~Sophie Neville with Swallow, the dinghy from the film of Swallows & Amazons (1974)~
To sail Swallow in Cumbria, please contact sailransome.org
12th October – Art For Africa – an exhibition of paintings at Beenham Hatch, Buckleberry, Berkshire, RG7 6NR (viewings possible on 11th and 13th October)
24th October 2018 – An evening talk at 7.45pm – ‘Never Stop Exploring’ at Lymington Town Sailing Club on the Solent. Tickets £2, dinner at the club from 6.30-7.30pm. All Welcome!
October 2018 – TBC – Talk at 2.00pm at Boldre Memorial Hall near Lymington in Hampshire for members of the Women’s Institute.
May 2019 – The Arthur Ransome Society in Lyndhurst, New Forest
Future events ~
TBC: Mudeford Sailing Club’s Swallows & Amazons weekend
TBC: Q&A with Sophie after a screening of ‘Swallows & Amazons’ (1974) at the Brewery Arts Cinema in Kendal, date TBC
TBC: Talk on ‘The Making of Swallows & Amazons’ at Moreton Hall, Shropshire.
TBC: The Athanatos Festival, Greenwood, Wisconsin, USA
Recent Events ~
28th July 2018 – Q&A and demo on visual effects after a screening of the original film ‘Swallows and Amazons'(1974) in association with the Keswick Convention.
25th -28th May 2018 – ‘Swallows and Amazons re-visited’ in the Lake District
BBC Radio Cumbia on 24th May and 24th July
24th May 2018 – 45th Anniversary talk on ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974)’ near Keswick in Cumbria featured in the Westmorland Gazette
8th May 2018 – Talk at Balmer Lawn Hotel, Brockenhurst, for Probus
5th May – Talk on ‘The Secrets of Filming Coot Club & The Big Six’ for the Norfolk Broads Yacht Club in Wroxham
21st & 22nd April 2018 – Opening the Tavistock Music and Arts Festival, giving an illustrated talk on ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’ followed by a cinema screening Q&A.
24th March – Rowing on the crew of The Queen’s barge Gloriana in the Boat Race Flotilla televised on BBCTV.
January 2018 – The Waterberg Trust Challenge Ride across the game reserves of South Africa, to raise funds for Save the Wateberg Rhino and associated community projects.
Highlights of 2017-
5th December – Signing books at The Waterberg Trust Christmas Fair in Berkshire.
21st October – Griff Rhys Jones, Lubby Purves and Sophie Neville took part in a Marathon Read at Pin Mill Sailing Club in Suffolk to celebrate the 80th Anniversary of the publication of Arthur Ransome’s book ‘We Didn’t Mean To Go To Sea’.
27th September – A Talk at Lymington Town Sailing Club
12th October – A Talk in Hampshire for members of the Women’s Institute.
3rd September – Marathon reading of Swallows and Amazons’ as part of the Visit England’s Year of Literary Heroes. Hannah-Jayne Thorpe who played Peggy in the recent film and BBC Radio 4’s Caz Graham also read chapters.
1st-3rd September – The Arthur Ransome Literary Weekend in Edinburgh.
July 2017 – in the New Forest for the Curious Arts Festival
June 2017 ~ Won Ladies Challenge at the Worcestershire Archery Society
June 2017 – Sailing Arthur Ransome’s yacht the Nancy Blackett in Holland.
June 2017 – A talk at The Captain’s Club in Christchurch in aid of Oakhaven Hospice.
May – Opening talk at The Arthur Ransome Society
May – Sophie opened the Arthur Ransome Pin Mill Jamboree in Suffolk.
April – A Talk at the Roseland Festival 2017 in St Mawes at the Hotel Tresanton cinema.
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April – A Talk at the Tavistock Music and Arts Festival 2017 on ‘Funnily Enough – Living with Otters’. We were joined by Rudi-the-Otter who stars in the new ITV series ‘The Durrells’ and appeared in Natural World for BBC Two recently.
14th February – Henlease Book Group in Bristol discussed ‘Funnily Enough’ with Sophie
The Waterberg Trust Challenge Ride across the game reserves of South Africa – January 2017, in aid of Save the Waterberg Rhino and associated community projects.
Highlights of 2016 –
September 2016 ~ Screening of ‘My Feral Heart’ at The Courthouse Hotel in Soho.
October 2016 ~ An illustrated talk with a book signing for Mudeford Sailing Club.
September 2016 ~ Book launch of Julian Lovelock’s ‘Swallows, Amazons & Coots’ with Forward by Sophie Neville
19th August 2016 ~ Release of the new film ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (2016) in cinemas.
