HALLOWEEN SPECIAL: THE VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED/LETCHMORE HEATH

There are few things creepier than a bunch of children with luminous staring eyes and impassive faces roaming around the place, especially when the place in question is an idyllic English village surrounded by a pastoral landscape with flocks of sheep.  The village which witnessed these disturbing scenes was Midwich, the focal point of the classic British horror movie The Village of the Damned. 

But how did Midwich reach this point?  The opening scenes of the film depict a man falling asleep mid-phone conversation, accompanied by his snoozing dog.  All over the village people are being plunged into a mysterious slumber, and when they wake up the women face a double whammy: all women of child-bearing age have become pregnant, and they all give birth at the same time to the aforementioned spooky children.  The children grow up very fast and to add to their unnatural demeanour they all have platinum blonde hair, and they are capable of communicating with each other telepathically.  The ensuing mayhem includes a plane crash caused by the pilot of a military reconnaissance plane sent to investigate the events falling asleep at the controls as he enters the sphere of influence of the village.

The real-life version of Midwich is the village of Letchmore  Heath near Watford, named after the original Old Saxon “leche mere” meaning muddy pond.  The present-day pond is just to the south of the fetching village green, and adjacent to the green is the Three Horseshoes pub, which was used in the filming.  Another building seen in the film was the Post Office and General Stores, occupying a charming village house also facing the green.  The building has hardly changed in appearance, although it no longer serves its original purpose.  Letchmore Heath is no stranger to filming, being close to both the MGM British Studios, which produced this horror masterpiece, and also the Elstree Studios.  In fact, so many TV series from the 60s and 70s were filmed around here that the area has been dubbed Avengerland, after the famous Avengers TV series.

Letchmore Heath - geograph.org.uk - 65207. Photo by Nigel Cox, via Wikimedia Commons.

Sadly, George Sanders, who played Professor Gordon Zellaby in the film, is no longer with us, having died in 1972.  However, his screen wife Anthea Zellaby (Barbara Shelley) and their son David (Martin Stephens) are still alive, and in 2013 they were reunited with other cast members, along with fans of the film, for a visit to the former film set and a lunch at the Three Horseshoes.   

Map of the area.

AHOY, ME HEARTIES: BRISTOL'S TREASURE ISLAND PUBS

In Bristol’s historic core, alongside a number of attractive waterfronts, there is an area encompassing the elegant Queen Square and the 17^th century King Street.  Tucked away in this appealing part of the city are two pubs which contributed to one of the most famous works of English literature: Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. 

There are many attractive historic buildings in King Street, but the one which immediately draws the eye of visitors is the rickety-looking half-timbered inn which was called the Llandoger Trow – a trow being a kind of flat-bottomed barge - sadly now closed.  The pub is reputedly the inspiration for the Admiral Benbow in Treasure Island, although the latter was not actually in Bristol in the story.  The Admiral Benbow is the backdrop to the opening scene in the story, which centres around the adventures of Jim Hawkins, who was intent on finding the buried treasure of pirate Captain Flint.   The inn was owned by Hawkins’ parents, and the story starts with the appearance of a mysterious stranger who warns Hawkins to keep a lookout for a one-legged man, an event which eventually leads to the discovery of the map showing the location of the buried treasure.  Incidentally, the Llandoger Trow is allegedly where another famous author Daniel Defoe met a Scottish sailor called Alexander Selkirk, who had spent four years marooned on an uninhabited island in the South Pacific Ocean.  It is said that this chance encounter gave rise to Defoe’s novel Robinson Crusoe.  

Llandoger Trow June2010. Photo by NotFromUtrecht, via Wikimedia Commons.

   

Just off Queen Square is another pub dating from the same era called The Hole in the Wall, formerly the Coach and Horses.  The present name is a nod to the small spy hole which can be found on the side of the building, where people used to keep watch for any Customs men or Press Gangs so that they could warn the sailors drinking in the inn.  Treasure Island’s most famous character, Long John Silver, the prototype for the  familiar image of a pirate with a West Country accent and a parrot on his shoulder, was the landlord of The Spyglass Inn in the novel.  Jim Hawkins had orders to meet him there and, when he arrived he was shocked to find that the landlord was one-legged, fitting the description given by the aforementioned stranger.  Nevertheless, he describes the inn as “a bright enough little place of entertainment”.  There are many pubs claiming to be the inspiration for The Spyglass Inn, but The Hole in the Wall is the one most closely matching the description, not least because as well as the spy-hole, it occupies a quayside position in line with the fictional pub: Hawkins was told to follow the line of the docks.  The inn was also described in the novel as having a street on each side, which also fits, as the Hole in the Wall has the quayside on one side and a street leading into Queen Square on the other.  

The Hole In The Wall, Bristol.

Bristol is one of Britain’s most appealing cities.  Well connected by road and rail, it also has an international airport.  There is always something going on, particularly during the summer months, and there are plenty of other intriguing watering holes to investigate by the Harbourside and around the city.  

Map of the area.