TV locations for the Famous Five series

Discuss the television and film adaptations of Enid Blyton's stories.
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Gary Russell
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Gary Russell »

petejt wrote:
Nick Capaldi wrote:http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickcapald ... 183610554/

Just a quick note to say i've now uploaded a good selection of photos we took while visiting the filming locations of the 70s series. Hope you like them :D
Thanks for these very much.



The one thing that intrigued me more than anything, were the secret passages. I have read that most of them were 'constructed' in the basement kitchen of Exbury House, however what about the entrances to these secret passages? The door to the dungeons on Kirrin Island? The dungeon itself? The hidey holes in the kitchen of Kirrin Farm? The secret passage entrance in the study bookcase at Smuggler's Top? The 'Via Occulta' trapdoor in the study of Kirrin Cottage? And those stairs that were featured many times? Where are all these located?
99.9% of them were specially built and are as faked as the tunnels themselves
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Moonraker »

I'm not sure where I saw/read this (it might have been you or Marcus, Gary), but I did hear that the props/tunnels were still in the cellars of Exbury House. Do you know if that is so? It would make a pretty good reason for a visit should we get permission to enter the house, which I believe isn't normally open to the public.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Carlotta King »

And if it isn't we can have a Blytonesque adventure creeping round the grounds looking for an ajar window or a coal cellar door or a pear tree that we can climb up! ;)
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by pete9012S »

Moonraker wrote:..... I did hear that the props/tunnels were still in the cellars of Exbury House. ...... It would make a pretty good reason for a visit should we get permission to enter the house, which I believe isn't normally open to the public.
*IMAGINES* Twenty five forum members get in surreptitiously via the coal hole.The other fifteen shin up the vertiginous green creeper/ivy that leads to an inviting unlocked first floor window...
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Jack400 »

Moonraker wrote:I'm not sure where I saw/read this (it might have been you or Marcus, Gary), but I did hear that the props/tunnels were still in the cellars of Exbury House. Do you know if that is so? It would make a pretty good reason for a visit should we get permission to enter the house, which I believe isn't normally open to the public.
When I visited Exbury House in( 1979) I was told that the secret passages had all been taken away. The member of staff looked horrified at the suggestion (in the Look- In Annual) that the "hideous" (his word) tunnels might have been kept.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by number 6 »

I think Exbury House has now been converted into exclusive residential apartments, so there is no public access...unless you're invited in by one of the residents, of course! :D
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Moonraker »

The website seems very vague concerning Exbury House. On the timeline it notes that the rebuilding of Exbury House was completed in 1992. This is the only other reference to the actual house I could find:

"The Rothschild's house at Exbury is a neoclassical mansion which was built around an earlier structure in the 1920s. It is not open to the public."
© Wikipedia
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Carlotta King »

I've got a copy of 'Hudson's Historic Houses, Gardens, Castles & Heritage Sites' and Exbury is listed in there but it's all about the gardens, it doesn't mention the house being open to the public.
HHA/Christie's Garden Of The Year 2001. A spectatular 200-acre woodland garden showcasing the world famous Rothschild collection of rhododendrons, azaleas, magnolias, camellias, rare trees and plants.
Enchanting river walk, ponds and cascades.
Daffodil meadow, rock and heather gardens, exotic plantings and herbaceous borders ensure year-round interest. Superb autumn colour, with National Collection of Nyssa and Oxydendrum.
The Steam Railway enchants visitors of all ages, passing through a summer garden, and featuring a bridge, tunnel and viaduct.
Excellent restaurant and tearooms.
Open 7 Mar - 8 Nov daily, 10am - 5pm.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by MrsKirrin »

Carlotta King wrote:The tower and cove in Five Go Down To The Sea are at Valley of the Rocks on Exmoor.
I spent most of my childhood on Exmoor so I know all the places well, its a beautiful place and where I think of as home, I love watching my 90s series and recognising the locations! :D
Kirrin Cottage and Bossington are beautiful.

