If you want a great family day out by the sea and enjoy dressing up,
put Hastings Pirate Day in your diary for July 2015
There is lots going on including:
Grand Parade with Drummers through the Old Town of Hastings
Brand new family friendly Pirate Ship Ride
Children’s and Street Entertainers
Pirate Crazy Golf Competition
Pirate and Craft Market
Walking the Plank
Jack Sparrow lookalikes on the Stade (in aid of Gt Ormond Street Hospital)
Winkle Club will transform Winkle Island into a Sci-Fi Paradise
Fancy Dress Competition (open to all including the dog!)
The return of the Old Town skeleton crew
Bands in Participating Venues
Massive Pirate Treasure Trail
Pirate Art Projects
…..And pirate films are being shown!
The exciting thing is that the Electric Palace cinema, in the heart of Hastings Old Town have invited us back for another screening of the restored version of Swallows & Amazons (U).
‘Forty years after she enchanted film-goers as Titty in Swallows and Amazons, Sophie Neville has found a new audience… telling the behind-the-scenes secrets of the film of Arthur Ransome’s classic novel.’ The Daily Mail The Making of Swallows & Amazons ‘…is based on diaries, letters and old photographs which Sophie has turned into a heart-warming account of making the movie, which starred Virginia McKenna and Ronald Fraser.’
The Telegraph~ Culture: ‘Set in the Lake District in 1929, the film follows four young adventurers who sail a dinghy around Lake Coniston, cook for themselves over campfires and sleep in makeshift campsites.’
‘…The occasional chaos and terrible weather during filming contributed to the eventual popularity of the extraordinary and very much loved film.’ The Times
‘The film Swallows & Amazons is 40 years old, but thanks to its careful period evocation, its respect for Arthur Ransome’s original book and the performances of its child actors, it’s become a timeless classic. One of those children was Sophie Neville, who played Titty, and who kept a diary during the filming. That diary, with her adult recollections, is this book. It’s a fascinating insight into filming on location in the Lake District…’ Classic Boat
‘… The result is compulsive reading as she recalls that cold wet summer, while the camera crew wrapped up warm and she shivered in her skimpy dress as Able Seaman Titty Walker. Sophie brings to life all the many memorable characters who worked on the film and in particular the other children, the Director Claude Whatham who developed a great relationship with his young cast and the stars Virginia McKenna and Ronald Fraser. Nor are the other young actors forgotten for there are diary contributions from Suzanna Hamilton who played Susan, Stephen Grendon who played the Boy Roger and Kit Seymour who played Nancy Blackett. The text is supported by numerous illustrations showing life on and off the set.’ Roger Wardale, author of Arthur Ransome: Master Storytellerand other books
‘You don’t need to be a Swallows & Amazons fan to enjoy this book – it’s universal!’ Winifred Wilson, Librarian of The Arthur Ransome Society
‘This was a most unusual and interesting book. I picked it up expecting to browse through it, and found myself so drawn in to Sophie Neville’s detailed, amusing and insightful description of film making in the 1970’s that I was unable to put her book down. As Arthur Ransome fans, my family and I have always loved the film, and felt that Sophie Neville was ‘just right’ as Titty. What fun it has been to be introduced to the young twelve year old Sophie with her intelligent awareness of the challenges facing the production crew while she shivered in her cotton dresses. The many photographs and illustrations contribute richly to bringing the 1970s setting to life. Sophie recorded her experiences beautifully, and in so doing, added one more valuable book to the cultural heritage of all Arthur Ransome fans.’ Juliet Calcott, English teacher,South Africa
Lots of photos throughout the book bring the scenes to life – a delightful read.’ Celia Lewis author of An Illustrated Country Year
Sophie Neville has been chatting to Mark Forrest on The Evening Show.
The second edition of this paperback is published by The Lutterworth Press, available online here
A number of people have specifically asked, ‘Where is Rio in Swallows and Amazons?’
