TV locations for the Famous Five series

Discuss the television and film adaptations of Enid Blyton's stories.
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Onkel Quentin
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Post by Onkel Quentin »

Hallo number 6,
when I was on DPF in may, i also met Jane. She is wonderful. She told me the names of all horses, used for filming! After this long time! I´ve got much photos of the series from Luke, and she was able to tell me, where I can find all this places.
I´ve been on the road to find the trees, the trees from the end, but i couldn´t find them. So I was sure, the trees are cut off, because it is possible to see the area and trees in the background, but there are no trees directly nearby the street.
Please number 6, if you wrote emails to Jane, send her friendly greetings from me, I am sure, she will remember the german guy, who came to her farm in may.

Thank you.

And to Gary: You can get all my photos, if you need something for illustration your BOOK.
I know, that you have relation to Dr. Who,( what a shame, in Germany they started the series last year(!)), wouldn´t you be able to ... borrow... the TARDIS, some Famous Five fans (inside, there is much space, I think), want to make a short trip to the New Forest, I think 1977 would be a good time. Perhaps, I would stay there. What a wonderful thought ....... :D
timv
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by timv »

Thanks for all the interesting info on the sites used for the Famous Five TV series, Number Six! This has extended my own knowledge of what was filmed where, particularly of those episodes that I never saw at the time or could not place from the surrounding landscape. The details about Partridge Bush etc near Decoy Pond farm and Mystery Moor are particularly interesting, as I know this bit of moor well and often walk up there in summer from my home.

I have taken a good look at the picture you posted of the closing credits featuring the moor, and can confirm from my own photos that this is certainly on the bit of Yew Tree Heath near PB, about a mile or so SW of Decoy Pond farm. You can see Pig Bush woods (with the car park which the production team used) in the distance on the left, though the picture is not clear enough for me to work out if this is the view from Partridge Bush (where the woods are about a quarter of a mile away) or from further NW, along the track nearer to Beaulieu Road station. The area of moor to the right is definitely the 'brow' of moorland at the edge of Yew Tree Heath, looking SW and with the 'dip' beyond leading to Woodfidley bridge over the main railway line. The trees in the far distance, centre, are Moonhill Woods on the North side of Beaulieu Heath. The bank and edge of a track which you can see in the bottom left of the picture show the photo was taken from the edge of the main track which runs SE from Beaulieu Road station, on the West side of the B3056 road, to Pig Bush - either the section of moor by Partridge Bush or another section of wide moor about half a mile NW of that closer to the station. In recent years the only trees on this bit of track are by PB itself, but I have no idea if there were other trees in the 1970s now cut down.
I was over at St Leonards barn yesterday, in an unseasonal gale, and thought about the series. it certainly is unusual weather for the NF in August; I had three hours of rain at Royden Woods last week.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by number 6 »

Having just been to Partridge Bush & had a look around for an hour, I fear that Jane (in this instance) is wrong. Looking at the still pic Luke posted, there are no areas that correspond with the end credits as seen from PB..except one, & this is clutching at straws! This is a piece of Heather heathland that runs from PB to Pig bush...a quarter of a mile away. The weather has been dull, murky & overcast today. Rubbish for taking pics, so I can't even show you all what I mean! However, I feel that Jane is right & it's around this particular area..a triangle between DPF, Yew tree Heath & Pig bush. We all now know it's in the vicinity, so it's only a matter of time before all the pieces fit together. timv is almost certainly on the right track & I feel that he's in the best position to keep looking. He knows the area very well & has less time restrictions in the New Forest than us yearly visitors!
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by number 6 »

Just come out of the Drift inn at Beaulieu road. There's a car park opposite, the entrance to the long drive to DFP. I think this is the location for the end titles! Everything fits, inc the little banking, where the pine trees are in the titles, & the expanse of heathland the five walk along. Even the horizon seems to fit. Can't be 100% sure, but it looks a good match. Maybe Jane got the car parks mixed up? Ain't got time to study the area. I've got a train to catch!
Last edited by number 6 on 23 Oct 2018, 10:01, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by timv »

I've been looking again at the still of the end credits, and think that the line of Pig Bush woods in the distance on the left seems just too far away for this to be the view which you can see from Partridge Bush. It looks more like my own photos of the view from nearer Decoy Pond Farm, taken from up the road nearer Beaulieu Road station, around a mile away from Pig Bush. This would confirm Number Six's previous post.

