If you know an Arthur Ransome enthusiast with has a birthday coming up, I have put together a collection of useful clothing for men and women. You should be able to find discount codes for Redbubble, the manufacturer here
There are an assortment of T-shirts, sweatshirts, hoodies, pullovers available, each printed with hand-painted maps with the locations from the original film of Swallows and Amazons. You can choose your own colour, style and design.
These high-quality goods are manufactured by Red Bubble in Australia who take care of all custom charges. If you are asked to pay customs, send then a picture of the proof of payment of the customs charge and they’ll sort it out.
~Contact sheet shots taken from Albert C Clarke’s film stills~
‘I have just been watching on BBC catch-up, the famous and wonderfully entertaining film ‘Swallows and Amazons’. As a 12 year old boy in 1974, my little brother and I were taken to watch the James Bond film ‘Live and Let Die’ in Coulsdon. As we sat down to watch it we found ourselves sat at the wrong place. We were so upset! When the film ‘Swallows and Amazons’ started playing we totally forgot about 007 and found ourselves glued to the screen watching this wonderfully entertaining film. In short, even at 58 years of age I still enjoy this beautiful film about four children and their adventures.’ George
Virginia McKenna as Man Friday in Swallows and Amazons 1974
‘My best #lockdown viewing so far has been the 1974 film version of Arthur Ransome’s ‘Swallows and Amazons‘. Reliving the joy of discovering those books, and remembering the freedom of grubbing about in the wildness…’ Judy Darley
Sophie Neville as Robinson Crusoe the shipwrecked sailor
‘Never read Arthur Ransome’s ‘Swallows & Amazons’ or seen an adaptation until yesterday. What a delight the 1974 film was. Captured the spirit of childhood adventure so charmingly. Didn’t stop smiling for a moment during the whole thing.’ David Rattigan
The Swallows on Wild Cat Island
‘Watching the original ‘Swallows and Amazons’ with daughter. Get to the “better drowned than duffers, if not duffers won’t drown” telegram and daughter remarks: “I see. So their dad’s gone mad and is writing gibberish.”’ Patrick Kidd – Times Diaryist
Behind-the-scenes at Bank Ground filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in 1973
‘Ooh. The original ‘Swallows and Amazons’ has come onto Amazon Prime. The one with Titty. The real one. The only one.’
Sophie Neville being made up for the part of Titty in 1973
‘Best children’s film ever made. Perfect lockdown viewing. BBC iPlayer – ‘Swallows and Amazons’ – Tim Bonner
For homeschooling ideas relating to the films, such as watching the DVD in French, please click here
You can read the first section of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974)’ for free in the preview here:
RTE Guide declared, ‘The definitive adaptation of Arthur Ransome’s ‘Swallows & Amazons’ is on BBC Two.’ More people than ever seemed to watch the classic film, starring Virginia McKenna, which attracted comments on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram while emails were being sent in.
M.J. Probyn #StayAtHomeAndStaySafeSwallows and Amazons on BBC2 today! Break out the grog and pemmican. Stay home and watch this excellent film adaptation today…
Graeme Wood – Just what we need in these extraordinary times…
Dr Lucie Bea D – And Swallows and Amazons is on! A very very early cinema memory for me; I saw it in Hereford and was given a colouring in picture of the Amazons hiding in the reeds watching Swallow.
I’ve just enjoyed watching the film on tv again (I watch it every time!) I can remember watching the film in 1974 with my mum and grandma when I was a nine or ten year old, at the then called Mecca Cinema in Horsham,Mecca Cinema in Horsham, Sussex (sadly now demolished) I remember loving the natural setting and the adventure in the film and remember it being thrilling and suspenseful! Still my favourite film, so cheerful and uplifting. The lovely music! All still brings a tear to my eye.
Back then in the 70s we didn’t have the lakes but at every opportunity our little band of local children would run off over the fields playing, building camps and climbing trees in the woods – such happy, carefree days. Been looking at your website too – what a huge resource about the film – good time at the moment to look through it! Thank you for all the information and being in such a happy film, John Rose
Michael – I spent my summers up in the Lake District as a boy and loved/love the book
Peter Hamilton – Swallows and Amazon’s was one of my all time favourites as a child, it was an adventure that seemed more attainable than famous five etc. I really hope my son loves it as much as I did when he’s older…. I adore lake Coniston. Even in high summer that water is icy and very deep innocent happy times… I‘ve tried to sail out to the island on Coniston lake but there wasn’t enough wind so didn’t quite make it. I collected a fair few of the books in my 20s, brings back lots of memories
Duncan HallIt’s such a good film. Doesn’t feel dated at all, to me.
