TARS – The Arthur Ransome Society – has taken ownership of the two iconic dinghies featured in the 1974 film of Swallows and Amazons, with the aim of restoring them in time for the film’s 50th anniversary next year. Swallow was bought for £1 from the ‘SailRansome’ group which had managed her since the collective […]
On this day, fifty years ago, the filming of Swallows and Amazons began in the Lake District, writes Sophie Neville… 14th May 1973 was the first day of making the original movie Swallows & Amazons on location in the Lake District. A huge effort had been made to set-dress Haverthwaite Railway Station, at the southern […]
Members of the Nancy Blackett Trust can now book for this year’s Annual General Meeting and Summer Social in June at the Royal Harwich Yacht Club. The AGM starts at 11am on Saturday 17th June, while the Summer Social commences at 2pm and features talks from Sarah Curtis of Harry King’s Boatyard about Pin Mill […]
Marking the coronation of HM King Charles III, Sophie Neville looks at the many connections between the Royal Family and Swallows and Amazons since it was first published in 1930. HM Queen Elizabeth II said that Swallows and Amazons (1974) was her favourite film. She had been given the book of Swallows and Amazons as […]
This year marks the 50th anniversary of making the Swallows and Amazons film in the Lake District, with the very first day of filming being on 14th May 1973 at the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Steam Railway, also celebrating its 50th, writes Sophie Neville… Earlier this year David Wood, the award-winning playwright who adapted Swallows and […]
A marathon reading of Arthur Ransome’s classic story Swallowdale is happening at Windermere Jetty Museum on June 24th & 25th, and you can now sign up to participate in it. Swallowdale follows on from the great adventure of Swallows and Amazons and finds the brave crew of the Swallow, plus one parrot, beginning another summer […]
The University of Cumbria is hosting a free public talk about Arthur Ransome in Ambleside on Tuesday 4th April. Presented by Professor Sally Bushell of Lancaster University, this talk considers a spatial approach to children’s literature through the example of Arthur Ransome’s Swallows and Amazons series, defining the concept of “PlaySpace” as a shared space […]
Last Saturday – 25th March – saw Nancy Blackett being fitted-out for the 2023 summer season, following her relaunch about a mile down the river at Harry King’s of Pin Mill earlier in the week. Back in her regular berth at Woolverstone Marina, her condition looked immaculate, and a team of half-a-dozen Trust members set […]
Sailing Secretary Norman Savigar took this photo of Nancy Blackett at Pin Mill on Thursday 16th March. Sporting a fresh red coat of anti-foul paint, she is being prepared to go back on the water at Pin Mill in the next week or so after spending the winter ashore.
Mike Rines, rescuer and restorer of Nancy Blackett, has died, at the age of 89. He first discovered Arthur Ransome’s boat virtually derelict in Scarborough Harbour in the early 1980s. Initially unaware that she was the inspiration for We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, and the original of the Goblin in that book, he […]
A brand new theatre production of Arthur Ransome’s novel Winter Holiday will take to the stage this month, before appearing in the Lake District in March. The play will be on stage for three days at the Theatre Severn in Shrewsbury from 16th to 18th February, before appearing for two days at the Old Laundry […]
Arthur Ransome’s Selina King has been shortlisted for this year’s Classic Boat Awards, in the ‘Restored Sailing Vessel Under 40ft’ class. The largest and finest of Ransome’s yachts, she has been entered by King’s Boatyard of Pin Mill where she was built 85 years ago, and where she is now completing a long and complex […]
You must be logged in to post a comment.