August 2016 ~ ‘Swallows & Amazons’ (1974) screened at the Just So Festival
July 2016 ~ Q&A with Sophie Neville at a screening of ‘Swallows & Amazons’ (1974) at Aldebrough cinema
June 2016 ~ Won Ladies Challenge at the Worcestershire Archery Society
June 2016 ~ Cast and crew preview of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (2016)
–Diver Dan Travers with Sophie Neville-
May 2016 ~ The Arthur Ransome Society IAGM in Dumfries, Scotland
April 2016 ~ Book launch for ‘Belfast to Behghazi: Untold challenges of war’ by Rupert Wieloch.
March 2016 ~ Representing Bible Society at Spring Harvest in Minehead
March 2016 ~ Leading the Waterberg Trust Challenge Ride 2016
Highlights of 2015 –
December 2015 ~ Book signing at the Red Cross Fair in Bedford
October 2015 ~ Film Night evening in aid of Hampshire Air Ambulance
September 2015 – 600th Anniversary of Agincourt at Chatsworth shooting the longbow
-Sophie Neville shooting at Chatsworth-
September 2015 ~ a Q&A at the Riverside cinema to celebrate ‘100 Years of Film’.
August 2015 ~ TARS summer camp, Chichester Harbour, with ‘Swallow’ from the film.
Photo: George Ping
July 2015 ~ Curious Arts Festival Talk and Q&A with Sophie Neville
-Sophie Neville at the Curious Arts Festival-
July 2015 ~ Swallows & Amazons (1974) screened at the Belfast Film Festival
-‘Swallows and Amazons'(1974) screened at the Belfast Film Festival-
July 2015 ~ The launch of Ping-a-Pound for Medecine Sans Frontieres
June 2015 ~ Leading the flotilla for 800th Anniversary of the signing of the Magna Carta
-Sophie Neville with the Town Crier of Windsor-
June 2015 ~ Swallow, the dinghy used in the film was at Beale Park Outdoor Show
May 2015 ~ Talk by Sophie on ‘The Secrets of Filming Coot Club’
April 2015 ~ a Q&A from Sophie Neville at the Riverside cinema
March ~ Sophie appeared on CBBCTV’s Cinemaniacs.
-Sophie Neville signing books-
January 2015 ~ Sophie led the Waterberg Charity Ride in South Africa.
-Sophie Neville in South Africa-
Highlights of 2014
Book signing at Waterstones in Lymington becoming bestseller of the day.
Canine Partners at Drapers Hall in London in the presence of HRH Duchess of Gloucester.
Cotswold Life Author’s Lunch At Lower Slaughter Manor.
A talk for The Arthur Ransome Literary Day at Linlithgow in Scotland.
Raising money for charity 2014 in Cowes, Isle of Wight
Filming with our otters in Scotland
Charity sheep drive across London Bridge as featured in the Times.
Event for inner City children at Countryside Live – Lee Valley, London
Sophie Neville with Lord Nelson’s canon
An evening with the Royal London Yacht Club on the Isle of Wight.
Procession of historic boats into the City of Nantes with the crew of the Drapers’ Shallop.
Sophie Neville being interviewed on France 3
Ladies prize for highest score West Berks Archery Meeting.
Sophie Neville on Channel 5’s show The Wright Stuff
Sophie Neville on BBC Radio Cumbria with Westmorland Gazette weekend feature
Sophie Neville with film fans
Screening at Zeffirelli’s cinema in Ambleside with Q&A by Sophie Neville
Brewery Arts Centre Cinema, Kendal screening with Q&A by Sophie Neville.
Lakeland Radio interview
The Hackney PictureHouse Summer Family Film Festival with Q&A from Sophie Neville.
Hastings Pirate Day Sophie introduced Swallows & Amazons at the Electric Palace Cinema
Presentation of books ~ Ladies of LBC
Chatted about appearing in ‘Cider with Rosie’ on Mark Forrest Evening Show on BBC Radio
Talks at The Arthur Ransome Society International Annual Weekend.
40th Anniversary talk on Swallows & Amazons (1974) ~ for The Arthur Ransome Society
Arthur Ransome weekend with a talk on ‘Swallows & Amazons, the film locations’.
Vsit to Arthur Ransome’s last house Hill Top as reported by the Westomoreland Gazette.
Talk on China’s Bestseller in the Waterberg, South Africa
An after-lunch talk at Shotley Marina, Harwich.
Highlights of 2013
Funnily Enough awarded International Rubery Book Award 2013 third prize
Sophie Neville’s artwork featured on Made In Chelsea.
The unveiling of the Arthur Ransome plaque at Rugby School.
An introduction to the film Swallows & Amazons at Royal Lymington Yacht Club.
An after dinner talk for the Solent Section of the Cruising Association
A talk on ‘The Secrets of filming Swallows & Amazons’ for Walhampton School.
