Westmorland – Page 11 – Sophie Neville

‘It must be Niagara’…Dixon’s Farm and walking up to the charcoal burners ~ making the movie ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on 11th June 1973

Sophie Neville at Elterwater — Sophie Neville by Elterwater in 1973 ~ photo: DJ Neville

My mother was very excited about meeting the actress Brenda Bruce who Claude had engaged to play Mrs Dixon. She had arrived on 10th June whilst we were filming the fishing scene at Elterwater where she found Claude keeping up our moral by wearing my mother’s Donny Osmond hat. I think he needed it for warmth. It was unexpectedly cold.

I can remember being worried that Brenda Bruce would be chilly as she was only wearing a blouse and flip-flops. Now I understand that she ‘was of a certain age’ and didn’t feel the cold quite so much as skinny twelve-year-olds with opinions.

Brenda Bruce had been born in Prestwich in Lancashire. I’d had no idea that she was so well-known, that BAFTA ~ the British Academy for Television Awards had named her Best Actress in 1963. “Yes, you do!” Mum said. “She was the White Queen in Alice Through the Looking Glass.” She’d actually worked for Claude quite a bit and he trusted her to play a small part well. brought her son with her.

I shouldn’t have been worried about Mrs Dixon. She looked wonderful in the film – was wonderful – and very comfortable in her nice clean dairy.

When I look back on Swallows and Amazons, I can see that Claude made sure it didn’t become chocolate-boxy. You can tell by glancing at Mike Pratt’s costume.

Mike Pratt with Brenda Bruce

Mike Pratt who played Mr Dixon the provider of worms for our fishing bait, the lovely Lakeland colours of his garments contrasting with the harsh blues and reds of the 1970’s clothes worn by the crew.

BW Brenda Bruce with Claude Whatham — Brenda Bruce as Mrs Dixon with Claude Whatham

I can’t remember exactly where Dixon’s Farm was filmed. The scenes set at Jackson’s Farm, Arthur Ransome’s ‘Holly Howe’ were shot at Bank Ground Farm by Coniston Water, but all I know about the location for Dixon’s Farm is that our tutor got terribly lost trying to find it…

BW Brenda Bruce with Simon West - trimmed

Geraint Lewis of the Arthur Ransome Trust wrote to confirm Kevin Burn’s theory about the location we used for Mrs Dixon’s dairy. ‘I had a long conversation once with Lucy Batty about her recollections of filming at Bank Ground in the house, barn, etc. She confirmed that they used the buildings shown as Tent Lodge Cottages on Google Maps – as Dixon’s Farm. That certainly seems to fit from the view of the lake and shoreline trees in the background.’

What Richard Pilbrow and Claude Whatham did want to make the most of was the Westmorland scenery. In many ways they were making a landscape movie. I think what they most enjoyed was finding all the locations to put together Arthur Ransome’s imaginary lake as depicted in the end pages of Swallows and Amazons and I am often asked where the waterfall is.

“It must be Niagara!” No, Sophie. It’s somewhere near Elterwater.

Black and White photograph of a waterfall in the Lake District — ‘It’s Niagra!’ Titty declared. Stephen Grendon, Suzanna Hamilton, Simon West and Sophie Neville as the Swallows on their way to visit the charcoal burners

Kevin Burn sent me some suggestions with photos which made me feel pretty sure the actual waterfall is Skelwith Force. But Roger Wardale, who is an expert on Arthur Ransome’s locations, thinks not. “I don’t think it’s Skelwith Force which is more a series of rocky rapids in fairly level ground. I watched the film again yesterday and was reminded of the waterfall at Glen Mary (otherwise known as Tom Gill) the outlet for Tarn Hows dropping down to the Coniston-Ambleside road 4 miles from Skelwith Bridge.” So – any ideas most welcome!

You can read more about the film locations and our antics in ‘The Secrets of Filming Swallows and Amazons’ available on Amazon Kindle and from all ebook providers:

‘It’s a shark! It’s a shark!’ Filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on Elterwater on 10th June 1973

Sophie Neville appearing on the cover of Swallows and Amazons published by the Daily Mail — Sophie Neville and Simon West on the cover of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ pub by the Daily Mail

Of all the wonderful days we spent filming Swallows and Amazons in 1973, the fishing scene, shot in a reedy bay on Elterwater was one I enjoyed most. It was a cold, rather wet morning but the Third Assistant, Gareth Tandy, taught us how to use our rods and we were soon absorbed in a way that Arthur Ransome would have understood well.

Our fragile bamboo fishing rods, one with a wooden reel, were supplied by a keen fisherman called Leslie Borwick, who brought up his own daughter and grandchildren on Arthur Ransome’s books. He kept the rods, which still belong to the family, who now lived near Sedburgh.

*Filming the fishing scene from the camera punt on Elterwater*

The only problem we had that day was keeping the fish alive. Bob Hedges our property master, the designer Simon Holland and Ian Whittaker, the set dresser, took it upon themselves to keep the perch as happy as they could, until they were – very carefully – attached to our hooks. Titty doesn’t catch one but Captain John did. Despite everyone’s best efforts it wasn’t a very lively perch.

Fishing Scene — Property Master Bob Hedges keeping the perch alive ~ photo: Daphne Neville

The big challenge was Roger’s great fish – a massive pike that meant to be snapping and ferocious. I’ve been told that it ended up being resuscitated in Keswick Hospital ICU – the Intensive Care Unit.

