As president of The Arthur Ransome Society, I am keen to promote ‘Swallows and Amazons’, emphasizing the aspect that children today can enjoy the outdoor activities advocated by Arthur Ransome back in the 1930s.
ITV reporter Nina Nannar bravely came out sailing with me in a Scow, rigged like Swallow with a balanced lug sail, to experience the excitement of letting the wind take us along at speed.
When it came to the evening News, ITV showed clips of the movie of ‘Swallows and Amazons’, launched in August 2016.
The item was also shown on the News in New Zealand. A viewer wrote in saying:
‘Great to see a full 3+ minutes about the new S&A film on NZ TV news tonight. Sophie Neville did a great job of promoting the value for modern kids to get out on the water or under canvas.’
The 2016 movie stars Ralph Spall, Kelly Macdonald & Andrew Scott, seen here spying on Captain Flint.
A clip from ‘Swallows & Amazons’ (1974) starring Virginia McKenna
in which I played her daughter, Titty Walker or rather Able-seaman Titty, was also shown.
They then showed children today learning to sail, unaccompanied by adults.
Whilst young children were crewing for the junior instructors, aged 16 and 17, Nina Nannar interviewed me about summer camps offered by The Arthur Ransome Society
‘Is Swallows and Amazons relevant to children today?’ was the main question.
‘It’s timeless, isn’t it?’ I said, proving this by referring to the children sailing around us.
Andrea Gibb was interviewed in the studio about her screenplay for ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (2016).
You can watch the item here
‘Is Swallows and Amazons relevant to children today?’
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You can read about making the original film of Swallows and Amazons here:
Sophie Neville 