst out on the water between Amazon and Wild Cat Island.

Simon West sailing Swallow - trimmed — Simon West as Captain John sailing Swallow . Sten Grendon plays the Boy Roger in the bows

This wasn’t as easy as it looks. You can see from this photographs that Swallow kept racing ahead of the pontoon. It can be gusty around Peel Island and the rocks can be lethal. Roger was on lookout but he also had to deliver his lines. Having no centre board and a shallow 1920’s rudder Swallow can be difficult to turn or get going if the wind slacks. This wasn’t actually a problem; Simon had wind and he did brilliantly. Suzanna Hamilton did too. She had no previous experience of sailing the Amazon. No one had remembered this sequence when we practiced before the filming began.

Molly Pilbrow and her dog watching the proceedings — Molly Pilbrow and her dog with my sister, watching the camera pontoon from the shore of Coniston Water ~ photo: Martin Neville

Meanwhile Gareth Tandy, the third assistant director, was standing-by (probably for hours) on Peel Island with Nancy and Peggy. He had hide in the bushes and cue them at just the right time. They did so well. They had to deliver their lines while jumping from rock to slippery rock to keep up with both the Swallow, the camera and the story.

In the Capri — The Swallows and The Amazons in the Capri ~ Suzannah Hamilton, Kit Seymour, Daphne Neville, Stephen Grendon, Simon West, Sophie Neville and Lesley Bennett ~ photo: Martin Neville

When we filmed two of Arthur Ransome’s other books, Coot Club and The Big Six, on the Norfolk Broads in 1983, the BBC producer Joe Waters used a 35 foot river cruiser as camera boat. It could be difficult keeping it stable during a take, especially with so many people on board, but being a proper boat it was much easier to manoeuvre than the pontoon. And faster. Andrew Morgan, the director still managed to get his camera angles and it had the advantage of a cabin where sensitive equipment such as film stock and lenses could be stored. I can remember the camera assistant changing the film on board. I don’t know if the boat had heads. May be.

On both productions we had the inevitable problem of modern boats coming into shot. We had to have one of two men in zoomy motorboats that could zip across the open water to ask them to move clear of the shot. Even with this control you can imagine what happens. You line up your shot with all your boats in position, the sun comes out and a modern motorboat roars across the lake leaving you all rocking in its wake. Then it rains.

The good thing about having a safety officer in a frog-suit is that they can carry you to shore at the end of a long day. You don’t have to get your feet wet.

The Safety Officer and Me — The Safety Officer and me, with Dennis Lewiston and Claude Whatham still standing in the Amazon ~ photo: Martin Neville

The question is – Did the DOP and the director get carried ashore too?

You can read more here:

“It was really horrible” ~ filming the swimming scenes for ‘Swallows and Amazons’ ~ 24th May 1973

bw Susan teaching Roger to Swim — Sten Grendon as Roger Walker being taught to swim by Suzanna Hamilton playing his elder sister Susan Walker on location at Peel Island on Coniston Water in 1973

“…it was really horrible,” I told Tim Devlin, of The Times. “We had to run into the water and enjoy it. It was icy. I had to try to be a cormorant with my feet in the air. Then I had to step water as Susan taught Roger to swim. We were in for about three minutes and they had to do two takes of the scene. It was horrible.” This was the day when we shot the swimming scenes ~

24th May 1973

The first scene of the day was actually was the one when Titty emerged from her tent in her pyjamas, wiped the dew off the top of a large biscuit tin and started writing her diary. I always regret writing Titania Walker on the cover but I had been contracted to play the part of TITANIA WALKER. My mother, Daphne Neville, who is quite theatrical, loved Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream and encouraged me to write out the full name, but I do wish I had simply labelled by notebook ‘Ship’s Log’.

bw Susan and Titty in their tent — Suzanna Hamilton playing Susan with Sophie Neville as Titty busy writing the ship’s log

I am told that the real little girl who inspired my character, Titty Altounyan, was given the nickname after reading a horrible story of mousey death entitled ‘Titty mouse and Tatty mouse’ from English Fairy Tales by Joseph Jacobs. Her family called her Titty mouse, then Titty for short. People were concerned that I would be teased for being associated with a name like Titty, but I never was. It’s a sweet name. However, it seems Arthur Ransome did not object when the BBC altered it to Kitty in 1962, when Susan George played the part. When the 2016 version of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ was made Titty became Tatty and the press had a field day.

Titty and Tatty book

Our knitted swimming costumes, with their little legs were a real novelty to us. I do wish mine hadn’t been red. It was such a cold, grey day I went blue. I remember the entire crew were clad in overcoats – even parkers with fur lined hoods. Looking back it was silly to have gone ahead with the scene in May. Child cruelty.

