In 1974, my mother, Daphne Neville, was commissioned to write an article about working on the original film of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ for Woman magazine, which claimed to be ‘The world’s greatest weekly for women’. Here are some extracts from her type script:
Simon West, Stephen Grendon, Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville playing the Walker children in ‘Swallows and Amazons’ 1973 ~photo: Daphne Neville
Daphne Neville with Sophie Neville and Simon West on Coniston Water
Our guests: Jane, Michael, Clare and Lucy Selby and their dog, Minnie on the shore of Conniston Water with my sisters Perry and Tamzin in 1973
I was amazed to read some of this. ‘….a dirth of birds’? Was that really how my mother spoke in the early ‘Seventies? I had no recollection that ‘Nomansland’ had been displayed on the front of our double-decker bus. I never remembered there only being bathroom at Oaklands Guesthouse or that Mum had to wash out clothes. I do remember Ronald Fraser shouting, ‘Piss off you little monster’. I have the photo:
Sten Grendon sitting on top of Ronald Fraser during a break in the filming of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on Derwentwater ~ photo: Daphne Neville
More to follow…. If you would like to see photos of Daphne Neville appearing in movies herself, please click here
You read about how we made the original movie ‘Swallows and Amazons’ in any of these books that retail online and can be ordered from bookshops or libraries:
Different editions of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974) by Sophie Neville’
The long-awaited second edition of ‘The Making of SWALLOWS AND AMAZONS (1974)’ was being published in paperback by The Lutterworth Press in May 2017. It is available from their website here
This memoir of an odd thing that happened in the early 1970s is similar to the first edition but has a new cover and includes a few more stories, photographs and names from the ‘seventies that have floated to the surface. It compliments StudioCanal’s 40th Anniversary DVD and Blu-ray and makes a good present for anyone who has grown up watching the 1974 film.
The new paperback edition will be stocked by the vast majority of book retailers including Amazon, Waterstones, Blackwells, Paperback Bookshop, Books Etc. and is available direct from The Lutterworth Press who also publish ‘Swallows, Amazons and Coots’ by Julian Lovelock that has a foreword by Sophie Neville. Those in North America can order copies from the US distributor Casemate Academic
Sophie will be signing copies at events around the country.
Sophie signed copies of her books at the Tavistock Festival and gave a talk at the Roseland Festival in St Mawes before a screening of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (1974) at the lovely Hotel Tresanton cinema.
Much of Arthur of the Britonswas shot at Woodchester Mansion where HTV constructed the huge lathe and wattle hall which comprised King Arthur’s seat.
Oliver Tobias as Arthur and Michael Gothard as Kai can just been seen standing outside the doors of the hall
We went to watch the filming soon after the fire scene, which opens the episode entitled ‘The Gift of Life’. My sister Tamzin was cast as Elka, the little Saxon girl who arrived unexpectedly by longboat with her brother Krist.
In the story, this was spotted drifting down the river – which is in reality the lake at Woodchester. Arthur insists they should be returned to their own people by Kai, portrayed by Michael Gothard, who rides off with them on his horse.
Shaun Fleming as Krist, Micheal Gothard as Kai, Tamzin Neville and Elka and Kerig the hideous doll whose head kept falling off
We were able to watch the episode being shot.
‘I want to feed the squirrels,’ Tamzin declared after they had been riding for a while. It was a line few have forgotten.
‘Oh, no!’
‘Oh, yes.’
‘Why couldn’t you feed the squirrels before you left?’
‘I did, but now I want to feed them again.’
I was fascinated in her costume, including her shoes which were made of hessian sacking.
Sophie and Perry Neville watching their sister Tamzin having her dirty face seen to by a make-up artist during the filming of ‘Arthur of the Britons’ being made on location in Gloucestershire in 1972. Michael Gothard waits, seated on his horse.
I am not sure whether Michael Gothard had worked with children before but he seemed able to cope. No one had asked Tamzin if she could ride. It was a good thing she was used to large horses and had a naughty pony of her own. They set off at speed and her hessian dress was not exactly ideal riding wear.
Shaun Fleming was excellent as her brother and managed to cling on behind the saddle as they charged across the hills, which can’t have been easy. The secret was that he acted under his mother’s maiden name instead of his real surname.
Daphne Neville with her daughter Tamzin Neville who played Elka and Geoffrey Adams who played Hald with Shaun Fleming as Krist in ‘The Gift of Life’
Tamzin was then asked if she could whistle while she was ‘feeding the squirrels’, or having a pee as we would say now. It was demanded by the script.