You can see that there is a dip in the heath between the foreground and the distance; this must be the dip in the moor about halfway along the road between the station and Pig Bush. (It takes me around 10 min to walk from the station to the dip, and ditto from there to Pig Bush.) The still is too blurry for me to clearly see the B3056 road which should be visible if the filming was done from the existing trees by the car park close to the station and Drift Inn. Currently all the trees are on the N side of the road; there is also a track (to Decoy Pond Farm) and low bank. But there is a vague line in the photo that could be the road - with the tarmac largely invisible due to the height of the heather in front of it?

I would guess that any riding done for the film would have been done on the flatter ground near the Drift Inn and car park, not on the track around Partridge Bush. PB is on a rise in the track, with a drop to low ground on both sides; the track falls away, steeply, to the NW of PB towards the station, and also to the SE towards Pig Bush car park. It would be easier - and safer? - to shoot riding for the filming on level ground here, and/or on the track that runs from Decoy Pond Farm entrance West along the top of the ridge (out of view behind the camera, which is looking SW) to the railway line.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by number 6 »

I decided to take a later train than I suggested in my previous post. Well, curiosity got the better of me! Looking out SE across the heathland from Beaulieu road car park, the trees, etc, on the horizon & the distance views towards Pig bush, do match up quite well. In & around the car park are now mature pine trees (which were nowhere as big back in 78). The edge of the CP is a small ditch & banking identical to the one the Five clamber over before they head off over the Moor. In the far off distance (& to the right of shot) is the B3054. The road wouldn't have been so busy 40 years ago as it is today, & probably wasn't so obvious due to the height of the Heather back then. Any traffic noise wouldn't have mattered anyway, due to the fact that the end titles was dubbed over by song/music...as long as they weren't in shot. Today, the Heather has been munched away by grazing cattle/New Forest ponies. I think Jane (owner of the DPF) has confused the Beaulieu rd car park with the one at Pig bush. The PB car park was used by the production vehicles, but only to film some of the galloping scenes in that particular area. They needed to transport the rail tracks, etc, which were used to glide the mounted cameras along during the galloping scenes. The Beaulieu CP, on the other hand, must have been used for the closing titles. This makes sense. The adjacent moor is ideal for filming. The production team can park in the car park & just film the Five wandering off over the moor. Job done. Gary did say in a previous post that he remembers the end titles sequence being shot a few yards from a car park. Well, this fits Beaulieu CP perfectly. Plus they were already filming at DPF at the time. It seems senseless to me to up sticks with your production team to find a place to film in the middle of nowhere, or a place that may be a bit boggy & over rough terrain, when there's an ideal location on your doorstep! It would certainly save time to film from where you're already based! Apologises (again!) for a lack of photos. The murky weather & a lack of Sunshine really botched things up this time round. My worst New Forest weather I've ever experienced. Oh well, you can't win em all. :|
Last edited by number 6 on 05 Aug 2017, 07:36, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by number 6 »

Onkel Quentin wrote:Hallo number 6,Please number 6, if you wrote emails to Jane, send her friendly greetings from me, I am sure, she will remember the german guy, who came to her farm in may.
She did remember you, O.Q. She said that some enthusiastic guy from Germany was at DPF in May! I forget to tell you. Many apologises! Yes, Jane is a nice lady & a very helpful one at that. :D
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

An interesting lot of posts. :D It's great to hear of possibilities being investigated and things being pieced together!
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.