The answer is that Rio lies on the eastern shore of Arthur Ransome’s imaginary lake. I have always loved the map in his book, originally drawn by the illustrator Stephen Spurrier, that was used on dust jacket and frontispieces of the first editions. The Arthur Ransome Literary Estate have given me permission to include a thumb-nail image:
The hardback edition
The Arthur Ransome Trust have made the map into a jigsaw puzzle. You can buy a virtual piece of this map to raise funds for their projects. If you go to their website and hover your cursor over the jigsaw pieces you can discover a great deal about the locations mentioned in the books with names of all the islands. Please click here and wait for it to load.
An early letter Ransome wrote a fan of the book
Arthur Ransome told his readers that they would need to go and find the places mentioned in the books themselves. Most people think that if you compare his lake with Windermere there is only one option for the town of Rio.
Photograph taken by Martin Neville 1973 showing Windermere skiffs and George Pattinson in his steamboat ‘Elizabeth’. The old green boathouse can be seen beyond the town jetty.
Bowness-on-Windermere in the English Lake District was used as the location for ‘the native settlement of Rio’ in the film of Swallows & Amazons produced by Richard Pilbrow in 1973 and now distributed by StudioCanal, who have a shot of the town on their website here.
Photograph of the town jetty at Bowness taken in June 2014 by John Burgess
Today the Bowness lakeside looks a little different, although the skiffs are still pulled up on the beach.
My father admiring the traditional boats
The old green boathouses have been replaced by a modern development but you can still walk along the town jetty, as the Swallows did, and even catch a native steamer down to the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway where the opening scenes of the film were shot.
MV Swan on Windermere today, seen from Lakeside Railway Station.
The secret known to a few people is that the chandlers shop where the Swallows bought grog and rope for the lighthouse tree is actually in Windermere town.
The Swallows in Woodland Road, Windermere – now a barber’s shop
This is what the location looks like nowadays:
Woodland Road, Windermere
John, Susan and Titty can then be seen walking past the Stags Head Hotel in Church Street, Bowness-on-Windermere, which was ‘dressed’ with a pony and trap and vintage cars to emulate 1929 when the book was written. Click on the image to see the same view today:
John, Susan and Titty walking past the Old England Hotel. The Stags Head Hotel lies just beyond them in Church Street
This is how Church Street looks today. Please click on this image for the source.
If you go to explore the location, do send in more photos.
Evening Post 11th June 1973. Please click on the photo for more news cuttings
Where you there?
We’d love to hear from anyone who took part in the filming. The entire Kendall Borough Band came along, someone brought a pony and trap, others arrived with period vehicles including a motorcycle. A man arrived with three donkeys and a number of local people took part, appearing as film extras. Do contact us in the comments box below.
If a new film adaptation is made, the producer has told me it may now be too difficult to use Bowness. It’s busy place in the summer months. The village of Coniston might be an alternative. What do you think?
Meanwhile here are the lyrics to the sea shanty Titty loved, Away Rio. The tune was incorporated into the film score.
O, the anchor is weighed, and the sails they are set, Away, Rio!
The maids that we’re leaving we’ll never forget, For we’re bound for the Rio Grande,
And away, Rio! aye, Rio!
Sing fare-ye-well, my bonny young gel,
For we’re bound for the Rio Grand!
So man the good capstan, and run it around, Away, Rio!
We’ll heave up the anchor to this jolly sound, For we’re bound for the Rio Grande,
And away, Rio! aye, Rio!
Sing fare-ye-well, my bonny young gel,
For we’re bound for the Rio Grand!
We’ve a jolly good ship, and a jolly good crew, Away, Rio!
A jolly good mate, and a good skipper, too, For we’re bound for the Rio Grande,
And away, Rio! aye, Rio!
Sing fare-ye-well, my bonny young gel,
For we’re bound for the Rio Grand!
We’ll sing as we heave to the maidens we leave, Away, Rio!
And you who are listening, good-bye to you, For we’re bound for the Rio Grande,
And away, Rio! aye, Rio!
Sing fare-ye-well, my bonny young gel,
For we’re bound for the Rio Grand!
Come heave up the anchor, let’s get it aweigh, Away, Rio!
It’s got a firm grip, so heave steady, I say, For we’re bound for the Rio Grande,
And away, Rio! aye, Rio!
Sing fare-ye-well, my bonny young gel,
For we’re bound for the Rio Grand!
Heave with a will, and heave long and strong, Away, Rio!