No one had asked her in advance if she could whistle. This was tricky as the tooth fairy had recently visited her in a big way.
‘I couldn’t even whistle when I had all my teeth.’
I appeared as the Saxon girl with blonde curly hair seen working in the fields with Heather Wright when the children returned to the Saxon village. While Heather was in lime green, I wore a gold-ish coloured top and plum skirt with no shoes. You can see me hobbling across the end of the field which was full of thistles.
My other sister, Perry, was barefoot too. My mother, as a Saxon woman with short fair hair, (photographed above) virtually carried her into the village after Tamzin and Shaun.
It had been decided that, on the whole, Saxons were blonde, Celts were dark-haired like Oliver Tobias, who played King Arthur. It wasn’t until I did an Ancestry.com DNA test in 2022 that I discovered my heritage was almost 100% Celtic – Scots/Cornish/Irish/Welsh with a little Danish thrown in.
There were a number of weapons on set that intrigued us as children. We all wanted to learn how to use them. Oliver Tobias began to teach us sword fighting, however there was an accident on set which put a stop to this. One of the actors was having his boots sorted out by a wardrobe assistant when he casually swung his axe. Although it was just a blunt prop, with no edge to the blade, it went into her head, resulting in a four inch gash across her scalp. He was devastated. It was a complete accident. The wardrobe assistant recovered but it was a sobering incident and great care was taken when handling the props afterwards, even though they seemed blunt and harmless.
Fifty years later this series is still treasured by many. It had such a strong cast. Heather Wright went on to star in The Bellstone Fox with Bill Travers and Dennis Waterman and in the 1976 movie Shout at the Devil with Lee Marvin, Roger Moore and Ian Holm.
Geoffrey Adams was terribly well known at the time, as for years he’d played the part of Detective Constable Lauderdale in the long-running BBC Police series Dixon of Dock Green appearing with Jack Warner in nearly 300 episodes.
Shaun (Fleming) Dromgoole went to work in film production on a number of well known movies including American Gothic and The Woman He Loved, about which starred Anthony Andrews and Olivia de Havilland and Jane Seymour as Wallis Simpson.
Woodchester Mansion, the vast house built of cut stone yet left half-finished, was eventually sold for £1 to Stroud District Council. My father became a Trustee of the Board that decided its future.
To read more about Tamzin’s acting career please see this previous post.
Shaun Fleming, Tamzin Neville, Sophie Neville , Jenny Fleming, Kerig the doll and Daphne Neville in 1972
The producer, Patrick Dromgoole was absolutely prolific, producing a huge number of classic television dram serials including The She Wolf of London and The Clifton House Mystery, which my mother appeared in as well as Robin of Sherwood . Her drama pupil Robert Addie played Sir Guy of Gisbourne so convincingly in that series he became hated throughout the UK. For more photographs of Mum please see flick down though various posts on my blog for Funnily Enough.
Do please add additional information or memories in the comments below.
I have been writing about my experiences behind-the-scenes in film and television. There is one series in particular that still has a strong following, particularly those interested in British medieval history.
Dressing up in medieval garb as children at Sudley Castle in about 1970
As children, back in 1971, we were all excited to hear that HTV was planning to film a series about King Arthur near where we lived in Gloucestershire. We were keen on dressing up and I was already interested in medieval history.
The Arthurian legend had always been portrayed with ladies in pointy conical hats and knights in chain mail riding around with lances, however expectations of turreted castles were soon to be dashed.
We woke up one morning to find this tent in the field beyond our house, with a full English breakfast being served by location caterers from the back of a two-tone bus. The final scenes of Episode One of the series Arthur of the Britons, entitled Arthur is Dead,starring Oliver Tobias in the title role,was to be filmed on our farm.
The unit base for HTV’s drama serial ‘Arthur of the Britons’ being shot on our farm in the Cotswolds in 1972
We learnt that the drama series, Arthur of the Britions was to be quite different from traditional renditions of the well-loved stories. Apart from anything else the actors had long hair and wore rough hessian garments or sheepskins to reflect the culture of Iron Age England. Everyone was excited about the idea, which seemed more authentic and certainly held more sex-appeal than the Hollywood idyl lodged in our consciousness.
While the lane below the wood that ran along the sides of our valley was closed to traffic, HTV ran cables and moved in with their lights, camera equipment and props amounting to bundles of swords, spears, shields and other weaponry.