"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by number 6 »

It sure is, Anita! Yesterday was my last visit to the New Forest for this year. A pretty mixed bag re the weather. Not ideal at all, but I managed to get some nice days on some visits, ie Blackwater House ( Kirrin cottage), so l can't grumble too much! :D
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Gary Russell »

Obviously the lack of photos is dificult here simply because I have no idea what you're all talking about. The CP we used for the titles and the CP we used for the riding shots was the same one, I'm positive. We crossed the road (so our backs are to the CP) and walked not very far (I can't tell you if we went left or right sadly - my gut says we went left but I'd put no stock in that). It was a huuuuuge expanse of moorland, stretched away for miles on either side and ahead. No buildings or anything. And then we walked forwards, over that little water-filled dip and bang, we were off on the actual walk seen in the end titles. And we didn't stop walking, cos we couldn't hear anyone yelling CUT. For the second take, they gave us a walkie talkie so we could hear instructions.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by number 6 »

Oh dear! We're none the wiser, then! Your recollections have definitely ruled out Partridge bush area & maybe the heathland radiating from Beaulieu road car park, although the latter is quite vast. It doesn't run for miles each side, though. I can't think of any other 'huge' expanse around the DPF area that could match. However, Jane did say that some of the galloping scenes were shot on the heathland along side the long farm driveway, which is quite big & seems to stretch for miles. Beaulieu road CP has a few buildings over the road from it, then it's just heathland separated by a few roads. This heathland is also quite large. Cos you were quite young at the time of filming, Is it possible that the area seemed bigger than it actually was? I know that when I return to places I visited in my early teens they look smaller than I remember them. Just a thought. As you say, without photos to show you, then it's impossible for you to judge for yourself. I did take some, but there is any great detail showing up to help you. It was really dank & murky on my two visits. The photos just look very dark. Maybe timv could take some of the area when he's out on a walk in that area. Maybe you'd have to visit the DPF area one day to actually help jog your memory & pinpoint the correct location.
Last edited by number 6 on 06 Aug 2017, 18:48, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by number 6 »

Below is a photo of the moorland radiating roughly South from the ditch/pine trees of Beaulieu road. Unfortunately, it's not brilliant, but its the best of the bunch I took on my two visits. You'll see it doesn't show much detail, due to the poor quality light available at the time. There is a dip as Gary mentioned, but it doesn't show in the pic. Behind is the BR CP, to the left is DPF (around half a mile away), & to your Right is the B3056. Ahead, in the distance, is the Pig bush CP (Over a mile away). The heathland was once thick with Heather, but it's been grazed by horses/cattle. However, there is one possibility that fits Gary's description of a long walk with expanses of moor each side, & that is looking East from Beaulieu Road CP (marked Denny Lodge on the map) to a small insignificant copse, just below where it says Yew Tree Heath on the map. It is not far from DPF to the North & a small CP to the South. The moor continues well beyond the minor copse. You could walk quite a distance along this line, encountering the 'dip' along the way!
It's hard to take in the full scale of the heathland from the photo alone. It is quite big & rugged. Think you have to be there to fully appreciate the size of it & to make any sense of it. It is quite out in the sticks, with just a few small buildings opposite the BR CP.

Image

Image
Last edited by number 6 on 06 Aug 2017, 19:03, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

Here are a few of Dancing Ledge I took last Monday.

Image

Image

8)
Julian gave an exclamation and nudged George.
"See that? It's the black Bentley again. KMF 102!"

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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by number 6 »

Absolutely lovely pics, Julie! It looks like you certainly picked a nice day for it! I had a swim in the 'Swimming pool' a few years ago. It was freezing cold, but very refreshing. Will you try it one day? A lot of the Dancing ledge area can be seen in the 'Five go down to the sea' episode, not just the Rock Yan was stood on! :D
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

No, I didn't swim, number 6, or will as I can't swim. :lol: :lol:

It was a glorious day as you can see, and I really enjoyed sitting there in the sunshine. It's a bit of a walk back up that steep hillside though!

8)
Julian gave an exclamation and nudged George.
"See that? It's the black Bentley again. KMF 102!"

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