Sing a good chorus, for ’tis a good song,
Traditional – Lyrics from Iron Men & Wooden Ships, by Frank Shay
Many people asked what ‘fell onto the cutting room floor’ after we shot the movie ‘Swallows & Amazons’ in the English Lake District in 1973.
The answer is that there were few scenes excluded from the film.
Virginia McKenna as Mrs Walker with Sophie Neville as Titty
One featured Virginia McKenna and Mrs Batty’s clock, which can still be found at Bank Ground Farm, our location used for Holly Howe. It was shot on the second morning and I fear that our director Claude Whatham might have taken it out because my own performance was rather stilted. I had quite a bit to say, most of which was really rather bizarre:
The pages of my diary written on 15th May 1973
The only other scene from Swallows & Amazons that I know was excluded was when the Swallows lay patterans on their way to visit the charcoal burners. The location was in a beautiful spot up above Derwentwater, the dialogue was straight from Arthur Ransome’s book and our performances would have been fluent by the time we shot the sequence.
Suzanna Hamilton, Sten Grendon, Sophie Neville and Simon West as the Swallows
I can only expect that when the movie came in over-length, these scenes were cut as the action had no influence on the plot.
‘I have always had the feeling that the Amazon’s role in the 1974 film was very much secondary to the Swallows.’ Stephen O’Brien posted. ‘This was probably down to much of the Amazon’s footage ending up on the cutting room floor. What do you think?’
In the original script, the Amazons do not really appear until page 41 – which would equate to nearly half-way into the the film. I thought that there might have been one or two shots of the Amazons sailing that were never used, but I’ve checked the script and nothing that they said was excluded. Not one word. Perhaps David Wood who dramatized the book could somehow have increased the Amazons’ parts. However, as Janet Means points out:
‘…in the book we find out more about what the Swallows think but only about what the Amazons do. There is little about the Amazons except when the Swallows are present too (hiding Amazon in the reeds and Nancy berating Peggy for losing Amazon when Titty’s made off with her). There’s lots about the Swallows without the Amazons.’
Kit Seymour with Lesley Bennett
One scene in the DVD of the film used to be cut out of the television version. The clue is that it comes just before this photo was taken in Bowness-on-Windermere for Lancashire Life kindly sent to be by Stephen Sykes of Hill Top near Haverthwaite.
Sten Grendon, Simon West, Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville as the Swallows in Rio, an official still from the film published in Lancashire Life in 1974
There are a few scenes in the screenplay that were never actually shot, but that takes us on a different tack. To read more, please see: The Secrets of Filming Swallows & Amazons.
Denis Lewiston, director of Photography on ‘Swallows and Amazons’ ~ photo: Richard Pilbrow, taken on Derwentwater in Cumbria, 1973
The illustrated paperback entitled ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974) can be ordered from libraries worldwide or purchased online.
Different editions of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974) by Sophie Neville’
Although most well known for his roles in Porridge and the situation comedy ‘Allo ‘Allo, those who love the adaptations of the Arthur Ransome books will remember Sam Kelly as Captain of the Catchalot in the BBC dramatisation of ‘The Big Six’.
Sam Kelly playing Captain of the Catchalot with Jake Coppard as Pete in ‘The Big Six’
Sam Kelly was brilliant as the cheerful pike fisherman of the Norfolk Broads who trusted the local lads to look after his boat and fishing tackle, standing aside to let them take the credit for catching a ‘whoppa’ with his rod.
Jake Coppard, Mark Page, Nicholas Walpole and Sam Kelly officially weighing the great pike
Arthur Ransome did not actually give the Captain of the Catchalot a name. He is listed as ‘Robin’ in the BBC credits, although the whole point was that his character was nameless. This is unusual in a drama but Pete, of the Death and Glory, who caught bait and helped to catch the massive pike, only ever addressed him as ‘Sir’, and never knew his name. This was a point crucial to the plot as later in the story Pete is forced into a corner when questioned by the police as he had to admit he didn’t actually know the fisherman’s name.
It is maybe for this reason that, despite being a star of the drama, Sam Kelly was left off the IMDb listing for the drama serial ‘The Big Six’. I have written in to set the record straight. Do scroll down on this web-page and add your own ‘Edit’ or create a character page for him by clicking here.