Here you can see the Gulliver’s Prop lorry as well as costume and make-up artists with their kit-bags attending to the actors and supporting artistes. Please remind me of the name of the character to the left of shot and who played him. ***
It must have been dark under the trees, as there would have been have been a large 2K light on this tripod. The crew set up carefully and were finally ready to go for a take, recording the battle in the woods on 16mm.
After a short skirmish, Arthur pretends to retreat, leading his men downhill. They are soon followed by the Saxon hordes. The reality was that the wood was much steeper than it came across on television. The actors ended up tumbling down the bank.
We were waiting in the open field in the valley floor. Although naturally marshy, this had been made much wetter by damming the stream that flowed down from the woods. Our local road engineer Percy Baxter dug pits that filled with water and acted as a trap for the Saxons who did not know the secret way through the marshes.
My sisters and our sheepdog with Percy Baxter who dug great holes in the field before allowing them to fill up with spring water. Members of the crew work beyond.
We knew of the legend and were fascinated to see how the sequence would come together.
As the scene was difficult to replicate it was shot with two cameras, seen here set on wooden tripods. The result was exciting.
For photos of the location on the Arthur of the Britons website please click here.
Scroll to 19.50 towards the end of the episode to watch the scene here on Youtube:
***Post script: This email arrived recently. I have been given permission to feature it:
“Browsing the web the other day, I came across your website and photos relating to filming ‘Arthur of the Britons’. One photo in particular interested me, the one in which the request, ‘Please remind me of the name of the character to the left of shot and who played him’ appears.
Looking at that photo stirred many memories…
Back in 60’s Bristol, my old chum Bob Baker was trying his hand at script-writing for the media, somehow he got involved with a BBC Children’s series entitled ‘Pegasus’: of which meager entries appear online and actual footage seems non existent.
Bob and I enlisted as extras for a shoot at Berkeley Castle, much fun, beautifully authentic Napoleonic Infantry costumes, several closeups, a hard in-character slap on the face for Bob and a shot of me firing a rifle at an imaginary ‘Pegasus’, the eponymous hot air balloon, as it took off from the castle courtyard carrying the escapee heroes of the plot. An excellent tight closeup only marred by myself who, having fired and watched the imaginary effect of my bullet, lowered the rifle and stared up intently, for what seemed minutes (at nothing) finally relaxed… as my eye was drawn inexorably towards the huge camera lens inches from my face. ‘Christ! He just looked straight into the camera! Cut!’ I was particularly stung by a co-extras unconcealed schadenfreude as he muttered, ‘Shame about that Rog, they liked the look of you, blown your chances now.’ But it was too good to waste and, edited, made it into the final cut: it was however the last close-up I got.
The final location work called for a night shoot, it was raining intermittently and shooting was sporadic, Bob and I spent most of the night in the canteen, drinking wine with our old mate Keith Floyd who had managed to land the catering job – in many ways, the start of his career and of course he went on to considerable success, fame and several television series of his own. Bob and I ran out of cigarettes so, fully accoutered and armed with cocked hats, swords, rifles and bayonets, we strolled down into Berkeley village and went into The Boar’s Head just at closing time, startling the small group of locals, and ordered two pints and some fags. A stunned silence descended as without a word, Bob and I drained our pints and left as suddenly as we had appeared. I wonder if the legend of the two thirsty apparitions from La Grande Armée is told there still?
Bob and co-writer Dave Martin had written a well-researched film script about King Arthur. They knocked on many doors, Hollywood was mentioned; even Charlton Heston was reported to be interested, but finally, in 1973, it was HTV who eventually picked it up, though I see Bob actually gets credit only for the first episode ‘People of the Plough’. Of course, he went on to write many of the scripts for ‘Dr Who’ and ‘Wallace and Grommit’ but this was his first, if modest, success.
I was on my summer vacation and Bob mentioned HTV were looking for extras for ‘Arthur’ if I was interested. When I arrived on set it seemed that half of Bristol was there including many of my drinking mates from Clifton, most of whom had arrived equipped with cider and beer and it became fairly apparent the direction things would take. A few years ago I was reminiscing about those days with one of them, Mike Dauncey, who went on to become a respected BBC Cameraman, but who sadly, recently died. He told me he spent most of his time in the actors tent, along with a few other reprobates, smoking pot. I recall seeing him at the time but had no idea what was going on, though I remember enjoying plenty of the extraordinary amounts of alcohol that seemed to be around. I’m pretty sure Mike is the guy in the patterned doublet with his back to the camera, extreme right.
