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4 unusual facts about Swallows and Amazons


George Chapman

Arthur Ransome uses two references from it in his children's books, the Swallows and Amazons series.

Swallows and Amazons

Roger Altounyan - real-life scientist; Ransome named characters in the story after Altounyan and his sisters.

Released by EMI in 1974, directed by Claude Whatham and produced by Richard Pilbrow, the film starred Virginia McKenna and Ronald Fraser in the main adult roles and Sophie Neville (Titty), Zanna Hamilton (Susan), Simon West (John) & Stephen Grendon (Roger) as the Swallows.

Young Titty was played by Phoebe Phillips, John by John Paul Ekins, Susan by Flora Harris, Roger by Joe Sowerbutts, mother by Penny Downie, Nancy by Catherine Poole, Peggy by Jackie Swainson and Uncle Jim by Nicholas Le Prevost.


Claude Whatham

Cinema films he directed included That'll be the day, All Creatures Great and Small, Swallows and Amazons, Sweet William, Hoodwink, The Captain's Doll, Murder Elite and

Coots in the North

Coots in the North is the name given by Arthur Ransome's biographer, Hugh Brogan to an incomplete Swallows and Amazons novel found in Ransome's papers.

River Pang

To publicise their campaign they highlighted the dangers to sites well known through literature such as The Lake District (Arthur Ransome's Swallows and Amazons and Beatrix Potter's Mrs Tiggy-Winkle), the North Kent Marshes (Charles Dickens's Great Expectations) and the River Pang.

Sea Urchins

Described as a saltwater Swallows and Amazons, it was shot on the Mahurangi Peninsula in the Hauraki Gulf, where the plucky “urchins” stumble on villanious plots from missing treasure to wildlife smuggling while holidaying with their uncle.

Wilfred Josephs

His work for film includes My Side of the Mountain, Cider with Rosie, Swallows and Amazons and All Creatures Great and Small and The Voyage of Charles Darwin.


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