Nicholas Walpole as Joe with Sam Kelly in ‘The Big Six’
The series ends when they all celebrate the great catch at the pub famously called The Roaring Donkey and drink to the stuffed pike that weighed in at over 30lbs, earning the three boys the huge sum of thirty-shillings and sixpence from the landlord.
Sam Kelly recently appeared in Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang , playing Maggie Smith’s husband Mr Docherty, and on stage in Mike Leigh comedies, until ill-health forced him to stand down. It could be tricky working with Sam as we only had to look his way and we’d all collapse laughing. The more serious the story line, the more we laughed. He was a very generous actor and will be very fondly remembered by us all.
I’ve received many questions via the internet asking if Sam Kelly ever married, but although often surrounded by pretty girls I think the opportunity passed him by. He once arrived at my house with a bottle of champagne and took me out to a very nice pub on the River Thames but I was seventeen years younger than him and had to explain I was already committed to another.
Costume designer Susannah Buxton on location with Sam Kelly and make-up artist Penny Fergusson
‘The Big Six’ was re-released with ‘Coot Club’ on DVD this summer by Revelation Films under the generic title Swallows and Amazons Forever.
Also starring Colin Baker, who was at drama school with Sam, as well as Patrick Troughton, John Woodvine and Henry Dimbelby it makes very good family viewing. To purchase a copy please click here.
The BBC have this lovely photo of Sam Kelly roaring with laughter that you can find inside the DVD:
Sam Kelly as the Captain of the Catchalot (c) BBCTV
Sam Kelly sadly died of cancer aged 70. His obituary in the Guardian, can be read here.
~ Sophie Neville with Suzanna Hamilton on Coniston Water in 2003 ~ photo: Gordon Bourne
‘How did Titty capture the Amazon?’
What did the Swallows and Amazons wear?
The Swallows and the Amazons – where are they now?
These are some of the many questions that people type into search-engines. Members of The Arthur Ransome Group on Facebook have also had questions:
Dan Ford asked, ‘I think I heard it said that the four Swallows and two Amazons all wore life-jackets under their clothes whilst filming. If that is so, they were very well concealed, so were they specially made for this use?’
We didn’t wear life jackets under our costumes, we only ever wore buoyancy aids when travelling out to the location. Last time I went out rowing on Coniston Water I didn’t wear a life-jacket either, which was very naughty.
Chris Rosindale asked: ‘What became of ‘Amazon’ from the film? Is she still in existence like ‘Swallow’?
Amazon at Bank Ground in 2003 ~ photo: Geraint Lewis
Suzanna Hamilton and I went out on Coniston Water in Amazon in when the BBC invited us to Bank Ground Farm to appear in Countryfile with Ben Fogle. We met her owners who live in Kent. I gather she was the same dinghy used to play Amazon in the 1963 BBC serial of Swallows and Amazons made when Arthur Ransome was still around to comment. Her owner told me, ‘She was built locally on Windermere sometime in the 1930.’
Amazon under sail while filming Countryfile in 2003 ~ photo: Geraint Lewis
Duncan Hall writes, ‘Just before Roger finds the camp, I’m fairly sure I can see a chimney in the background (somebody last said that it was a tree stump but it doesn’t look like a tree stump) – did you film any “on island” sequences on the mainland? Also – I know Rampsholme on Derwent Water was used for some “Wild Cat Island in the distance” shots, but it was mostly Peel Island. Did any Windermere islands get used for Wild Cat Island locations?
The Boy Roger was definitely on Peel Island when he was looking for the camping place. I remember he got rather scratched by brambles. I can see what does look like a chimney in the background but it would have been a stump.
Some of the scenes set on Wild Cat Island were indeed shot on the mainland. This was because there is no light house tree on Peel Island. I don’t think there was one in Ransome’s day. We filmed the light house tree scenes on two different promontories near Friar’s Crag overlooking Derwentwater and the Houseboat Bay. For a description of one location please click here.
‘Peggy Blackett’ & ‘Amazon’ in Secret Harbour on Peel Island: photo Geraint Lewis
Chris Clarke has asked, ‘Were any of you allowed to keep props from the film set as a souvenir? For example, were the Amazons allowed to keep their red hats?’