Vaguely, I recall lots of nonsense, involving charging down hills waving swords and yelling, mock fighting in in the river and defending a primitive ‘Saxon Village’ that had been constructed on a river bank. As always, shooting was a bit piecemeal, scenes being shot out of sequence and us extras standing around as background whilst Oliver Tobias, Jack Watson and, by the end of the shoot, the Celts, had taken the village. Not terribly dramatic at the time, presumably any attendant pillage and rapine was the subject of a different shoot, though I recall a fair amount of fake blood waiting in readiness. Finally the script called for the Celts to set fire to the village. And thus I got my big starring role, as employing all my acting skills, dressed in a ‘bloody’ sheepskin and in closeup, I was required to play a dead Saxon.
Unfortunately it had been steadily raining all day and the ‘village’, built largely from straw and dummy plastic wickerwork, refused to ignite. I was lying very close to the ‘village’ and began to get a bit concerned as, from my worms eye view, I watched the crew enthusiastically chucking gallons of petrol over the village to get things going. It all seemed to take a long time and as I lay there in the rain, I remember hoping they hadn’t forgotten that the dead Saxon was actually an extra and not a prop. More time went by setting up the shots but eventually the scene was in readiness. Action! shouted the director and with cameras rolling, three ‘Celtic horsemen’ with flaming torches galloped down on the village, narrowly avoiding trampling me, threw the torches at the ‘buildings’ and galloped off. For several seconds nothing happened, then suddenly with a huge WHOOMPH! all that petrol just went off, The heat where I was lying was incredible, the grass between me and the village began to steam then turn yellow and smoke, I began to smell wet, then burning wool, as my sheepskin began to smoulder, fortunately too sodden and thick to actually catch fire, but lying there, I discovered an earnest empathy for those Guy Fawkes dummies I had chucked on bonfires as a kid. The crew were oblivious to my plight as the director called for several takes and the scene took over an hour to shoot until eventually the flames died down and a wrap was called.
Months later the series appeared on TV, I saw very little of it but did see that scene; by modern standards it looked fairly amateurish, obviously phoney as you could see the plastic ‘wickerwork’ melting, but my closeup was excellent, I looked just like a corpse, very realistic, despite gently steaming.
Bob and Dave Martin always referred to the series as ‘Arthur in The Stinging Nettles’ but what struck me about that photo is that it looks more like the set for some fey setting of Lothlórien. What a bunch of fairies!
So back to that plea, who was the character on the left? Well, if it’s the guy having his face touched-up on the extreme left, I’m afraid it was no actor, just an extra that played a corpse. Me.
I seem to have banged on a bit, strange how a photograph brings it all back, apologies if it just seems like some old blokes boring memories – but then again, that’s exactly what it is!
Sophie Neville outside the school bus on location with her sister Tamzin Neville in 1973 ~ photo: Martin Neville
A reader has written in, saying: ‘Much of what one hears about life behind the scenes for younger actors has to do with schooling on set. Did you have tutors all the time or only if you were shooting during the school year? And were you able to keep up with your fellow pupils at “regular” school?
If children under the age of 16 are involved in filming they only have to keep up with their schoolwork during term time. The film company will normally comply with this by employing a tutor at the film studio or on location.
When filming Swallows & Amazons in 1973 we were often in such remote areas that a double-decker bus was hired for us to use as a mobile classroom. It could be seen wobbling along the narrow lanes of the Lake District from Bank Ground Farm at one end of Coniston Water down to Peel Island or over to Brown Howe the other side of the lake depending on instructions given the night before.
We were legally obliged to complete three hours of school work a day but my mother thought it would be OK if we managed fifteen hours a week. I am pretty sure we kept working through half term to achieve this, although I did record that we had Witsun Bank Holiday Monday as a formal Day Off. When I look back at my school work I only notice that I would have benefited from higher quality waterclours, brushes and paper.
Our tutor, a local education supply teacher called Mrs Causey, believed in dictation; masses of it:
We were also taught about the history, geography and topography of the Lake District. This was worked into our own records of filming:
A sample of school work completed whilst filming in the Lake District in 1973
I certainly kept up with my friends at school. One wrote recently to say, ‘I do remember the lovely illustrated diary you wrote at the time, as you brought it back to school for us to look at.’
I only missed seven weeks of the summer term to make Swallows & Amazons. What was amazing was that I was obliged to sit the end of year exams in Ambleside. The results would not have been as good as normal, particularly in Maths and Science but I eventually caught up.