Hosting the Film Cafe at the SE New Wine Summer Conference
30th Anniversary talk on ‘Filming ‘Coot Club’ and ‘The Big Six’ in East Anglia’ at the Royal Harwich Yacht Club
Guest speaker at The Arthur Ransom Soecity IAGM at Brockenhurst College.
Sailing the Nancy Blackett from Bucklers Hard to Lymington.
Sophie Neville supporting Comic Relief on Red Nose Day
Huge thanks to all supporters.
An interview on GNBA Radio broadcast worldwide.
Second Chance Radio Show in the USA. To listen to it click here
Dulwich Film at the Michael Croft Theatre – Sophie introduced a screening of ‘Swallows & Amazons’ .
On Channel 4 ~ ‘Compulsive Obsessive Cleaners’, documentary series on the terrifying subject of clearing out my mother’s house. Filmed at the house in the Cotswolds where Funnily Enough is set, it examines how my parents cope with living in a medieval mill with two tame otters.
I want Cynthia to extend the de-cluttering challenge further a-field.
With Ryan Jones, Captain of the Welsh Rugby Team at a charity dinner supported by HRH The Prince of Wales.
Appearing on the cover of iBelieve magazine ~
Suzanna Hamilton, Richard Pilbrow and Sophie Neville
Richard Pilbrow was awarded an Honorary Fellowship by the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama. Suzanna Hamilton and I found ourselves at the cinema where the premier of Swallows & Amazons was held in 1974.
Odeon Cinema on Shaftesbury Avenue
November 2012 ~ A cable from Hollywood: Hateship Productions wanting to use Sophie Neville’s artwork in a new movie starring Nick Nolte, Guy Pearce and Kristen Wiig called, ‘Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage.’ Consent forms went whizzing across the Atlantic.
~ Talks and other events ~
Advocating the use of the Kindle app in churches
A talk on China’s Bestseller in Winchester and an illustrated talk on ‘China’s Bestseller’ in Southampton.
Those involved in the BBC serial ‘Tenko’ reunited at the Imperial War Museum
A book launch for ‘Remembering Tenko’ by Andy Priestner at the Imperial War Museum, with Ann Bell, Louise Jameson and other cast members. Sophie Neville provided location and cast photographs for the Kindle version.
Sophie filming for Channel 4 ~ October 2012
Channel 4 filming a documentary with the Nevilles at Bakers Mill.
15th October ~ Ride the Wings of Morning did well in the UK and US free Kindle store promotion:
- #1 in Nonfiction > Biographies & Memoirs > Specific Groups
- #1 in US Nonfiction > Travel > Africa
- #1 in US Nonfiction > Biographies & Memoirs > Adventurers & Explorers
13th October ~ Funnily Enough did quite well in the UK free Kindle store promotion ~
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#1 in the category ‘Parenting and Families’
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#9 in the category ‘Humour’
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#1 in the category ‘Famiglia e relazioni‘ in Italyin the Amazon free Kindle stores.
10th~12th October ~ Ride the Wings of Morning #2 in the paid UK Kindle store in the category ‘Travel Africa’.
The Quay Book Club discussed ‘Ride the Wings of Morning’ with Sophie Neville.
20th Anniversary of City Barge.
The Drapers’ Academy Opening Celebration
Regatta for the Disabled at Henley-on-Thames with Peter Willis, deputy editor of Classic Boat Magazine.
Swallows and Amazons (1974) was shown at Eden Arts’ Picnic Cinema at Brantwood on Coniston Water.
Ben Ainslie’s Olympic Celebration at the RLYC
Congratulating Ben Ainslie on his Olympic gold medal
Steven Morris of the Guardian reported: “He recalled how he started sailing in Cornwall on the creeks around Falmouth as a boy. Ainslie has called it a Swallows and Amazons kind of childhood. He had friends on the other side of the creek so he sailed over to see them.”
Archery with the longbow at Meriden
WAS Archey Meeting at Sherridge ~ won the Baylis Arrow
Rowing in the Royal Thamesis for HM the Queen at Henley-on-Thames
West Berks Archery Meeting
Cumbria Life report on Sophie Neville’s visit to the Lake District
Alexina Trophy at the Royal Lymington Yacht Club
Arthur Ransome tour of the Lake District reported in the North West Evening Mail
Swallows and Amazons was broadcast in the UK on Bank Holiday Monday.
‘Swallows and Amazons’ broadcast on ITV3 ~ May Bank Holiday
8,737 copies of my books were down-loaded in one month
Ride the Wings of Morning is back at #2 in the Bestsellers in African Travel list on Amazon UK Kindle. Funnily Enough is just below Terry Pratchett on the Kindle list for Humour.
