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.

GHOSTLY OCCURRENCES ON THE COTSWOLD WAY: THE LIVING AND THE DEAD

For walkers following the Cotswold Way on the approach to Bath, the ups and downs of the northern part of the Cotswolds give way to a rolling plateau just to the north of the M4 motorway.  One of the points of interest on this stretch of the trail is Horton Court, a National Trust property (now turned into a holiday cottage) which is a honey-coloured manor house built on the site of a Norman hall.  This property recently graced our TV screens in The Living And The Dead as Shepzoy House, the home of a young couple whose marriage is threatened by all manner of supernatural horrors going on around them, and by the husband’s descent into madness over the death of his son Gabriel, who died from drowning, a tragedy for which he blames himself.  The series is set in Somerset in the late 19^th century, but Horton is in South Gloucestershire near Chipping Sodbury, between Stroud and Bath, a rural area where the brooding woodlands and swaying grasses of the fields create a suitably spooky atmosphere, prompting some to refer to the series as a kind of Gothic Thomas Hardy.  

Horton Court. Photo by Marion Dutcher, via Wikimedia Commons.

The main subject of the story, Nathan Appleby (‘Merlin’ with a beard aka Colin Morgan), is a psychologist who returns from London to the family home after the death of his mother and with his young wife Charlotte (Charlotte Spender) takes over the running of the farm there. The locals are like something from a bygone age with their ancient rituals and superstitions, something akin to the community encountered by Edward Woodward in The Wicker Man.  As for Nathan, he finds it hard to shake off his psychological calling, and starts investigating the case of a possessed local girl called Harriet, which unleashes a series of sinister phenomena and apparitions.  Harriet’s party piece is mimicking the voice of the late Gabriel, which tests Nathan’s sanity to the limit.  The sinister atmosphere and tension continue to build up in subsequent episodes, and the final episode is full of surprises, which I won’t go into in case anyone hasn’t seen it yet. 

West from Highfield Lane near Horton Court - geograph.org.uk - 1001174. Photo by Maurice Pullin, via Wikimedia Commons.

 

According to the Cotswold Way Trail Guide, Horton Court is probably the oldest property along the trail, being based on a single-storey hall house from the 12^th century.  The adjoining church is the parish church of St James the Elder, built around 1300 on the site of the previous Norman church.  The manor itself, which lies alongside the hall, was built around 1521 by the Rev. William Knight, the future Bishop of Bath and Wells.  The most charming feature of the gardens is a 16^th century Italianate loggia.  Although ramblers following the Cotswold Way are unable to enter the manor house at this time, the church is still up and running for those wanting to relive the atmosphere surrounding the drama series, and of course there is the bucolic countryside to wander through.

Horton church in South Gloucestershire England arp. Photo by Adrian Pingstone, via Wikimedia Commons.

Map of the area.

GOING FOR GOLD: CHARIOTS OF FIRE, ST ANDREWS

It seems hard to believe that four years have gone past since the nation and the world witnessed the stirring spectacle of the London 2012 opening ceremony.  The most memorable part of the ceremony was the spine-tingling sequence representing Britain’s Industrial Revolution, but prior to that there was a comedy sketch involving British comedian Rowan Atkinson playing a pianist with a repetitive role in a performance of the theme music to Chariots of Fire, a film made in 1981 but re-released in 2012 prior to the London Olympics, which tells the story of two athletes who, after years of training, are accepted to compete in the 1924 Paris Olympics.  The film triumphed at the 1982 Oscars, winning four awards including Best Picture.  The music also earned its Greek composer Vangelis an Oscar for Best Original Score. 

Anyone who has seen the film will remember the scene near the beginning where, with the theme music as a backdrop, the athletes raced along a glorious sandy beach in their white period racing gear, their feet splashing in the shallows.  In the 2012 opening ceremony Rowan Atkinson’s mind wanders off during his boring part of the musical performance and he starts fantasising about being a part of the beach scene.  Some clever camera trickery is used to superimpose him on the scene alongside the original actors.  Ben Cross, who played Jewish athlete Harold Abrahams in the film, described the act of running along the sand as ‘hell’.  Worth enduring though, for what has come to be one of the most iconic scenes in British film, so much so that people can often be spotted recreating the scene on the beach.  