Filming the swimming scene — 35m Panasonic, Eddie Collins the Camera Operator in (wet suit), Dennis Lewiston the DOP (in cap) Claude Whatham the Director (in waders) on Peel Island, Coniston Water ~ photo: Richard Pilbrow

The director, Claude Whatham shot the scene using two cameras. The continuity would have been impossible otherwise. Eddie Collins the camera operator had a 16mm camera in the water with us. He was being steadied by another chap in a full wet-suit. Fitted neoprene was quite an unusual sight back then when divers were known as frogmen.

Suzanna Hamilton, who played Susan, did well but it simply wasn’t possible to pretend we were enjoying ourselves. My rictus smile was not convincing. Later on in the summer the Lake District became so hot that we begged to be taken swimming in rivers on our day off. I wish we had re-shot the scene in July with an underwater camera capturing my pearl diving antics. I was a good swimmer. I still love snorkelling – but only in warm seas. As it was, I had to be extracted from Coniston Water by Eddie’s frogman. I’d almost passed out.

Strangling Terry Smith — Sophie Neville in 1973 attempting to strangle Terry Smith the Wardrobe Master on ‘Swallows and Amazons’

Quite a few people almost learnt how cold we had been for themselves later that day in May. The boats used to ferry us back and forward to the island were blue Dorys with outboard motors. You don’t want to have too much weight in the bows of those boats. Water can come in very quickly.

You can read the whole story here:

Holly Howe on the 5th day of filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ near Coniston in 1973 ~

Holly Howe or Bank Ground Farm ~

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

Fifty years ago in the Lake District

My diary

When you next go to Bank Ground Farm you must stand outside the front door and imagine the sight of two red London Route Master buses making their way down the drive back in 1973. They swayed from side to side.

We thought it comic. I still can’t work out how they managed to avoid how bringing down the dry stone walls. While sheep grazed outside in the rain, we made ourselves comfortable at the Formica tables in one of these converted buses and got down to our lessons.

Bank Ground FArm above Coniston Water in Cumbria

Meanwhile Ian Whittaker, the set dresser, and Simon Holland, the art director on ‘Swallows and Amazons’, transformed Mrs Batty’s upstairs rooms into the Walker children’s bedrooms of 1929. I changed on the top deck of our bus and was rushed through the rain with a coat over my nightie to the magical atmosphere of the film set. This was warmed by arc lights. Everyone became focused what was just in front of the camera: me reading an early edition of Daniel Defoe’s classic book, Robinson Crusoe. The director, Claude Whatham needed to establish that he was Titty’s hero. I can remember having to hold the book in special way so the cover could be seen clearly.

You can see that in my diary, I described this as ‘a bed scene’, which might amuse some actors, especially those who are not at all keen on doing bed-scenes (every actor I know). The beds themselves are probably still at the farm.

The LP — Sophie Neville, Virginia McKenna and Simon West on the cover of the ‘Swallows and Amazons’ LP, which is still available on Amazon.co.uk

They may have shot the scene where Captain John is learning Morse Code in the same room. Simon West then had to be made very brown indeed, the Make-up Designer dabbing away with a tiny sponge. This was for the uneasy sequence, much later in the story, when he returned to Holly Howe to explain himself to his mother. This was shot with Virginia McKenna writing letters at a desk in the square bay window, with the view of Coniston Water beyond. I had used it when stitching Swallow’s flag in the scene recorded the day before.

lucy batty — Virginia McKenna and Lucy Batty at Bank Ground Farm on 15th May 1973

Mrs Batty later told me that the bay window leaked terribly and that she was glad to get rid of it. She built a lounge area in its place, which became a dedicated Swallows and Amazons room. I’d been chatting to her back in 2002 when we were waiting for Ben Fogle and the BBC crew of Countryfile. They had been looking for other locations used in the 1974 film before a planned interview with me and Suzanna Hamilton, who had played my sister Susan. I remember Suzanna’s train had been terribly delayed.

We’d waited and waited and waited. It got later and later. When Suzanna’s taxi finally arrived, I was so excited to see her that I encouraged her to run down to the lake as we once had as children.

Homes and Gardens April 1974 — Sten Grendon, Simon West, Virginia McKenna, Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville on location at Bank Ground Farm in 1973

The Countryfile director must have been at her wit’s end. Ben Fogle came down to fetch us. My excuse was that Suzanna needed a stretch after her a long journey from London.

Countryfile The Westmorland Gazette captured the three of us plodding back up the field.I did the whole interview holding a bottle of grog, given to me by Arthur Ransome fans who were staying at the farm. You can see it in the photographs if you look closely. I don’t think Ben knew what it was.