Peter Ashby something timeless about the film. I can happily sit and watch it any time
Graeme Wood – Just goes to show how timeless the story is..
Graeme Wood – It’s a lovely film. As a kid I wanted to jump through the TV screen and join in (ditto the BBC adaptations of Coot Club and The Big Six). Hopefully kids will watch and want to read the books.
Michael – I’ve loved it all my life. I remember my dad rowing me out to an island on lake Windermere and showing me holes in trees, he said they’re from arrows!!!!!!
Maddy Knibb – I also had a wooden swing that collapsed so I turned it into a boat, with broom handle and sheet mast and sail. Guess which books were played out – Swallows and Amazons! It was by a laurel hedge and the leaves made great fish to be cooked on pretend fires!
Perfect opportunity for children to replicate #WildcatIsland with homemade tents in the living room
Glenn Evans – Read this to all my children when they were toddlers. And saw the film in 1974 myself.
Michael – It was only yesterday as far as I’m concerned
Jude – Remember watching the boats on the lake being being filmed from my bedroom window – what a lovely way to slip back into my childhood
Mandy Morley The most classic, and my favourite quote: “I’ll shiver your timbers for you if you don’t stop chattering Peggy!”
Portway Junior School say, ‘the Portway Press also contained a link to the children’s classic ‘Swallows and Amazons‘ film – an excellent watch in this wet weather’.
The 1974 adaptation of Arthur Ransome’s iconic book ‘Swallows and Amazons’ starring Virginia McKenna was screened on BBC Two on Friday 17th April at 3.00pm and was available on BBC iPlayer for 30 days here
Please add any questions about how the movie was made to the Comments below.
For the latest edition of the paperback on ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons(1974)’ with details of the film locations and what those who appeared in it are doing now, Please click here
You can read the first section for free in the ebook, entitled ‘The secrets of filming Swallows & Amazons (1974)’ This is similar to the paperback but has a few more stories for adult readers and links to behind-the-scenes cine footage. It can be downloaded from iBooks, iTunes, Smashwords,Kobo and Amazon Kindle
For homeschooling ideas, why not get hold of a copy of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in French or enter Into Film’s movie review writing contests? Read more here.
It would be lovely to hear from anyone who saw it in the cinema when it first came out in cinemas in the summer of 1974 – more than forty-five years ago.
I’ve used the maps I drew to illustrate my book on ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons, 1974’ to bring out a ‘Sophie Neville collection’ of gifts.
Map showing film locations around Coniston Water
Map of film locations on Derwentwater in the Lake District
Map showing some of the film locations around Windermere
Each of the three different maps, seen above, have been printed on cushions, bedding, bath mats, shower curtains, coasters and items of clothing that make perfect presents for Swallows and Amazons enthusiasts.
To view the collection that feature Coniston Water, Windermere and Derwentwater, please click here.
Find a copy of the Blu-ray of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in French – ‘Hirondelle et Amazones’ – and see if it helps you pick up the language. You could have a go at writing an online review in French, even if it was a short one. There is a French critique you can read here.
2. Watch the DVD of ‘Swallows and Amazons Forever!’- the BBC TV adaptation of ‘Coot Club’ and ‘The Big Six’ and write (or little ones can dictate) an online review – here’s a link to the Amazon site. You can read about the children who appeared in the serial, for free, on this website.
Puffin edition of ‘Swallows and Amazons’
3. Log on to Goodreads and write reviews of any Arthur Ransome books you have read. You could also post your review on other online sites such as Amazon.
7. If you are interested in filmography or eager to understand the behind-the-scenes workings of a film set, you can compare the making of Swallows and Amazons (1974) as detailed in ‘The Secrets of Filming Swallows and Amazons‘ with the making of the 2016 movie, which has a DVD Extras package. See if you can identify technical aspects of film-making that have evolved over the last forty years, such as CGI and the use of green screens.
Sophie Neville
Do think of joining The Arthur Ransome Society. You could submit a book or film review for publication in one of their magazines. They run competitions and offer grants for young people keen on taking part in activities that would be dear to Arthur Ransome’s heart, from learning how to sail to story-telling.
The school term is over, ‘Swallows and Amazons’ is on BBC iPlayer and Christmas missives are arriving in the post. I have just been sent this homemade card from someone who came to the premier of the original film in 1974, when I was fortunate enough to play Able seaman Titty.