There was quite a bit of discussion about whether or not I should miss more schooling. I was only ever offered further film work during school holidays but as I went to a boarding school making arrangements to go to London for auditions could be a nuisance.
I’d get messages to phone home and letters detailing complicated plans.
This ‘picture’ turned out to be an adventure movie called ‘The Copter Kids’. Mum was obviously going off to lunch with Virginia McKenna and reading the letters on the Radio 4 programme Any Answers whilst I was busy sitting summer exams.
My sister Tamzin did a great deal more acting that I did as a child. She didn’t mind missing school altogether or having a tutor. What she hated was being sent to a large comprehensive school in London for a term so that she could rehearse in North Acton. That didn’t do her any good at all.
Lights, camera, action: working as a child in television
You can read more about ‘The making of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ (1974) on Kindle, in paperback or listen to the new audiobook, all available to purchase online.
‘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
If you would like to know how the movie of Swallows & Amazons (1974) was made and know where the real locations can be found, ‘The Secrets of Filming Swallows & Amazons(1974)’ is currently available as an ebook on Amazon and Smashwords for £2.99. The paperback was launched to mark the 40th anniversary of the film’s release and is available online here.
Do you know where the Peak of Darien can be found?
The paperback, which is suitable for any age group, is based on the diary that I kept when I played the part of Titty Walker in 1973. It is illustrated with behind-the-scenes photographs and memorabilia such as one of the tickets to the Royal Gala premier in Shaftesbury Avenue held on 4th April 1974. You will also find out what the actors who played the Walker family ~ the Swallows ~ are doing now.
The joy of the ebook is that it includes a number of home-movie clips that my parents took of life behind the scenes that you can play wherever you have internet access.
A review of the ebook in Classic Boat magazine ~ Feburary 2014
If you have any questions about making the film, please add them to the comments below, and I will get back to you.
A review of ‘the Secrets of Filming Swallows & Amazons’ in Richard Kay’s column in the Daily Mail ~
There were rather over-excited headlines in the Times and Telegraph when the ebook was launched but they only spoke of the legendary drinking of Ronald Fraser. Please don’t worry – there is nothing X-rated about the book – it is just the price one pays for half a page in a daily newspaper, especially since it came out on a Saturday.
The ebook has been doing well in the Amazon charts and hit Number 1 in the category ‘Stage and Theatre’.
A preview of what the book holds in store can be watched here:
Very many thanks to all those who have left customer reviews on Amazon. It is always exciting to find out how the book has impacted others, especially those who love the Arthur Ransome books.
Tamzin eating ice cream in a pink dress whilst appearing as a film extra in ‘Swallows & Amazons’. Kit Seymour and Jane Grendon stand behind her.
It is with some bemusement that I see myself described as a child star in newspapers. I only appeared in two feature films before I grew too tall to do more. It was the little girl here seen eating ice-cream in a pink dress, appearing as a film extra in Swallows & Amazons, who became a brighter starlet than I.
Tamzin appearing with Percy Baxter in a Weetabix advert directed by Claude Whatham in 1973
My sister Tamzin enchanted directors who cast her in one role after another. Her career started in 1972 when she was given the lead role of Elka in an episode of Arthur of the Britons opposite Oliver Tobias who played King Arthur. He later introduced her as his co-star. By this time he was known as The Stud, having starred opposite Joan Collins in the movie of her sister Jackie Collins’ racy novel.
No one asked Tamzin if she could ride a horse. It was a good thing that she was proficient as she was soon cantering up and down hills whilst clutching that medieval doll.
Arthur of the Britons had the most prestigious cast: Brian Blessed, Martin Jarvis, Tom Baker, Catherine Schell, Iain Cuthbertson, Peter Firth, Heather Wright, Michael Gambon and Peter Bowles all appeared in the drama series, some of which was filmed on our parents’ farm. I remember Jack Watson leaping down the bank above our house. Tamzin played most of her scenes opposite Michael Gothard, who became famous for playing the villain Locque in the James Bond movie For Your Eyes Only.
Tamzin was then cast as Anthea in the 1976 BBC adaptation of of E Nesbit’s classic story The Phoenix and the Carpet. I’ve just read that it was a story much admired by Arthur Ransome.
While Mum enjoyed playing the part of Mother, Tamzin’s brother Cyril was played by Gary Russell, who after appearing as Dick in the BBC series of Enid Blyton’s The Famous Five, grew up to become a writer and script editor on Doctor Who. I last saw him at a book launch at the Imperial War Museum.