Ben Fogel interview — Ben Fogle, Sophie Neville, Suzanna Hamilton and the BBC crew recording Countryfile at Bank Ground Farm in October 2002

My father’s 16mm home movie footage of the making of Swallows and Amazons was cut into this interview with such success that the documentary was re-shown on Big Screen Britain along with other landscape movies such as Whistle Down the Wind and The Dambusters.

You can find out more in the paperback ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’ or here on Kindle where the first section can be read for free:

The clock is, indeed, still on the mantelpiece at Bank Ground Farm

It is aways wonderful to hear how the film of Swallows and Amazons has effected people’s lives. I have just had such an interesting e-mail from Australia. I only wish that Claude Whatham was alive to read it.

Did anyone else know about the the clock on the mantelpiece at Bank Ground Farm?

In the film – and in real life

Dear Sophie,

I can not tell you how much I am enjoying your website. I’ve searched for scraps of material regarding the making of Swallows and Amazons for decades, but you post more information in one day than I gleaned in a lifetime. It’s a fabulous insight, and one I really appreciate.

I became a film-maker largely because of Swallows and Amazons. I’ve written a small piece about this, which is going to be published in a promo for one of my film-making books. As a nine year old, I stumbled across Wild Cat Island just days after seeing the film. I was so thrilled to be standing where the film had been made, and so excited to see how clever use of the camera could exaggerate the feeling of a location and capture the magic of performance, that I set out to discover everything I could about film. It was a life-changing moment.

My daughters (5 and 7) adore Titty, and we are all impressed by your acting. I’ve directed my girls in a couple of things, and I know they gained confidence from having seen you perform. When Tabitha, my eldest daughter, saw the film for the first time, she burst into tears at the end. It was a release of pure joy, and is testament to the quality of the film.

I live in Australia now, but returned to the island in 2010 with Tabitha and Harriet (rowing all the way from the other end of the lake). We stayed at Bank Ground Farm. This months we went back and were lucky enough to sail Swallow into the Secret Harbour. It was a windy October day, and quite a frantic sail, but I can honestly say it was one of the highlights of my life.

When reading your recent post about set dressing at Bank Ground Farm, I wondered if you’d noticed that the clock on the mantlepiece is still there. It’s on the other mantlepiece, I believe, but it is still there. I have no idea whether it is a prop that was left behind, or whether the film-makers used the clock that belonged to the farm.

Thanks again.

Best wishes,

Chris

Christopher Kenworthy

Art Director Simon Holland painting labels for cans of Pemican on Mrs Batty’s lawn at Bank Ground Farm in 1973 ~ photo: Daphne Neville

Our set designer or ‘Art Director’ on Swallows and Amazons was Simon Holland. He worked tirelessly with his assistant Ian Whittaker and team of prop men, making every effort to use absolutely authentic props and set dressing. It must have involved quite a bit of research. Holly Howe, for instance would not have had mains electricity or back in 1929, so he made sure oil lamps were on set. These would have been modified by the Sparks so that it looked as if they lit the room in those evening scenes when we were busy packing.

The people of the Lake District still remember Simon asking if he could buy old tins of food. It seemed such an unusual request. When it came to making labels for the cans of ‘Pemmican’ he painted them himself ~

Simon had worked as the set dresser on the thriller Callan starring Edward Woodward, that we all saw in 1974. He had earlier been the Art Director on Bartleby, which featured Paul Scholfield with John McEnery in the title role. Swallows and Amazons must have been one of his first features. He was only thirty-two that summer of 1973.

Simon Holland went to to work on well known movies such as Equus, Greystoke, Quadrophenia, The Sleeping Dictionary set in Sarawakand Tales of the Riverbank which starred Stephen Fry as the Owl and Miranda Hart as Miss March. He sadly died in 2010 at the age of 70 but will be remembered fondly by us all.

I have found the entry that Suzanna wrote in her diary at this time when we were filming at Bank Ground Farm. She drew a picture of the blue and white checked dress she wore and described an interview with a reporter.

This is the newspaper clipping that Suzanna stuck in her dairy that featured Virginia McKenna and the six of us children in one of the old motors that Simon Holland found to dress the Railway Platform set at Haverthwaite Station on the first day of filming.