Fishing Scene3 — The local fisherman, Ian Whittaker, Simon Holland and Gareth Tandy with the fish photo: Daphne Neville

Sadly this is the only photograph we have of the set designers at work together. Later that afternoon we went to one of the few interiors of the film – the general store in Rio or Bowness-on-Windermere where we bought the rope for the lighthouse tree and four bottles of grog. In reality it was a sweet shop in the ‘seventies. It was later a barber shop and became a showroom for wood-burning stoves. Pigs were once kept around the back.

BW Swallows in Woodland Road — The Swallows in Woodland Road, Windermere in 1973

Back in 1973, Ian dressed the interior with boxes of wooden dolly pegs and other things you’d buy in brown paper bags. A wonderful 1920’s radio set and two purring cats really made the scene come alive, especially since, being in reticent explorer mode, we were a bit gruff in our communications with Mr Turner, the native shop keeper.

The general Store in Rio — Sophie Neville in Rio with four bottles of grog ~ photo: Daphne Neville

Ian Whittaker struck me as being rather different from everyone else on the crew. He was a very nice looking man and a gentleman of the old school. I remember him telling me that he’d originally set out to be an actor but had found it so difficult to get work that he grabbed a chance to become a set-dresser or designer’s assistant. He found he rather enjoyed it, and stuck to the job despite his family thinking it was not much of a career. He proved them wrong. By 1971 he was working for Ken Russell on The Boy Friend – a musical about a musical starring Twiggy with Christopher Gable and Max Adian that I’d seen at school.

Grog Shop in Windermere 2013 — Woodland Road, Windermere

After Swallows and Amazons Ian worked on Ridley Scott’s film Alien with Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt and John Hurt and was nominated for an Oscar with the others on the design team. Eventually he won an Oscar for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration with the designer Luciana Arrighi for Howards End – the movie of EM Forster’s book starring Anthony Hopkins, Vanessa Redgrave, Emma Thompson and Helena Bonham-Carter.

Blu-ray buying grog

In 1994 Ian was nominated again, this time for Remains of the Day directed by James Ivory. After that he worked on Sense and Sensibility, Emma Thompson’s movie of the Jane Austen classic that launched Kate Winslet’s career, some of which was shot at Montacute in Somerset where my great-grandmother once lived. Ian Whittaker received another Oscar nomination for Anna and the King in 2000 and a nomination for an Emmy Award for the TV movie Into the Storm in 2009.

Blu-ray fishing scene

So, it was rather a waste that Ian spent his time just building little stone walls in the lake to keep the perch alive on our set, but I think he enjoyed the fishing scene as much as I.

BW Sten in Swallow

You can read more in ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974)’ available online, from Waterstones and your local library. It is suitable for all ages of readers.

‘Look, John! Steamer ahead!’ ~ Near disaster whilst filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on 8th June 1973

Filming the Tern on Windermere in 1973 — Ronnie Cogan having a cigarette with one of the Supporting Artistes. Terry Smith the Wardrobe Master is going below in the background. photo: Martin Neville.

It was a glorious summer day to film on Windermere. Conditions were perfect. My father had been asked to appear as a film extra in the scene in Swallows and Amazons when the the crew of Swallow narrowly miss colliding with a Lakeland steamer, that transporting tourists up and down the lake.

Martin Neville aboard MV Tern on Windermere — Martin Neville wearing 1929 costume aboard MV Tern on Windermere in 1973

He was the tall dark native in a blazer and white flannels aboard the elegant MV Tern. A lovely way to spend a sunny morning in the Lake District. Until your daughter nearly drowns.

The Tern on Windermere, built in 1890 — MV Tern on Windermere was built in 1890 with a steam engine, converted to diesel in the 1950s, and is still operating today.

Simon West, Suzanna Hamilton, Sten Grendon and I were sailing the Swallow, on our voyage to the island. The twelve-foot dinghy was laden with camping gear and had no buoyancy. We did not wear life jackets.

At the start of the day, Swallow was attached to the camera pontoon so that Claude Whatham, the film director, could capture our dialogue on film. The camera crew then went aboard the Tern and we sailed free, with the safety boat some distance away, behind the camera. Other boats were keeping modern boats clear of the shot.

swallow-with-the-tern-1

In the script Roger is down to say, ‘Steamship on the port bow’. I think what came out was, ‘Look John! Over there – steamer ahead!’

The Tern had a young, inexperienced skipper who was coping with a notch throttle, as you can see if you watch the movie.

Script of David Wood's adapation 'Swallows and Amazons' — The screenplay of David Wood’s adaptation of Arthur Ransome’s classic book ‘Swallows and Amazons’ set in the Lake District in 1929

My mother, who normally looked after us, had been obliged to drive to Bristol as she presented a weekly programme for HTV with Jan Leeming called Women Only and had been summons to promote the channel at the Bath and West Show. Dad must have been acting as our chaperone, responsible for our safety. A sailor with years of experience racing on the Solent, he took a keen interest in all the boating scenes, but I’m sure he didn’t have a chaperone’s licence. As we sailed towards him, on an intentional collision course, he foresaw that the larger vessel would take our wind.

Filming on the Tern in 1973 — Three men of Cumbria who were happy to have short-back-and-sides haircuts on the deck of the MV Tern on Windermere in 1973 ~ photo: Martin Neville

My father watched from above as we only just turned in time, missing the steamer by a mere nine inches as her bow wave bounced us away and we sailed on. Ronnie Cogan had to buy him a whisky. They knew Sten could hardly swim, that any of us could have been entangled in the ropes and camping gear if Swallow had gone over. Clinker-built dinghies can sink quickly. It was a sunny day but the water was icy and very deep.