Sophie Neville with Gary Russell in London in 2012
Here he is with Tamzin in the 1970s:
As she was used to appearing on television, Tamzin wrote in to Blue Peter and soon appeared on the show. She was also featured on Animal Magic and a number of other magazine programmes.
Tamzin soon had another lead role, that of the young Linda in the ITV production of Nancy Mitford’s semi-autobiographical novel Love in a Cold Climate. While Judi Dench and Michael Aldridge starred as her parents, her brother Matt was played by Max Harris who had the role of her brother Robert in The Phoenix and the Carpet. Tamzin can been seen on the trailer wearing a red dressing-gown in the Hons’ cupboard, looking dreamy in a tam o’shanter and jumping a white Arab over a Cotswold stone wall, whilst riding side-saddle.
She went on to take leading roles in episodes of APlay for Today, Crown Court and Screen Two. Ironically she was expelled from Drama College after Mum persuaded her to work professionally one summer vacation. At that, she tossed her head and went on to occupy time more gainfully.
She won’t believe me, but Tamzin is a most amusing writer. You can see for yourself. Her letters are featured in Ride the Wings of Morning.
My mother, Daphne, started working as a television presenter for Harlech Television in Cardiff. By 1973 Mum was working at the HTV studios in Bristol two days a week, presenting an afternoon programme called Women Only with Jan Leeming, and doing a bit of radio work for the BBC. Occasionally she appeared on other shows.
Mum appearing as a member of the Salvation Army on ‘The Dick Emery Show’
While my father’s life was influenced by Arthur Ransome, my mother drew inspiration from the author Noel Streatfield and her novel Ballet Shoes, the story of three little girls who went on the stage.Before her own three daughters were old enough to read she was dreaming dreams. Since she worked at the HTV studios in Bristol, it was natural enough for us to take part in their drama productions that were being made locally.
Daphne Neville appearing with Tamzin Neville and Shaun Dromgoole in the HTV drama ‘Arthur of the Britons’ in 1972. I am not sure who the bearded man is.
When I was offered the part of Titty in Swallows & Amazons, Mum somehow managed to take enough leave to come up to the Lake District and work on the film as a chaperone, although she had to return to Bristol for two HTV commitments. She missed some of the best scenes, and some of our worst moments.
‘You owed your life to Simon West, of course.’
‘Did I?’
‘Oh, yes. Simon was such a good sailor. He was totally reliable.’ She was thinking of the scene when Swallow was meant to narrowly avoid colliding with the Windermere steamer, the Tern, when we only just avoided a terrible accident.
‘You would have gone under the Tern if Simon hadn’t been so calm and controlled. He would never have got into the situation himself, he would have gone about much sooner but was waiting for Claude to give him the cue over the Motorola radio. Claude was too late. He had no idea about boats.’
My mother returned from working in Bristol to find my father, Martin, was not happy about how things were being handled when we were on the water. They stayed up, talking all night, making what must have been one of the first ever risk assessments.
‘Quite a few things changed after that.’ You can tell from studying old call sheets.
‘The ridiculous thing was having to strap the kids into life jackets to go to Peel Island, which was not risky at all. Martin and I then discovered they were BOAC rejects.’
Lesley Bennett, Simon West, Kit Seymour, Sophie Neville, Sten Grendon and Suzanna Hamilton on Coniston Water 1973
Simon told me that he really couldn’t remember much about being in Swallows & Amazons. Looking back on it all, he reckoned that if I had talked through each day with Mum it would have reinforced memories. My diaries, which were certainly more detailed than those kept by the other Swallows, were supplemented by Mum’s photos, taken on a daily basis and looked at repeatedly. You have seen them all. They have that early Seventies tint to them.
Daphne Neville in the 1975 film ‘Diagnosis Murder’ with Christopher Lee
Meanwhile my mother’s own memories are coloured by how things have changed over the last forty years, the other films she has been in the actors she has met.
‘Ronnie Fraser was perfectly nice. He was treated like a star and kept very much apart from us. He behaved like a star. Now stars have PAs, but he didn’t!’
Mum went on to appear in all sorts of movies. If you don’t blink, you can see her as a Victorian Lady in The Invisible Woman – Ralph Fiennes’ portrayal of Charles Dickens, soon to be released in cinemas.
For more photos of Daphne Neville in character roles, please click here
Daphne Neville in costume for ‘The Invisible Woman’ 2013
Sophie Neville 