A number of red hats were made and I think the Amazons may have been able to keep one each. Their hats were initially bright pink, but my mother was insistent they should be red and others were knitted locally. She tried to get ones made more like a finely knitted woolen hat of mine that would have been much more in keeping with Ransome’s original sketches. However this picture was not known of back then and the Wardrobe Master, and the Director went with the design of the ones you see on the screen. Funnily enough the caps do look a bit pink in Mum’s faded photo.
The Amazons sitting with the Walker Family at Holly Howe ~ a scene neither in the book or film of Swallows & Amazons: photo: Daphne Neville
I still have a bow, two arrows with green feathers and a pair of flags used for rehearsal props. I was given one of the pink hats but it meant nothing. I didn’t keep any of my costumes, but Caroline Downer who played Dorothea says that she still has the buttercup yellow dress she wore in either ‘Coot Club’ or ‘The Big Six’.
Scores of people have asked, ‘Where was Swallows & Amazons filmed?’
One of the secrets of filming Swallows & Amazons is that while most of the film was shot on Coniston Water, we also filmed with the dinghies to Derwentwater, Windermere, Elterwater and rather a smelly lily pond.
Ben Fogle making a documentary about the locations used for Swallows & Amazons (1974) – photograph: Geraint Lewis of the Arthur Ransome Trust
Different editions of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974) by Sophie Neville’
You can find more answers in ‘The Secrets of Swallows and Amazons’ or ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’ available online or to order from your library.
I am always interested by the questions I am asked on the making the feature film of the 1974 film of ‘Swallows & Amazons’, in which I played the part of Titty when I was twelve years old.
Did you have to wear make-up?
What did you do about school?
Did you still live in a tent?
These are some of the questions I’ve been asked recently by a journalist:
How different do you think your life would have been if you had not been in Swallows & Amazons? I am not an actress but working on Swallows & Amazons, as well as a subsequent adventure movie called The Copter Kids, gave me enough experience to gain a graduate placement at the BBC and work behind the scenes on interesting television dramas including the adaptations of ‘Coot Club’ and ‘The Big Six’, written of course by Arthur Ransome. Funnily enough, it was only when I was producing a documentary in Cumbria that anyone recognised me as Titty.
How different do you think your life would have been without the publicity that the film has brought you? While publicity generated by the film did not count one jot amongst my peers in television production, it does help me as an author since fans of the film appreciate the books I’ve written and often invite me to give talks.
Do people expect you to be an expert on Arthur Ransome? Are you? I’ve just been elected President of The Arthur Ransome Society, which is a great honour. Although I have read many biographies about Arthur Ransome and grew up reading his series of twelve Swallows and Amazons books, I only claim unique knowledge of the 1974 film and the BBC series ‘Coot Club’ and ‘The Big Six’, which I worked on as an adult over nine months in 1983.
There is huge interest in how these adaptations of the well-loved stories were made, especially since both are being restored and re-leased on DVD this summer. Being a landscape movie, Richard Pilbrow’s movie of Swallows & Amazons looks amazing on the big screen will be shown in cinemas from July in celebration of its 40th Anniversary.
Are you surprised that there’s still such an interest in the film? The film of Swallows & Amazons has gained in popularity over the years. This seems unusual but parents, and now grandparents, want their children to see the same film they loved growing up. They trust it as a baby-sitting DVD.
I hope its popularity has kept Arthur Ransome on the shelves of bookshops as they are truly inspirational. Together, the film and books seem to have figure-headed a ‘Swallows and Amazons lifestyle’ advocated in magazines, along with camping and picnic food, themes for weddings, knit-wear and even cat-walk fashion. ‘Very Swallows and Amazons…’ is the often used phrase, alongside a black and white photograph of me as a little girl, heaving on an oar.
Telegraph Magazine
Are you surprised that you are still so involved in it? I wasn’t much involved until we clubbed together to buy Swallow, the original dinghy used in the film. After displaying her glorious new coat of varnish at the London Boat Show in 2011 there has been an endless stream of requests to know more about how the film was made. Looking back through my diaries there were a surprising number of film-making secrets. I’ve only just remembered the funniest one.