~Captain Flint hanging Christmas decorations around his houseboat on a card made from a Puffin book cover~
I dug out the Puffin paperback of Swallows and Amazons my father gave me when I was a girl and read avidly, along with other books in the series, by the time I was eleven years-old. It is a 1970’s edition in which I’d underlined everything Titty said. I must have re-read this copy when busy preparing for filming the 1974 movie financed by EMI.
Kaye Webb, the editor, had written an introduction saying, ‘This book is about sailing, fishing, swimming, camping, and piratical exploits.’ She wanted to make it available to children, thinking that discovering Swallows and Amazons ‘for the first time must be as exciting as a Christmas morning.’
Underneath, I’d noted down the skills I would need to acquire before playing the part of Titty. ‘Owl Hoot’, was one item, ‘wisle’ (sic) another. I was somewhat apprehensive about dancing the Hornpipe but excited about ‘being a cormorant’, having no idea how cold this experience would prove.
According to Trade News, 75,000 copies of a new Puffin paperback were brought out to accompany the original film. A still was used from the scene where the Swallows sail both dinghies from Cormorant Island. It retailed for 35p. Meanwhile Jonathan Cape printed 12,500 copies with the original dust jacket to accompany the release on 4th April 1974.
Today, I am most interested in Ransome’s prose, amused to find the phrase ‘X marks the spot where they ate six missionaries’ does not appear within the pages of the book. It was given to Titty in 1973 by the screenwriter David Wood. However, there are words of wisdom a-plenty that were not used in the film adaptations:
‘I like cooking,’ said mate Susan.
‘If you want to go on liking it, take my advice and get someone else to do the washing up’, is Mother’s reply. (I wonder who might have said this in reality.)
‘You can be wide awake and not see a thing when you aren’t looking’ is one of Roger’s observations.
John was able to look back to ‘a different, distant life’, which is exactly how it feels when the excitement of Ransome’s world spoils you for the ordinary. It’s true: those involved in outdoor activities develop in leaps and bounds ending up, ‘not at all what they had been.’
What is it about Arthur Ransome’s writing that captures your imagination? Rowing? Sailing? Cooking over a camp fire? Which book has most influenced your life?
Article on Swallows and Amazons on Puffin Magazine
You can read about the adventures we had bringing out the original film in different versions of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974)’, which is now available as an audiobook.
Different editions of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974) by Sophie Neville’
If you enjoy ‘Swallows and Amazons’ do think of joining The Arthur Ransome Society who often visit the film locations or the Arthur Ransome Group on Facebook where you will meet like-minded people – of all ages. Most are dinghy sailors who love the books.
Lat time ‘Swallows and Amazons'(1974) was screened on BBC Two, at least one film fan held a TV party with a 1930’s theme. Others ‘stoked up the wood-burner and settled down to spend an afternoon re-living summer in the Lake District’, adding, ‘It is as if Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without ‘Swallows and Amazons’ – a timeless classic to watch again and again.’
For the latest edition of the paperback on ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons(1974)’ with details of where the film was made and what those who appeared in it are doing now, Please click here
The ebook, entitled ‘The secrets of filming Swallows & Amazons (1974)’ is similar with a few more stories for adult readers and has links to behind-the-scenes cine footage. It can be downloaded from iTunes, Smashwords,Kobo and Amazon Kindle
It would be lovely to hear from anyone who saw it in the cinema when it first came out in cinemas in the summer of 1974 – more than forty-five years ago.
Simon Hodkin kindly sent in this cinema programme that he has kept since watching the movie when he was a boy growing up in North Wales.
Arthur Herbertson managed to track down these rare publicity sheets for ‘Swallows and Amazons’ typical of movie games of the period:
Arthur has a collection of the four jigsaw puzzles and the Puffin paperback that came out with the film.
There was a vinyl LP narrated by the screenwriter David Wood that you can still purchase.
Arthur found a publicity brochure that I had never seen before.
To read comments from people who saw the film at the cinema in 1974, please click here
The original story was written by Arthur Ransome in 1929 ninety years ago, so the film hits the half-way mark between the original readers and today’s audience. It’s funny, the critics in 1974 are asking the same question as raised in the billing this week: Do ‘modern youngsters struggle to relate to such old-fashioned game playing’?
Do add your thoughts to the comments below.
~Billing in the Christmas edition of the Radio Times 2019~
Each year, at Christmas time, my father, who was born in 1929, would look forward to receiving a copy of the latest Arthur Ransome novel. 2019 marks the 80th anniversary of the publication of ‘Secret Water’, the only book in the Swallows and Amazons series to be set in Essex. While my father’s Jonathan Cape hard-backs were sadly lost to life’s chaos, I was lucky enough to find a first edition given to another little boy for Christmas 1939. This March, I took it with me to Harwich, near to the Walton Backwaters where the story is set, to help celebrate the 20th Essex Book Festival, whose theme for 2019 is Uncharted Waters.
