Watch a behind-the-scenes video below of the Amazon boathouse, shot in 1973 during the filming of Swallows and Amazons (1974) at ‘Beckfoot’ on 16mm Bolex film… You can read the whole story by Sophie Neville, who starred as Titty Walker in the film, in her book The Making of Swallows and Amazons (1974), which you can buy […]
A new play about Arthur and Evgenia Ransome and George Orwell comes to the stage in Ipswich this April, and tickets are now on pre-sale. Produced by Eastern Angles, Red Skies is based on the coincidence that Orwell and the Ransomes were both in Southwold at the same time in 1939. Written by Ivan Cutting, […]
Classic films Riddle of the Sands (1979) and Swallows and Amazons (1974) are both showing at this weekend’s Maritime Film Festival in Woodbridge, with introductory talks by the former’s producer Drummond Challis and the Nancy Blackett Blackett Trust’s President Peter Willis. Nine unmissable boat-related films are being shown over the Festival’s three days, which is […]
We’re delighted to announce that the speaker for the first Brian Hammett Memorial Talk is to be Julia Jones, and bookings are now open. Julia is a well-known local author and sailor – she is the present owner of Ransome’s Peter Duck. Her talk is entitled “Racundra, Peter Duck, Avola: unwilling to accept a final […]
The Nancy Blackett Trust’s Chairman Peter Willis was interviewed by afternoon presenter Lesley Dolphin on BBC Radio Suffolk on January 10th. Topics covered included Peter’s recent receipt of the RYA Lifetime Commitment Award, how Arthur Ransome acquired Nancy Blackett, the origins of the Nancy Blackett Trust, the upcoming Woodbridge Maritime Film Festival and Brian Hammett Memorial […]
The Nancy Blackett Trust will be featured on BBC Radio Suffolk this Friday (January 10th). President Peter Willis will be the guest on presenter Lesley Dolphin’s sofa between 3pm and 4pm. If you are outside of Radio Suffolk’s broadcast area you will be able to listen live on the internet via the BBC Sounds website. […]
Peter Duck, once owned by Swallows and Amazons author Arthur Ransome, is now owned by another well-known writer, book reviewer (Yachting Monthly) and publisher Julia Jones. My Classic Boat travelled to the East Coast for an exclusive chat with Julia and her son Bertie, which you can watch below…
Nancy Blackett, once owned by Swallows and Amazons author Arthur Ransome (and the star of We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea), is now owned by the Nancy Blackett Trust. My Classic Boat travelled to the Isle of Wight and the River Orwell for some sailing and exclusive interviews with the Nancy Blackett Trust’s President […]
A radio-controlled model of Nancy Blackett has now been completed thanks to four years’ work by modelmaker Pete Shires. The approximately 1/8th scale miniature masterpiece has a 3-channel radio control for the mainsail, rudder, and motor, and has already been successfully tested in slightly gusty weather. “She sails very well.” says Pete, “but she may […]
Nancy Blackett Trust President Peter Willis has been interviewed by Dan Houston of Classic Sailor about his lifelong passion for the children’s author Arthur Ransome and his 1931 Hillyard cutter Nancy Blackett. In the 22-minute video interview, Peter shows Dan around both Nancy Blackett and Pin Mill, and talks about the founding and operations of the […]
Sophie Neville explores the connections between three different Puffin paperback editions of Swallows and Amazons and the original film… The school term is over, Swallows and Amazons is on BBC iPlayer and Christmas missives are arriving in the post. I have just been sent this homemade card from someone who came to the premier of the […]
A Christmas message from the Nancy Blackett Trust… We wish a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of our supporters, members, friends and followers. Thank you for your ongoing support and have a wonderful time. Art by Claudia Myatt
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