A clipping from the Guardian Newspaper 15th May 1973 — A clipping from The Guardian Newspaper 15th May 1973

You can read more here:

Filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ at Bank Ground Farm in Cumbria in 1973

If you take the East of the Lake road along Coniston Water you will find Bank Ground Farm. It lies between Brantwood, John Ruskin’s former home, and Lanehead where Arthur Ransome’s friends the Collingwoods lived. Ransome was particularly good friends of Dora Collingwood, who married an Irish-Armenian doctor keen on sailing called Ernest Altounyan. They went to live in Syria but every five years or so would bring their children to visit their Grandparents for the holidays, once staying at Bank Ground Farm next door. Ernest bought two 14 foot sailing dinghies called Swallow and Mavis in which his family learnt to sail.

It was for the five Altounyan children, Taqui, Susie, Titty , Roger – and Bridget, the ships’s baby, that Arthur Ransome wrote Swallows and Amazons after they gave him a pair of bright scarlet Turkish slippers as a birthday present. I don’t think I knew that Titty was a real girl when I played her in the film, but I did know her character in the books and felt rather bad that I didn’t have her thick dark hair evident in Ransome’s illustrations.

Arriving at Holly Howe — Claude Whatham with Virginia McKenna ~ photo: Daphne Neville

Bank Ground Farm is much smarter now. Lucy Batty, who let us take over her home in 1973, has passed on but the farm is run by her grandson Jonathan. You can stay in the main house, where there is a lovely corner bedroom with views down Langdale, or take a self-catering flat, since they have been able to convert the barn and stables into further accommodation.

Bank Ground Farm the location used for Holly Howe

I’ve just received post from Peter Willis of The Nancy Blackett Trust who said, “I stayed at Bank Ground in the summer – it was utterly lovely, exactly as it ought to be – Jonathan Batty and his wife are really hospitable, and one of the great pleasures was the friendliness and interstingness of the other guests, who included a Japanese Ransome fan. Do have dinner if they’re doing it. Food’s great, but so’s the sociable atmosphere.”

Int: Holly Howe ~ Bank Ground Farm near Coniston

It was grey and raining in the Lake District on 15th May 1973. Instead of filming the scene when Roger tacks up the field, Denis Lewiston, the Director of Photography, lit Mrs Batty’s living room at Bank Ground Farm for an evening scene. Simon Holland, the art director, had dressed the room in the style of a Cumbrian farmhouse in the 192os with working oil lamps. Bob Hedges, the prop master, brought in all the camping gear we were to be packing while Virginia McKenna was having her hair done up and we had lessons in our red double-decker bus. Then we recorded a scene, the dialogue of which was never used in the finished film.

Int/Ext Holly Howe — The Screenplay: David Wood’s adaptation of Arthur Ransome’s book ‘Swallows and Amazons’

You do see Susan packing bars of soap and me making heavy weather of sewing our flag, my hair pinned back in a hideous way, with rather a modern reel of white cotton lying on the desk. John packed the telescope in a biscuit tin, which now seems a mistake as we used it on the voyage, very much not in a tin, but then one always re-packs many times before an important trip.

Virginia McKenna with Sophie Neville in 1973 — Virginia McKenna, as Mary Walker with Sophie Neville playing her daughter Titty Walker busy stiching Swallow’s new flag in preparation for the voyage to the island

After lunch, we shot the scene when Mother is teaching us how to erect a tent on rocky ground, as she did with Father when they were young. Titty asks if she is really old.

‘Not really. But I was younger then,’ Virginia McKenna replied looking dubious.

This is rather how I feel now, all these years later, especially when I walk into a room when people are expecting me as Titty. I’m not really old, but I do look different from when I was only twelve. This always happens when I return to Bank Ground Farm. Everyone is a bit taken back by my height but say I sound just the same. And I am married now with a family of my own. It is a bit like when Peter Pan flew back to see Wendy and found she looked just like her mother – not least because in the play the adult Wendy is always played by the actress who formerly takes the role of Mrs Darling.

Simon West, Sophie Neville and Suzanna Hamilton in the 1974 film of ‘Swallows and Amazons’

I was standing outside the front door of Bank Ground once, talking to Lucy Batty, when two Japanese girls arrived to stay at the farm. Fans of the film, they looked up at me and declared, ‘Ooo Titty!’ clasping their hands together in greeting. They had come from the other side of the world and yet recognised me immediately. Perhaps I haven’t changed that much after all.

The Walker family finding Swallow at Holly Howe

The weather must have cleared up a bit by teatime on 15th May as we recorded the scenes in the boat house when John discovers Swallow, brings her out to the stone jetty and steps the mast. They must have had to take the generator down to the lakeside as I’m pretty sure that the sunlight comes from an arc-lamp. Suzanna got her shorts wet as she pushed out the clinker-built dinghy but we loved being by the water.

You can read more in ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’ available online and to order from bookshops and libraries. It is now available as an audiobook.