So where was this beach?  Well in the film it was meant to be Broadstairs, but in fact, the scene was shot at West Sands in St Andrews, Scotland’s answer to Oxford, famous for its university and the fact that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge met there.  Famous also for its fine golf courses, one of which was founded in 1754 and is regarded as the home of golf.  St Andrews was chosen as a cost-saving measure, due to the fact that other scenes were being filmed elsewhere in Scotland.  Filming on a beach is not without its problems: the story goes that the crew were forced to return to the location to film the sequence again because sand had got into the camera the first time round, damaging the negatives.

West Sands Beach, St Andrews - geograph.org.uk - 1803950. Photo by Stephen Sweeney, via Wikimedia Commons

The production crew had to change the outward appearance of some of the city’s newer buildings to make them look more in keeping with the period.  Towards the end of the beach sequence an imposing building can be seen near the golf course, with the name Carlton Hotel on it.  The building was used as a University residence at the time but was relabelled for the film.  Sean Connery reportedly joined the film’s producer David Puttnam at a screening of the film, and when the building came into view he tapped Puttnam on the shoulder and said “That’s not the Carlton Hotel, that’s St Andrews”.  Apparently a lot of the extras used in the filming were recruited the night before from the local bars.  

St Andrews Golf Links from The Scores - geograph.org.uk - 305228. Photo by Rob Bishop, via Wikimedia Commons

Although the city did not form a part of the film’s story and, Connery aside, many people would not have recognised it in the beach scene, St Andrews is evidently determined not to forget its role in the film, with a plaque commemorating the filming and a hotel bar called Chariots.  There is also an annual Chariots of Fire fun run on the beach, giving fans of the film a chance to relive the scene.

Map of the area.

POOH TERRITORY: ASHDOWN FOREST, EAST SUSSEX

I have been a prolific reader ever since I can remember, and one of my fondest literary memories from my childhood is the series of books featuring an overweight, honey-guzzling bear called Winnie-the-Pooh, or Pooh.  The stories, by A. A. Milne and written in the 1920s, followed the adventures of Pooh and a host of other lovable animal characters, including the diminutive Piglet, the morose donkey Eeyore and the excitable Tigger.  The token human, Christopher Robin, was based on the author’s son Christopher Robin Milne, who grew up on the family farm in the village of Hartfield, between Royal Tunbridge Wells and East Grinstead. 

The scene of the action is Ashdown Forest adjoining Hartfield .  Within the forest is the Five Hundred Acre Wood, which features in the Pooh stories as ‘Hundred Acre Wood’ or ’100 Aker Wood’.  The characters frequent a number of locations within the wood, for example ‘Owl’s House’.  There is a car park on Gill’s Lap (Galleon’s Lap in the stories) where there is a map of the surrounding area showing some of the key locations from the stories.  

Ashdown Forest, Milne memorial, Gill's Lap 02. Photo by Poliphilo, via Wikimedia Commons

Hartfield itself is home to Pooh Corner, which runs an online shop selling Pooh merchandise, and there is also a tearoom there.  Nearby is a stream which eventually runs into the River Medway, and crossing the stream is the famous Poohsticks Bridge, where the game Poohsticks was invented by A A Milne for his son Christopher Robin.  The game involves people lining up on the bridge and dropping sticks into the water.  They then rush to the other side of the bridge and the owner of the first stick to emerge is  the winner.  The game is still kept alive today, and world championships in the 'sport' have been held.  

Goodnight Pooh - geograph.org.uk - 1048150. Photo by Ian Paterson, via Wikimedia Commons

At the south-east corner of the Hundred Acre Wood is a spot described as “rather boggy and sad”.  This is Eeyore’s Gloomy Place, where the sad old donkey lived in a stick house prone to falling down.  The Milne family kept a donkey called Jessica in a pasture, and it is thought that this provided the inspiration for Eeyore’s Gloomy Place.  Meanwhile, at the entrance to the farm itself is a walnut tree where Christopher Robin built a trap which ensnared the foot of the gardener’s wife.  This was the inspiration for the story about the Heffalump trap built by Pooh and Piglet to ensnare the mythical elephant-like beast.

Ashdown Forest was once a medieval hunting forest which was created soon after the Norman Conquest.  Today it is the largest area of open access land in the south-east, running at 9.5 acres of beech woods and open heath with wonderful views of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, making it a popular destination for walkers.  As well as the resident sheep and horses, there is a large deer population and there are also ground nesting birds, so walkers need to keep any dogs under control.  

Map of the area.