We did not know it at the time, but Dad nearly took me off the film. He had a meeting with the producer when he tested the BOAC life jackets we rehearsed in. Mine did not inflate.

swallow-with-the-tern Phil Brown, who belongs to the Arthur Ransome Group, said: “Tern was re-engined in 1957 with two diesel engines. Interestingly she was to have been named SWALLOW, but after a last-minute change, she was launched in June 1891 as TERN.”

It is said that children bounce. The next day, I sat school exams: geography, science and maths.

…‘Carry on Matron’. I wonder what near disasters they had on that film.

Blu-ray John rowing swallow

You can read more in the ebook ‘The Secrets of Filming Swallows and Amazons (1974)’ available from Amazon Kindle, Kobo, iTunes and all other online retailers:

‘Oughtn’t I have the telescope?’ ~ Arthur Ransome’s story breaks into three strands – filming ‘Swallows & Amazons’ on 5th June 1973

Sophie Neville on the swing at Coniston — Sophie Neville on location in the Lake District ~ photo: Martin Neville

When David Wood constructed the screenplay of Swallows and Amazons he introduced dual action soon after the Swallows arrived at the island. By this I mean that he split us up a bit – John went to fetch the milk from Dixon’s farm whilst Susan and I were teaching Roger to swim. This isn’t quite as Arthur Ransome wrote but it added vitality to the script, moving it along. I reckon the Director, Claude Whatham needed to avoid a gang scenario of Five go to Treasure Island at all costs. It enabled us to get on with our school work since no one actor was in every scene. I was in all the scenes shot on this day 5th June (I wrote 5th May by mistake) but went back to my lessons whilst Claude was out on the pontoon filming John and Susan jibing Swallow – a pick-up shot set into the long shot, when I waved them goodbye from Wildcat Island, recorded on 2nd June.

Coniston Water with the pontoon — Mrs Bennett, Martin Neville, Lesley Bennett’s sister and Jane Grendon with the film crew on the pontoon filming Suzannah Hamilton, Simon West and Sten Grendon in Swallow just off Peel Island. Who is the boy sitting on the Capri moored to the temporary jetty?

At this stage in the story, Arthur Ransome split the action into three: John, Susan and Roger sail off to find the Amazon river leaving Titty alone on the island with her telescope, while the Amazons are busy plotting and planning at Beckfoot. Up until this time most films followed linear stories – this happened, then that happened – a bit like my diary. My favourite wartime drama A Town like Alice, which stars Virginia McKenna, is an example of this. It’s a road movie. Lovely – but I need to watch it whilst doing my tapestry.

Landing place with Claude — At the Landing Place with Claude and his crew

As it happened, the method of running three storylines at once became all the rage in television dramas of the 1980s and 1990s, so when Swallows and Amazons was first broadcast it felt fresh even though it had been made six or seven years previously. The playwright John Mortimer said that when he first started writing three strands of action for Rumpole of the Bailey it terrified him. Would the audience be able to follow what was going on? Now every detective story breaks into three as soon as possible, while soap operas keep a number of storylines boiling furiously. The technique helps to pace the action, up the suspense and gives the director much more flexibility in the cutting room. Apart from anything else it makes it easier to bring episodes in at the exact length required by the television schedulers. One reason why credits roll after a programme is because the Presentation Department can alter the speed they run at. Did you know this? It means that every story can be made to last exactly 37 mins 30 seconds.

Claude Whatham at the Landing Place — Claude Whatham giving us direction at the Landing Place

Nowadays linear story-telling in movies, such a The Kings Speech seems to be received as more cinemagraphic. Perhaps multiple action just went too far. ‘Flashbacks’ seem dated and running two storylines in different time periods can be confusing. I couldn’t do my embroidery whilst watching A Social Network.

The swing opposite Peel Island by Coniston Water — My little sister on the swing at the Unit Base opposite Peel Island ~ photo: Martin Neville

Meanwhile two or three things were happening behind the scenes in the Lake District. Terry Needham, the Second Assistant Director, found that most of the men who had come forward to be Supporting Artists for the scene soon to be shot at Bowness were refusing to have their hair cut. My mother was astonished. They couldn’t portray the Lake District unpopulated by men. Only a few, very elderly gentlemen, who didn’t have much hair anyway, agreed to a short-back-and-sides. And my father. He was more than happy to receive a free hair cut.

Ronnie Cogan cutting Martin Neville's hair — Ronnie Cogan cutting Martin Neville’s hair

Ronnie Cogan brought out his scissors and snipped away there and then on the shore of Coniston Water. Someone grabbed Dad’s Bolex and took a few shots for posterity:

Dad missed seeing me capture the Amazon. Although it seems I was all alone in my story line, this was not the reality. I rowed away from Peel Island with the DoP Denis Lewiston, his 16mm camera and a reflector board held by Claude Whatham who was also tucked into Amazon’s stern. No wonder I was tired by the end of the day.

Sophie Neville in the Amazon with the Denis Lewiston and the 16mm camera1 — Sophie Neville in The Amazon with DOP Denis Lewiston, his 16mm camera and a reflector board ~ photo: Martin Neville

The Call Sheet for 5th June 1973 ~ my diary is titled 5th May but this was an error

You ca read more in the ebook available here:

‘I thought he was a retired Pirate’ ~ filming with Amazons on Wild Cat Island and Mrs Ransome’s fears of Disneyization.

