Daphne Neville worked behind the camera on the original movie ‘Swallows & Amazons’ made on location in the Lake District and post synced at Elstree Studios in 1974. It was released in cinemas across the UK on 4th April 1974.
The Arthur Ransome Society has invited Daphne to join other members of the film crew and cast at the 50th Anniversary celebrations at Windermere Jetty in Cumbria on 29th and 30th June 2024.
Tickets are available on the day or from Lakeland Arts online here
This Swallows and Amazons Festival promises to be a great day out:
- John Sergeant, President of The Arthur Ransome Society, will introduce the festival
- Members of the original cast including Suzanna Hamilton, Simon West, Kit Seymour and Sophie Neville will be around to answer questions
- Flags, film posters and other film memorabilia will be on display
- The dinghies Swallow and Amazon used in the film will be there
- Steamboats Osprey and either Penelope or Lady Elizabeth that appeared in the Rio scene
- The original Amazon brought by members of the Altounyan family
- Titmouse, the dinghy used in the BBC serial Coot Club
- Arthur Ransome’s dinghy Coch-y-Bonddhu, his model for Scarab
- Trips on MV Tern and the Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway
- The original film ‘Swallows & Amazons’ (1974) will be played
- A slide show on ‘The Making of Swallows and Amazons’ by Sophie Neville
- A talk on Arthur Ransome and how he came to write the books by Peter Wright
- A folk group will sing sea shanties and play music
- A campfire, tents and activities like knot tying for children
- A wonderful cafe looking out over the lake
- Traditional charcoal burning in the Grizedale Forest
You can read about Daphne’s adventures working on the film in ‘The making of Swallows and Amazons’ available online here
Daphne Neville 