Sophie Neville at Milford-on-Sea where she was giving a talk.
April 25th ~ Ride the Wings of Morning reaches # 2 in the Amazon UK Kindle store under the category Bestsellers in African Travel, above Bill Bryson’s African Diary and the Lonely Planet guides. Funnily Enough is sitting just under NIV Bible sales in UK Kindle Bestsellers in Non-Fiction.
Alastair Fothergill, one of the main characters in Funnily Enough, produced two feature films for DisneyNature: African Cats and Chimpanzee.
22nd April ~ Funnily Enough entered the Top 100 in the paid Kindle Store Bestseller list and reached:
- #14 in Bestsellers in Non-fiction, just above A Night to Remember: the Classic Bestselling Account of the Sinking of the Titanic by Julian Fellowes, Brian Lavery and Walter Lord.
It reached #2 in Kindle Store > Books > Humour
21st April ~ Funnily Enough is #3 in Kindle Store > Books > Humour
20th April ~ Richard Kay reports on Funnily Enough’s success in the Daily Mail
Sophie Neville with China’s Bestseller
19th April ~ Funnily Enough at #2 in the Amazon UK Kindle store and at #1 for Humour.
Ride the Wings of Morning at #1 for Non-fiction/Biographies&Memoirs.
Both have been classified by Amazon as Bestselling Books.
16th-18th April 2012 ~ The London Book Fair ~ promoting Funnily Enough and Ride the Wings of Morning.
18th April ~ The Kindle ebook of Funnily Enough, reached Number 2 in the free Amazon UK Kindle store downloading at the rate of 240 an hour: a new Amazon Bestseller.
‘Man Friday!’ Sophie Neville with Virginia McKenna in 2012. Claude Whatham cast us as as daughter and Mother in 1973 when we took on the roles of Robinson Crusoe and Man Friday on a desert island in the Lake District.
Kempsford Literary Festival, supporting Virginia McKenna who was speaking on her book ‘The Life in My Years’ and her work with the Born Free Foundation
Ben Fogel interviewing Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville at Bank Ground Farm in Cumbria.
A bottle of grog provided by members of The Arthur Ransome Society
Previous Events
Sophie Neville at The House of Commons
House of Commons by kind invitation of Lord Mawhinney
Talk at The Arthur Ransome Society annual lunch in Arundel.
The Arthur Ransome Trust ~ Movie Memories write-up
Book Launch of ‘Funnily Enough’ by Sophie Neville
Westminster Abbey ~ in the presence of Her Majesty the Queen and HRH the Prince of Wales for 400th year celebration of the King James Bible .
Sophie Neville with her husband Simon outside Westminster Abbey
Art Exhibition at the Royal Lymington Yacht Club.
Illustrated talk by Sophie Neville on The making of Swallows and Amazons for The Arthur Ransome Society’s Literary Weekend 2011
Sophie Neville speaking on Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
Guest appearance on Waterberg Waves, a Radio Station in South Africa
Very busy lady! I’ve been rather out of touch, and had no idea you’d been producing books and much more all these years. Well done a hundred fold over! It isn’t clear enough to me how to BUY your books, which I must now do… one of each is essential. Tell me where to click for a PayPal order.
The only books I have for sale at the moment can be found on
https://sophieneville.net/books-by-sophie-neville/
You can certainly use Paypal. Your best bet is to click on The Book Depository UK as they will send out to S.Africa free of charge.
I know you will want the next two, as you’ll know some of the characters – but I am still busy formatting in the artwork – it takes ages, I’m afraid. Please let me know if you’d like me to e-mail you a draft copy. It needs proof-reading!
Dear Sophie,
One of my friends has just told me about your website and I will definitely be reading it bit by bit to learn about the making of Swallows and Amazons, as I love the books and film.
I also see that you are coming to give a talk at Orwell Park in March – I live in Ipswich and would love to come, but I’m not sure if it’s possible for someone who’s not connected with the school to come along? Do you have any more information?
Many thanks,
Anna
I do hope you enjoy reading about the making of the film. Let me have any questions or comments.
I’ll ask about the talk at Orwell Park School and get back to you!
Dear Anna,
If you would like to come to the talk at Orwell Park School please contact Mrs Sarah Howell who teaches there (and is also a friend of mine). Her e-mail is howell@kewgardensfarm.co.uk. I will write to her saying you were interested.
I’ve been asked to speak to the 12 and 13 year olds but think some of the parents might come along. It’ll be on the Monday afternoon – 19th March. https://sophieneville.net/recent-news/
Hoping you can come – Sophie
Hi,
Thank you so much for finding out about the talk for me. Unfortunately I work full time, so I won’t be able to come. I hope it goes well and that the children are interested.
Best wishes,
Anna
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