Sophie Neville and Suzanna Hamilton in 1973 — Sophie Neville and Suzanna Hamilton confronting the Amazon Pirates on Wildcat Island in Swallows and Amazons

Richard Pilbow says that the fantastic thing about filming Swallows and Amazons was that breakfast was served on location every morning, without fail, sending ‘a wonderful aroma across the set.’ Huge English breakfasts were dished up by John and Margaret, who worked for a location catering company from Pinewood, and greeted the film crew every morning, with bacon and eggs, mushrooms, sausages and tomatoes. And the fried bread was well fried.

It didn’t really matter that we missed breakfast at the Oaklands Guest House in Ambleside. A bacon butty would we placed into my hand as soon as we reached the base camp on Coniston Water. I only wish our guest house had been nearer Peel Island where we spent so much of our time filming.

Daphne Neville and Ricahrd Pilbrow on Peel Island on Coniston Water in 1973 — Daphne Neville and Richard Pilbrow on Peel Island on Coniston Water in 1973 Amazons

I do believe my mother is still eating in the picture above. We all ate hugely to stave off the cold. You can see in the movie how much we enjoyed the iced buns before the Amazons attacked.

I remember the Parley Scene as being of importance to Mrs Ransome, who was still living at the time. Arthur Ransome had died in 1967 but his formidable widow owned the copyright to his books. And she did not want there to be any sexual frison between John and Nancy.

Kit Seymour (Nancy) and Lesley Bennett (Peggy) on Peel Island 1973

Richard Pilbrow had had quite a job of persuading her to give him the rights to the film at all. He know that Tom Maschler, the head of Jonathan Cape, had already had to turn down many movie offers. The Ransomes feared ‘a Disney-ization of the story, a vulgarization.’ They had vocally disliked the 1960s cartoon version of ‘Winnie the Pooh’. Whilst we children loved Disneyfications, we only wanted to bring the book the life.

Neither Arthur Ransome nor his wife, Evgenia, had liked the black and white BBC version of Swallows and Amazons made in 1962 when Susan George played the part of Kitty, rather than Titty. I watched it with Joe Waters at the BBC library in 1983. I reported that it was terribly boring and rather badly made but it was simply of its time, with rather a floral performance from Mrs Walker and comic scenes being given to the burglars. We enjoyed watching the whole series at a weekend of The Arthur Ransome Society. Susan George had such beautiful long plaits.

Daphne Neville with Richard Pilbrow1 — Molly and Richard Pilbrow in 1973

In his recently published book A Theatre Project, Richard describes how, by vowing to be true to the book, he finally persuaded Mrs Ransome to let him have the film rights. But life wasn’t easy. At the very last minute, just as we were about to start shooting, she put her oar in.

Sten Grendon

‘She took a violent dislike to the casting of Roger… He was dark haired. “This is outrageous; he has to be fair,” she protested.’ It was too late for Claude Whatham to re-cast. Richard admits that with regret he had to over-ride her.

I was amazed when I heard about it, since all the Swallows in Arthur Ransome’s drawings had very dark hair – as did the real children – the Altounyans, whose father was of Irish/Scottish and Armenian descent.

Altounyan Children - Susie, Taqui, Titty (seated) and Roger — Altounyan Children – Susie, Taqui, Titty (seated) and Roger

They lived in Aleppo, in Syria where Ernest Altounyan was working in his father’s hospital as a surgeon, and all looked quite tanned in the old photos.

I though that, if anything, Mrs Ransome would have objected to me being too blonde but apparently she wanted ‘an English rose’ to play Titty. David Wood told us that she wanted all the Swallows to have blond hair.

Once the books became well known, the Altounyans didn’t want people identifying the Walkers too closely with their children. There was a bit of an upset after the Ransomes’ offered to adopt Titty after which the dedication to ‘Swallows and Amazons’ was altered and maybe Mrs Ransome took umbridge.

Altounyan family with Ransome — Ransome with the Altounyans

The writer Roger Wardale, said that Arthur Ransome’s intention was to keep the appearance of his characters vague so that any child could easily associate with them and imagine themselves in their place. He originally described the Amazons as having curly hair, but edited this out.

The Parley — Stephen Grendon playing Roger

Although we loved filming on Peel Island, our real families, who had come up to the Lake District to be with us over half-term, couldn’t watch. This probably made it easier for us to concentrate but must have been disappointing for our friends. Our friends the Selbys, with whom I had learnt to sail, had driven up to Cumbria from Chelmsford and yet probably saw nothing except for the bedraggled crew and me at lunch time.

The Selbys with my sisters — Jane, Michael, Clare and Lucy Selby on the shore of Coniston Water talking to my sisters, Perry and Tamzin who is holding their dog, Minnie ~ photo: Martin Neville

Other members of the crew had been joined by their children. Brian Doyle noted in his diary that took his daughter Pandora off to Beatrix Potter’s farmhouse Hill Top, travelling in Dad’s car with my sisters Perry and Tamzin.

Although it was good to be on Coniston Water hanging around at the base camp all day would have been terribly dull for them. This, however was about to change. That evening Mum went to help Terry Smith, the Wardrobe Master, sort out costumes to fit the Supporting Artistes. My sisters were about to earn their own breakfasts and be able to watch every shot being made . They were to become Film Extras.