What’s it like to be famous? This is the most difficult question as I always dreaded becoming celebrity. We all loathed publicity as children and found projecting ourselves excruciating. I now wish that it had been explained to us that it was part of our work to sell the film as I could have understood the need for that. Instead I felt desperately self-conscious about appearing on television or radio, especially as I wasn’t a glamorous actress and didn’t want to be one. It’s my character that is well-known. Titty is loved worldwide. Forty years on, I am still receiving fan mail, more so than ever since the advent of social media. I have just received a sweet tweet saying: hello titty :o) the family are enjoying the book, thank you. We have watched the film, conservative estimate, 20 times.
If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments blog below.
I opened my post to find not one but three reviews of my books, including this article published in The Outlaw and another in Signals, for which I am very grateful. I have pasted them here for fans of the film who do not yet subscribe to these literary magazines.
This review was followed by by a comment from Winifred Wilson, librarian of The Arthur Ransome Society:
The Library Supplement in The magazine of The Arthur Ransome Society gives a full description of all three books:
Mixed Moss arrived before Easter with Spurrier’s map on the cover:
I found another review inside, this time from New Zealand:
The News is that The Secrets of Filming Swallows & Amazons has been signed up by the publisher Classic TV Press who plan to bring out a new edition in paperback this July. It will include glossy photographs and additional points of interest. If you would like to order a signed copy please email: classictvpress@live.co.uk
If you are interested in joining the Arthur Ransome Society please click here.
Here is a shot from 1973, capturing some of the deb-archery:
Sophie Neville with Peter Robb-King (Make-Up) and Ronnie Cogan (Hair) watching Lesley Bennett and Kit Seymour trying out their bows and arrows with Terry Smith (Wardrobe) while on location near Peel Island on Coniston Water in the Lake District.
We now have a second edition of ‘The Secrets of Filming Swallows and Amazons’ out as an ebook and two versions of the paperback, which is almost identical but includes film stills and can be ordered from libraries as well as the usual online outlets.
Different editions of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974) by Sophie Neville’
For some time now, I’ve had a Swallows and Amazons mug at home, which I use to keep my pens in. Featuring the design of the Jonathan Cape book jacket, it was given to me by Scruffie Buchanan who stocked the full set of Arthur Ransome mugs in her shop aptly called The Museum of Childhood. I treasure it as a part of mine. It is difficult to find these now. They have become collectors’ items.
Not long ago I was presented with this handsome mug from Hill Top Cottage at Ealinghearth, by Stephen and Janine Sykes when they showed me around the Ransome’s last home, which they have restored in the Lake District.
I’ve just discovered that it is possible to buy mugs depicting scenes from the film of Swallows & Amazons (1974). This one (above) is quite fun as it resembles the cover of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974)’ There are others:
There are various scenes, but if you want to drink to Captain Flint walking the plank, you can.
My favourite design shows the film poster of Swallows & Amazons, which comes in two ways.
There are a variety of other stills from the film to chose from. These mugs and other movie merchandise such as mouse-mats, jigsaw puzzles and framed prints can be purchased from StudioCanal, the film’s distributors, who have an online shop.
Meanwhile, Jago Silver has designed these Expresso mugs that are great for camping.
Just when I was wondering if there were any more ‘Swallows and Amazons’ inspired mugs, I was sent this beautiful depiction of Hill Top near Haverthwaite, showing the view Arthur and Genia would have enjoyed in their twilight years. Here are two views of the same mug:
Photos of this historic mug were taken by Craig Wadhurst.
These bone china mugs depicting Ransome’s yachts Peter Duck and the Nancy Blackett cost £10, or lessor a pair, and are available from The Nancy Blackett Trust here. They also sell a selection of books, audio books and videos for Arthur Ransome enthusiasts.
I have had decorative maps of Arthur Ransome locations around Windermere and Coniston applied to mugs available from Redbubble. Here is one featuring the cover of my book available here.
These come from Australia, so take a while to arrive but are good quality.
Mugs printed with maps used to illustrate Sophie’s books
The most popular is the mug with the map of Coniston Water, which you can find here
If you like using thermal cups with lids, the decorative map of Coniston Water can be found here
A full range of items in this range including t-shirts and bags can be seen on a previous post here.