Also in Bossington is the little bridge and stream where Jo leads the boys (and is herself kidnapped) in Five Fall Into Adventure. I've paddled in that stream hundreds of times :D

Got to go and watch Five Go Down To The Sea now, hehe!

Carlotta x
Oh my, I haven't been in this forum for too long! Thank you for letting me know about the tower! Is there any photos of it on google? Do you have any idea of what the building might be called?

/MrsKirrin
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Carlotta King »

The tower is almost impossible to find photos of, I did find one not so long back, I'll have a root through and find it for you.
I do have photos of the cove though, where the children look out of the tower and see the rocks below and Julian says that that's where the the ships were wrecked when the wreckers shone the light.
I've been down to that cove many times, the path is very very steep and twists in hairpin bends (and is also full of clouds of buzzing flies in the summer!), but it's nice when you get down there! :)

I'll find the photos and post them for you. :)
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Carlotta King »

I've found the cove and got a couple more to show you what the whole area looks like.

The first one is the cove itself with the caves and the lichen on the cliffs, if you look in the episode you can see it's exactly the same place. :)
The second photo is the whole area of Valley Of The Rocks, the pointed hill in the centre is called Castle Rock and you can climb right to the top and sit there, the wreckers' cove is down below the cliffs there.
Third photo is Castle Rock closer and the beach below. :)

Image

Image

Image

I'll find the tower later, I've got to go out and I couldn't just put my hand on it at the moment!
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by John Pickup »

I love the Valley Of The Rocks, there used to be a herd of wild goats and I remember watching a cricket match as well, I think it would be just before the foreground in the second photo. We walked from there all the way to Woody Bay. Lovely photos, Cathy.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Carlotta King »

It's lovely there in an evening when they're playing cricket, such an unusual setting for a match, with those cliffs and the sea just in the background!

I can't claim credit for the photos though, they were taken by someone else and I just posted them here for MrsKirrin to see. :)
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by petejt »

Gary Russell wrote:
petejt wrote:
Nick Capaldi wrote:http://www.flickr.com/photos/nickcapald ... 183610554/

Just a quick note to say i've now uploaded a good selection of photos we took while visiting the filming locations of the 70s series. Hope you like them :D
Thanks for these very much.



The one thing that intrigued me more than anything, were the secret passages. I have read that most of them were 'constructed' in the basement kitchen of Exbury House, however what about the entrances to these secret passages? The door to the dungeons on Kirrin Island? The dungeon itself? The hidey holes in the kitchen of Kirrin Farm? The secret passage entrance in the study bookcase at Smuggler's Top? The 'Via Occulta' trapdoor in the study of Kirrin Cottage? And those stairs that were featured many times? Where are all these located?
99.9% of them were specially built and are as faked as the tunnels themselves

Blast…..I always hoped that they were real.
They've been a huge factor in inspiring my fascination, passion and obsession for secret passages.

Were they all faked at Exbury House? Or other locations as well?


Looking back through the earlier episodes, I can see that they were just going through bricked hallways in shadow to look like tunnels, with a bit of dirt slung around. However the dungeon under Kirrin Castle on Kirrin Island looked real enough. The tunnels in latter episodes (e.g. 'Five on a Secret Trail', 'Five go to Demon's Rocks') looked more like caves and passages rather than just the hallways...


How did they actually construct them? The entrance in Mr. Lenoir's study at Smuggler's top looked quite convincing, as well as the 'Via Occulta' in Uncle Quentin's Study at Kirrin Cottage.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by petejt »

Jack400 wrote:
Moonraker wrote:I'm not sure where I saw/read this (it might have been you or Marcus, Gary), but I did hear that the props/tunnels were still in the cellars of Exbury House. Do you know if that is so? It would make a pretty good reason for a visit should we get permission to enter the house, which I believe isn't normally open to the public.
When I visited Exbury House in( 1979) I was told that the secret passages had all been taken away. The member of staff looked horrified at the suggestion (in the Look- In Annual) that the "hideous" (his word) tunnels might have been kept.
What a shame. I'd be delighted to walk through the cellars and basement there.
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