You can read more here:

The diary I kept whilst filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on the 3rd June 1973, when I spent a day off exploring Cumbria with my family

It was Sunday and a much needed, formal day off for the crew of Swallows and Amazons. It was also a day of rest for the ‘Artistes’ as Claude Whatham, the Director called us. The crew called us ‘Saucepans’. Saucepan lids : kids. It is Cockney rhyming slang. There was a lot of that about in Ambleside that year.

Sophie Neville and Daphne Neville in Cumbria 1973 — Sophie Neville with her mother on a scenic railway in Cumbria during a break in the filming of Swallows and Amazons in 1973 ~ photo: Martin Neville

My parents were still in bed, exhausted on that Sunday morning. To keep me busy, Mum had me writing letters to my Headmistress, Sister Ann-Julian and to my Housemistress, Sister Allyne. Amazingly I wrote them.

My father’s idea of a day out in Westmorland was to drive up the Hard Knott Pass taking car rugs, a picnic and his volcano. This is a brilliant item of equipment with which you can boil enough water to make a cup of tea using an old newspaper. I’ve read that Arthur Ransome had one… I think my mother just pulled on her Charlotte Mason College of Education sweatshirt and came too.

The highlight of the day was a trip on the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway, through the National Park to the coast and back. You can still do this today. The historic line was opened in 1875 to ferry iron ore from the mine near Boot to the coast at Ravensglass by steam locomotive. They say that nowadays:

“Four steam locomotives are currently in regular service, ranging from River Irt, the oldest working 15″ gauge locomotive in the world, to Northern Rock, one of the most powerful. The locomotives names, with one obvious exception, are those of the local rivers, the Esk, Mite and Irt, the last mentioned flowing from Wastwater just a few miles away from the railway.”

My father has always loved steam. He’s also rather enjoyed using the self-timer on his new camera.

The Nevilles in Cumbria 1973 — The Nevilles in the Lake District in 1973

We were standing on part of the Hard Knott Roman Fort near Boot with the fells behind. Built between AD120 and AD138 at the Eskdale end of the Hard Knott Pass it must have been one of the furthermost outposts of the Roman Empire. It had been studied and excavated by Arthur Ransome’s mentor WG Collingwood, whose novel Thorstein of the Mere is set on Peel Island where we had just spent the week. The fort was known to the Romans as Mediobogdum, which has to be one of the all-time great names. If only the film crew had known.

As children we had grown up watching Frankie Howerd on television when he was dressed in a Roman tunic, assuring us that ‘A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum’. We didn’t know at the time, but the producer of ‘Swallows and Amazons’, Richard Pilbrow, had brought the theatre production from New York to the West End, where it ran for two years.

The hotel I mention was the Kirkstone Foot Hotel, at the top of Windermere, in Ambleside where Richard Pilbrow and the senior members of the film crew were staying. Mum must have left her camera there.

The Kirkstone Foot Hotel Ambleside in 1973 — The Kirkstone Foot Hotel, Ambleside in 1973

Pandora Doyle, whose father Brian Doyle was handling the publicity for Swallows and Amazons, kept a record of her half-term holiday, marking her room at the Kirkstone Foot (telephone: Ambleside 2232). She wrote about it quite beautifully:

Pandora on the unit hotel

I’m pretty sure the film company used the coach-house block for their production office. The green parrot was once released in the bathroom where it spent a day waiting to be used in a scene, presumably on the houseboat. Pandora pointed out the hole-protector she had added when filing her scrapbook. I’d totally forgotten about such things and yet I must have stuck on hundreds. ‘Ring-binders’ were the thing but I never had red ones.

We didn’t know it, but Arthur Ransome had died on this day, 3rd June in 1967, six years previously. I feel he would have enjoyed our day out.

Tamzin Neville and Daphne Neville in 1973

You can read the full account of making the film here:

Setting sail from Wild Cat Island during the filming of Swallows and Amazons 0n 2nd June 1973

If it is tricky navigating in and out of the Secret Harbour on Peel Island, leaving from the Landing Place under sail in a clinker built dinghy can prove even more hazardous. You need a decent shove to get going so you can catch the wind, escape from snaring tree branches and avoid the danger of flat rocks lurking just under the surface of Coniston Water. This was my job on a rainy, grey day in the Lake District in 1973. With a telescope in one hand.

On the filming of 'Swallows and Amazons' in 1973

In the finished film you don’t see the shot when I slipped in the water up to my waist, and kept on shoving. The “Don’t forget about the lights, Titty ” scene had to be re-shot on a sunnier day.

bw Susan sailing past Peel Island2 — Simon West and Suzanna Hamilton at the helm of Swallow with Stephen Grendon in the bows, while Sophie Neville looks on from the shore of Peel Island.

What you see is a long-shot, on a grey day, with Titty waving furiously from the shore, as Swallow leaves Wild Cat Island. You can not see that her dress is soaking wet but the trees on the island indicate just how windy it is. While Susan is waving back, Roger is looking out for rocks for all he is worth. John is sailing hard, running with the wind, with the boom right out and white water on his bow. He hung on, as he had to, until Swallow passed the big rock, before coping with a dramatic jibe. You see him rise to handle this, while Susan ducks. She needed to. It was so violent the mast nearly broke, but John ‘scandalised’, spilling excess wind and sailed on. The film cuts to two closer shots of the jibe taken on the sunny day, then cuts back to the long shot when Susan bobs up and Swallow sails at speed, north up Coniston towards grey clouds and rain over Langdale.