Map showing ‘Swallows and Amazons’ film locations around Coniston Water
The most beautiful range of Swallows and Amazons china including these small coffee mugs featuring the map from the book (above) and this plate, were once available from The Nancy Blackett shop but you might find they have sold out.
They do stock larger, more practical mugs depicting ‘Swallow’, and the ‘Nancy Blackett’ for £8.50 each here.
Do let me know if you know of any other Swallows & Amazons mugs and where they can be found in the comments below.
Stephen Grendon, Simon West, Sophie Neville and Suzanna Hamilton on the cover of the 1974 Puffin edition of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ by Arthur Ransome
When the EMI/Theatre Projects film of Swallows & Amazons was released forty-eight years ago, Puffin books brought out a paperback featuring the dinghies near Cormorant Island on the front cover. The photograph was taken on Derwentwater at the point in the story soon after Titty has been found to have captured the Amazon. Did you ever have one of these?
Nancy and Peggy Blackett are featured on the back cover, hiding in the reeds at the mouth of the Amazon River. We were invited to a Puffin Club party at the Commonwealth Institute to launch the book. It was re-printed twice in 1974, which might reflect the popularity of the film. 75,000 copies were brought out.
Unbeknownst to me, Heinemann Educational books brought out this cover in 1982.
The photograph would have been shot when we were rehearsing the scene when the Swallows first land at Peel Island on Coniston Water. It was mid-May and I got terribly cold in my thin cotton dress. Suzanna wasn’t feeling well and were all tired, as you can see.
Sophie Neville and Simon West on the cover of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ published by the Daily Mail in 2003
Almost thirty years after Richard Pilbrow released the movie, a hardback was produced with a tinted black and white still from the film taken when we were fishing in Shark Bay. This was shot on Elterwater, a small reedy lake near Windermere. We have Arthur Ransome guardians to thank for this. The draft copy had a rather clonky cartoon that they were not happy with. It can be seen by clicking here.
This book cover was advertised every day for a week on the front cover to the Daily Mail and profiled in the magazine as one of their thirty books featured in their Children’s Golden Library collection.
The offer was featured nationally in a television commercial. I saw the advert myself a couple of times and wondered what effect the promotion would have. Simon and I weren’t given any warning and received no remuneration for having our faces spun around in the advertisement, although a box of books arrived unexpectedly at my house. I gave one to the lady who was translating Swallows and Amazons into Chinese.
This hardback is often available on eBay, where I found this 1992 edition published by Cresset Press. I hadn’t seen it before. Suzanna Hamilton thought the choice of photograph rather bizarre.
I preferred the still from the movie used on the cover of the first VHS tape.
The cover of the original VHS version of ‘Swallows & Amazons’
This is probably because it reminded me of the 1970 Puffin book cover that I read as a child and took with me to the Lake District when we started filming in May 1973. I underlined all Titty’s dialogue in pencil.
The cover of this audio cassette tape ‘talking book’ is quite interesting. Which scene does it depict?
Mike Dennis wrote in to say:
‘It’s an abridged version read by Bernard Cribbins, originally released as two cassettes. He does a good job but I seem to remember the adaptation is a bit rushed towards the end to get the whole story in to the time limit of the cassettes (2 hours), it was released by EMI’s ‘Listen For Pleasure’ division.
The publishers, Red Fox, commissioned an illustration for their cover along the same lines, depicting the characters in the 1974 movie.
The current designs for Arthur Ransome’s paperbacks were on display at the V&A after winning the Book Cover Illustration Award. Association with the movie can hardly be claimed, but hopefully the film will have helped to keep Ransome’s stories on the shelves of bookshops worldwide.
Possibly as a result of this, or perhaps because they just liked the colours of the design and the book, Apple iPad featured the cover on their illuminated advertisements seen around London:
I walked up the steps of Tower Bridge underground station to see Swallow’s flag flying: fabulous!
Robert Thompson has made an online survey including covers of all the children’s books by Arthur Ransome, which you can access by clicking here.
Does anyone know of any other book or audio tape covers that used photographs from the film? Do add your comments in the box below.
The Swallows and Amazons map of Windermere on a thermal cup 
sophieneville.net 