~Author Peter Willis, Neil D’Arcy-Jones and Sophie Neville~
“Here we are, intrepid explorers, making the first ever voyage into uncharted waters. What mysteries will they hold for us? What dark secrets shall be revealed?” Titty Walker in the 1974 feature film ‘Swallows and Amazons’.
I had been invited to speak on a panel led by journalist Neil D’Arcy-Jones with Peter Willis, President of The Nancy Blackett Trust and Julia Jones, author of The Strong Winds series who owns Arthur Ransome’s yacht, Peter Duck. The discussion was introduced by Seona Ford, Chairman of the Essex Book Festival, and supported by Ros Green, the festival director and Brian Key, chairman of TARS EAST – The Arthur Ransome Society’s eastern branch. The event was sold out with members of the audience travelling from as far a field as Durham.
~A buoy akin to those featured in Ransome’s novels outside the 1912 Centre~
A huge variety of activities had been laid on that day. AL Kennedy, winner of the Costa Book of the Year, read from the tale of The Little Snake deep in the bowels of the Harwich Redoubt, a circular fort built in 1808, where a display illustrated the Kindertransport of 1938 when two hundred children were temporarily housed nearby.
~Award-winning author AL Kennedy reading from her new book The Little Snake~
Although I’d sailed past in the Nancy Blackett, I hadn’t been to Harwich since I worked on the BBC TV series One by One, a drama about the adventures of a vet starring James Ellis and an elephant with tummy trouble. Instead of a film crew, we found an offshore pirate radio revival was being celebrated with the help of a shanty band in Harwich harbour, the final berth of Radio Caroline’s The Boat That Rocked.
~LightVessel 18 moored on The Quay to host nautical storytelling and poems~
Arthur Ransome enthusiasts met for lunch at a hostelry named after Samuel Pepys, MP for the historic port that was home to Christopher Jones, Captain of The Mayflower. Marine artist Claudia Myatt arrived from a workshop she hosted on nautical flags and knots, using activity books she wrote and illustrated for the Royal Yachting Association.
~Artist and book illustrator Claudia Myatt with one of her RYA books~
For other exciting talks and events held this month by the Essex Book Festival in Colchester, Chelmsford, Harwich, Baintree, Southend-on-Sea, Brentwood, Epping and other venues around the county, please click here.
~Claudia Myatt’s sketches of Pin Mill on the River Orwell~
If you enjoyed the original film adaptation of Arthur Ransome’s book ‘Swallows and Amazons’ often broadcast on BBC Two, and now screened on Talking Pictures TV, do think of getting a copy of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’, published by The Lutterworth Press or the ebook entitled ‘The Secrets of Filming Swallows and Amazons’. You can read the first section for free on Kindle here. Quite fun!
It’s surprising ‘Swallows and Amazons’ hasn’t been re-made a number of times. The 1974 movie was sold all over the world and has been screened so often it’s become regarded as iconic, labelled ‘a cult classic’ or ‘enduring success’. You can listen to Wilfred Joseph’s film score here:
Thanks to Claude Whatham’s extraordinary skill in creating a period film that never dated, cinema audiences emerge asking if it was made last summer.
The Danish poster of ‘Swallows & Amazons’ 1974 giving the Swallows a Jolly Roger or pirate flag
Although it was shot nearly 50 years ago, fan mail still arrives from Australia, the USA and Japan. Families can quote David Wood’s script fluently, having watched the DVD thirty times or more. The biggest complement is that they talk of being ‘Titty-ish’ or ‘just like Titty’, the little girl whose imagination gave her the strength and courage to excel.
-A carefully made fan letter showing Sophie Neville playing Titty Walker in 1974-
When I went to watch the 2016 film of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ being made on location, I warned the actors they were in for the long haul. Although the new adaptation has older children in the cast, and additions to the plot, it was heralded as a great British film, a landscape movie of significance about the thrill of exploring the great outdoors. Broadcast on BBC Two earlier this December and it is out on both Blu ray and DVD. For the Hanway Films billing of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ 2016, please click here.
A Czech poster of ‘Swallows & Amazons’ 1974
Think of uploading the ebook onto your phone so that you can use it as a guide to find the film locations and places Arthur Ransome knew well next time you are in the Lake District. You can read the first section free of charge here:
~Author Peter Willis, Neil D’Arcy-Jones and Sophie Neville~
sophieneville.net 