BW Swallow about to jibe

My father watched all this from the shore, knowing the risks, knowing Stephen Grendon aged nine, who played Roger couldn’t swim well. But Simon West was proving himself yet again as a very good sailor. He was totally confident. You can tell – even from a distance – how calm he was, how instinctively he read the wind. He knew it would hit him with force as he left the lee of the island.

Swallow on Coniston

These wet windy days in the Lake District were a worry to the Producer and a challenge for the crew. They had already lost a number of days to rain. Whilst Claude Whatham, the Director was always trying to find a way of making the best use of his time, David Bracknell, his First Assistant Director had to make things happen. The practicalities of each day rested on his shoulders.

David Bracknell, First Assistant Director on ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on the shore of Coniston Water near Peel Island ~ photo: Martin Neville

Just co-ordinating our transport out to Peel Island, so that we while the camera crew were never waiting for us we were not missing time at our lessons – would have been difficult. Getting the tea urns out there twice a day, must have been a struggle. I’m not sure what we did about anyone wanting the loo. There wasn’t even a bucket on the island.

Claude Whatham and his crew on the camera punt — First assistant David Bracknell, director Claude Whatham, grip David Cadwallader and DoP Dennis Lewiston (seated) with three local boatmen ~ photo: Richard Pilbrow

Working in purple trousers, with a Motor-roller on his hip, David kept things safe and kept things going whatever the weather. He would call for ‘Quiet’, before each take, calling, ‘Camera? Sound? then: Mark it!’ The clapper board would be named and snapped shut before Claude the Director shouted ‘Action!’ Then off we’d go. And the rule was to keep going – whatever happened – come the hell of slippery rocks or high water – until the Director shouted ‘Cut!’ David would then take over command and set up either for a re-take or a subsequent shot. Once a scene was completed he’d move the crew on for a new sequence.

Setting off for Peel Island — The cast of ‘Swallows and Amazons’ setting off in the Capri for Peel Island, my mother in her bobble hat, a journalist taking photographs and Brian Doyle, the film Publicist, wrapped up warm ~ photo: Martin Neville

David Bracknell was very experienced. He’d worked on a number of hugely popular Carry-on movies, which according to Maureen Lipman, were made at terrific speed. Prior to Swallows and Amazons his credits included Carry on Abroad, Carry on at your Convenience, (I’d seen this at school; it’s all about lavortaries) Carry on Henry and Carry on Loving with Kenneth Williams, Sid James and Charles Hawtrey. He’d worked on Far from the Madding Crowd with Julie Christie, Alan Bates and Trevor Stamp, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg with Janet Suzman and Peter Bowles, Bless this House with Sid James, Diana Coupland and Sally Geeson and Battle of Britain, which starred Michael Caine, Trevor Howard and Harry Andrews, Ian McShane, Susannah York and Laurance Olivier. By 1984 he was working on Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, in 1986 on Shaka Zulu with Edward Fox, Robert Powell and Trevor Howard again. We were in capable hands.

My father recognised this, watching patiently from the base camp with Perry and Tamzin, my younger sisters. I fear it must have been terribly dull for them, especially on the cold grey days, but we were all together and did have a chance to explore Westmorland, as you will see when I reach tomorrow.

Perry Neville by Coniston Water near Peel Island — My sister Perry Neville on the shore of Coniston Water in Cumbria with Stephen Grendon and Peel Island beyond~ photo: Martin Neville

You can read more about the making of Swallows and Amazons here:

‘X marks the spot where they ate six missionaries’ ~ filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on Peel Island ~ 26th May 1973

‘Natives again. Or cannibals. This marks the spot where they ate six missionaries’ has to be the best line that anyone in the history of film making has ever had to utter. It is not in the book, just that ‘…they might have been killed and eaten by other natives,’ as Titty, having digested huge helpings of Daniel Defoe, declares herself the most ardent imperialist of all time. And she has such fun doing so. I have always liked the talk of ‘the powerful native’ (Mr Jackson the Lakeland farmer) and the savages living around Rio. I always hope it shocks lots of people.

Blu-ray X marks the spot

What I have found really does shock people – shocks them so much that they admit to being shocked – is that I was once a missionary. In Africa. And in Australia. I think they think I try to convert the natives but of course it is not like that. You go not knowing what will happen and find yourselves making life a bit more fun for people who belong to God but are battling a bit.

Sophie Neville in China — Sophie Neville about to board the high speed train for Shang’hai

It is like this: The Amazons, Nancy and Peggy Blackett, who are energetic tomboys living in the Lake District, had lost their father. It goes unsaid, but Peggy very touchingly lets it out in Swallowdale when they find a hidden tin on the peak of Kanchenjunga. Their mother’s brother, Jim Turner, took them sailing and did things with them with them the first summer but then decided to concentrate on writing his book. Nancy and Peggy feel so rejected they light a firework on the roof of his boat, which enrages him. The Swallows, who know what it was like without a father around, as theirs is in the Navy, travel from afar but somehow manage to come alongside the Amazons and give them a reason to live life to the full. Nancy and Peggy excel – they find life-long friends and do all the things they are meant to do. All sorts of things happen as a result. And the Swallows are challenged and have more fun than if they had ever travelled in a structured way, intent solely on their own enjoyment. They have great adventures and do more things than they ever imagined possible .

Sophie Neville on a Bible Society mission to China

I still go on short term missions. We went to China with the Bible Society one year. It was amazing, a mission of encouragement that Titty would have loved. We met people who had not had European visitors for forty years. They were really excited to know that people in the wider world were interested in their welfare and had come to bring them the word of God. The only Europeans – only white people – they had seen before us were there to make money. It’s shocking, isn’t it?

You can read more on this website here or in ‘The Secrets of filming Swallows & Amazons’

Secrets of filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ on Peel Island, Coniston Water ~ 21st May 1973

Sophie Neville as Titty in Swallows and Amazons (1974) a dress designed by Emma Porteous

“I did the scene of exploring by myself”

My (nearly) teenage diary - by Sophie Neville

Sophie Neville, Simon West, Suzanna Hamilton & Sten Grendon in Swallows and Amazons (1974) Costumes designed by Emma Porteous — Sophie Neville, Simon West, Suzanna Hamilton and Sten Grendon on Wildcat Island in the scene where the Swallows find a place to camp

Diary 21st May page one1

Arthur Ransome’s description of Wild Cat Island is based on at least two real islands. The landing place and open grassy camp site illustrated in the books can be found at Blake Holme on Windermere but when Richard Pilbrow went there in 1972 he was so disappointed by the sight of caravans, and the fact it was near the shore, that he decided to make the film almost entirely on Peel Island where you find Ransome’s Secret Harbour. We never went to Blake Holme.

It was at Peel Island on Coniston Water that Ransome met the Collingwood family when he was a boy. The Collingwood grandchildren, Taqui, Susie, Titty, Roger and Brigit Altounyan, later camped there getting slugs in their hair. Roger Altounyan told my old friend Bill Frankland that he secretly spent the first three nights of his honeymoon there. It must have been magical.

Sophie Neville as Titty on Peel Island - contact sheet

We loved crossing to the island – it was hugely exciting, even in the rain. There is something about the sheer rock faces, which makes it like a fortress, the ancient Viking settlement WD Collingwood believed it to be. Getting us back for lessons and lunch can’t have been easy and there was no loo.

Filming Swallows and Amazons on Peel Island in 1973 — The Swallows on Wild Cat Island

Had I been producing Swallows and Amazons I might have used Peel island for the unique Secret Harbour but tried to use ‘Near Peel Far’ on the mainland for the landing place. There is a nice open beach there and one wouldn’t have had to lug all the heavy paraphernalia of filming over the water – you can imagine time and effort involved in taking a 35mm Panavision camera across with its mountings and track. I don’t know how they powered the arc lamps we needed to light the campsite, which was quite dark beneath the trees. They must have run the cables under water.

Suzanna Hamilton as The Mate Susan, cooking buttered eggs on the camp fire on Wild Cat Island. Director Claude Whatham, Sue Merry, Bobby Sitwell and DoP Denis Lewiston look on, clad in wet weather gear. — Suzanna Hamilton as Susan, cooking buttered eggs on the camp fire on Wild Cat Island. Director Claude Whatham, Sue Merry, Bobby Sitwell and DoP Denis Lewiston look on, clad in wet weather gear.

But – the wonderful thing is that now, when children reach the island, most of the places featured in the film are there. The Landing Place has nearly washed away. We never knew it at the time, but one great secret is that the beach was created especially for the film. They must have dumped a huge amount of shingle there. The other secret is that there weren’t actually enough trees for the Swallows to erect the tents their mother had made for them. Two had to be added by the construction team.

BW Tents

Arthur Ransome’s tents are not as easy to put up as you’d imagine. It is difficult for children to get the rope taut enough between the trees to take the weight of the canvas. You need to use wagon knots or twist it with a stick. If you tie the rope too high the tents ruck up. The reality was that Suzanna had Bobby-the-prop-man to help her.

Susan taking the kettle off the fire on Peel Island, Coniston Water — Suzanna Hamilton playing Susan with Sten Grendon as Roger camping on Peel Island

One thing that is not a secret, but can take you unawares, is that there never seems to be any firewood on Wildcat Island. It is the reason why the Swallows went to the mainland in the book.

Claude Whatham directing Swallows and Amazons 1974 with Simon West and Sophie Neville

Roger really did struggle to find sticks to pick up on that wet day in May. Mine were carefully set out for me to find by the designer but Sten really did fall over and he did get quite badly scratched by thorns. Claude gave him a bit of ‘Danger Money’ for being brave and not complaining.

Sten in Cider with Rosie — Stephen Grendon playing young Laurie in the BBC Play ‘Cider with Rosie’

I’m not sure if Sten had ever received Danger Money when he played Laurie Lee in Cider with Rosie, which Claude had made two years before. We watched it that night when it was broadcast on television. It must have been shown quite late as it was was labelled as avant garde but we stayed up as of course VHS machines had not been heard of.

Rosemary Leach played Laurie’s long-suffering mother, Mrs Lee, quite beautifully. She was later to take the role of Mrs Barrable in the BBC series Coot Club, which I worked on in 1983. Mike Pratt, who played Mr Dixon in Swallows and Amazons, played Uncle Ray, and Young Billy – John Franklin-Robbins was The Stranger. Claude cast me as a little girl from Slad called Eileen Brown, who Laurie Lee always said was the first person he fell in love with. He was a friend of Mum’s and was around during the filming, since he still had a cottage in Slad. I’d been to a village school in the Cotswolds myself and enjoyed being in the classroom scenes, despite have to wear rather an itchy green dress.

Cider with Rosie with Claude — Sophie Neville with Claude Whatham on location at Slad in 1971

I was too shy to put myself forward when Claude asked if anyone knew the chants to playground skipping games, but I did work hard to prepare for my big scene. I had to play quite a difficult piece on the piano, accompanying the ten-year-old Laurie Lee as he sawed away on his violin at the village concert. Rosemary Leach looked on with tears in her eyes. I was only given the music three days before the filming and had to practice eight hours a day, for those three days, before I got it right. We plodded through Oh, Danny Boy but were both so relieved to get it right that our smiles were real enough. At one point Claude took a deep breath and said, ‘Do you think you could play a little faster?’ I looked at him and replied, ‘They’re crochets. They don’t go any faster.’ He claimed that he didn’t know what a crotchet was.

Sophie in Cider with Rosie — Sophie Neville as Eileen Brown and Philip Hawkes as Laurie Lee in ‘Cider with Rosie’ directed by Claude Whatham in 1971.

I have written more about appearing in ‘Cider With Rosie’ here. It was pivotable as Claude Whatham invited Sten and I to appear as Roger and Titty in ‘Swallows and Amazons’ as he ‘had worked with us before’. He knew how we would react in front of the camera. I happened to have had a bit of experience crewing dinghies but the hard work I put into playing Eileen Brown gained me the role of Titty in the feature film now distributed by StudioCanal.

You can read more in one of the editions of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’ available online here and in paperback from Waterstones.

'The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974) by Sophie Neville' — Different editions of ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974) by Sophie Neville’

Holly Howe on the 5th day of filming ‘Swallows and Amazons’ near Coniston in 1973 ~

Holly Howe or Bank Ground Farm ~

Lesely Bennett's photo of the double decker buses at Bank Ground Farm in 1973

Fifty years ago in the Lake District

My diary

When you next go to Bank Ground Farm you must stand outside the front door and imagine the sight of two red London Route Master buses making their way down the drive back in 1973. They swayed from side to side.

We thought it comic. I still can’t work out how they managed to avoid how bringing down the dry stone walls. While sheep grazed outside in the rain, we made ourselves comfortable at the Formica tables in one of these converted buses and got down to our lessons.

Bank Ground FArm above Coniston Water in Cumbria

Meanwhile Ian Whittaker, the set dresser, and Simon Holland, the art director on ‘Swallows and Amazons’, transformed Mrs Batty’s upstairs rooms into the Walker children’s bedrooms of 1929. I changed on the top deck of our bus and was rushed through the rain with a coat over my nightie to the magical atmosphere of the film set. This was warmed by arc lights. Everyone became focused what was just in front of the camera: me reading an early edition of Daniel Defoe’s classic book, Robinson Crusoe. The director, Claude Whatham needed to establish that he was Titty’s hero. I can remember having to hold the book in special way so the cover could be seen clearly.

You can see that in my diary, I described this as ‘a bed scene’, which might amuse some actors, especially those who are not at all keen on doing bed-scenes (every actor I know). The beds themselves are probably still at the farm.

The LP — Sophie Neville, Virginia McKenna and Simon West on the cover of the ‘Swallows and Amazons’ LP, which is still available on Amazon.co.uk

They may have shot the scene where Captain John is learning Morse Code in the same room. Simon West then had to be made very brown indeed, the Make-up Designer dabbing away with a tiny sponge. This was for the uneasy sequence, much later in the story, when he returned to Holly Howe to explain himself to his mother. This was shot with Virginia McKenna writing letters at a desk in the square bay window, with the view of Coniston Water beyond. I had used it when stitching Swallow’s flag in the scene recorded the day before.

lucy batty — Virginia McKenna and Lucy Batty at Bank Ground Farm on 15th May 1973

Mrs Batty later told me that the bay window leaked terribly and that she was glad to get rid of it. She built a lounge area in its place, which became a dedicated Swallows and Amazons room. I’d been chatting to her back in 2002 when we were waiting for Ben Fogle and the BBC crew of Countryfile. They had been looking for other locations used in the 1974 film before a planned interview with me and Suzanna Hamilton, who had played my sister Susan. I remember Suzanna’s train had been terribly delayed.

We’d waited and waited and waited. It got later and later. When Suzanna’s taxi finally arrived, I was so excited to see her that I encouraged her to run down to the lake as we once had as children.

Homes and Gardens April 1974 — Sten Grendon, Simon West, Virginia McKenna, Suzanna Hamilton and Sophie Neville on location at Bank Ground Farm in 1973

The Countryfile director must have been at her wit’s end. Ben Fogle came down to fetch us. My excuse was that Suzanna needed a stretch after her a long journey from London.

Countryfile The Westmorland Gazette captured the three of us plodding back up the field.I did the whole interview holding a bottle of grog, given to me by Arthur Ransome fans who were staying at the farm. You can see it in the photographs if you look closely. I don’t think Ben knew what it was.

Ben Fogel interview — Ben Fogle, Sophie Neville, Suzanna Hamilton and the BBC crew recording Countryfile at Bank Ground Farm in October 2002

My father’s 16mm home movie footage of the making of Swallows and Amazons was cut into this interview with such success that the documentary was re-shown on Big Screen Britain along with other landscape movies such as Whistle Down the Wind and The Dambusters.