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Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley
Camberwick Green characters Click on each name for a pic
Windy is to Camberwick what the firemen are to Trumpton and Lord Belborough is to Chigley ie. the star.
He owns a traditional windmill called Colley's Mill.Which is remembered by many as its design requires him to dodge the rotating sail just to get in and out !
He represents the rural oldschool in contrast to his modern neighbour Farmer Bell.
He lives life at his own pace,enjoys a regular tipple of home-brewed cider and "keeps ducks,hens,2 cows and bees".(one of the cows is called "Bess")
An accomplished whittler,he has no 'phone or car and rides a "tricycle"-ostensibly a pennyfarthing with stabilisers.
With his traditional smock,you'd imagine he'd be short on grey-matter and long on conversational pauses.
But it's quite the reverse.And he's actually blessed with a combination of intelligence,native cunning and common sense.
Yep.There are no flies on our Windy -at least not in cold weather- and he seems perfectly happy with life as a batchelor of indeterminate age.
" Windy Miller,Windy Miller,sharper than a thorn.
Like a mouse he's spry and nimble when he grinds the corn.
Like a bird he'll watch the wind and listen for the sound,
which says he has the wind he needs to make the sails go round."
Dr.Mopp - Local GP
The resident GP is perhaps one of the most striking "time and place" anomalies that occurs in the whole of Trumptonshire, as he's an identikit Edwardian gentleman from his top hat right through to the boneshaker he drives.
Like Windy,he reinforces the 'just because it's old,doesn't make it bad' narrative theme.
And everyone seems healthy enough with his simple,old fashioned remedies,so he must be doing something right.
Off-duty he's "a keen photographer",complete with a suitably archaic box brownie on a tripod,and he also likes fishing.
There's no mention of a wife or kids,although we do learn he's got a sister called,"Millicent" in episode one of Chigley.
"If you want a doctor,get Dr.Mopp.
For he can stop a sneeze or a wheeze,or a lump or a bump,a headache,a sprain or rheumaticy pain.
So if you're feeling sickly please call him quickly.
He can cure all ills,with his pale pink medicines and sugar-coated pills "
Mickey Murphy - Baker
Mickey's the most visible member of the family,and generally comes across as not the brightest bit of icing on the bun.
But he's certainly a hard-worker and good provider.His Van
Wife : Mrs.Murphy
No first name,and no song.She's a house mum and minds the shop in MIckey's absence,but is never seen doing any of the baking.She's got a rather odd,squat figure,an unflattering dress sense and not much of a part.
So she's got more cause for a re-write than most !
Kids : Mary and Paddy
No ages given.And despite being the only children ever seen in Camberwick,they're surprisingly under-used.
Mary's the more peripheral of the two and is probably best remembered for her dress as much as anything else -a nice bit of 60's kitsch.
Paddy does get his own episode where he helps out Mr.Tripp the milkman on Saturday mornings whilst on rollerskates.
And he also gets a tune ( no.4 below ),although even that's a one-off and not used as his calling card.
And they both share No.3 with dad.
1. " Mr.Murphy is a master baker,pudding,pie & pastry maker.
Biscuits,buns and birthday cakes,everything is marvellous that Murphy makes. "
2. " Driving along with the baker's man,in a rackety,tackety baker's van.
Each low fat cake the baker's bake will roll and shake as our rounds we make.
With the baker man in the baker's van,the rackety,tackety baker's van. "
3. " Driving along in a baker's van,in a rackety,clackety baker's van.
Away to the Mill our buckets to fill,who cares if it spills we know that it will.
In the baker's van with the baker's man,in the rackety,clackety baker's van. "
4. " Whizzing along on my rollerskates,on my rumbling,tumbling rollerskates.
The people say "get out of the way and don't delay he's at work today.
On his rollerskates,on his bowler skates,his rumbling,tumbling rollerskates."
Mrs Honeyman - Local Gossip
A lady who we're told "never stops talking".She gives the series a real sense of movement and life as she bustles about The Green,with her floor-length skirt avoiding the need to animate all that frantic footwork.
She's permanently seen with her baby boy in tow,who's always referred to simply as "he","him" or "baby".
And whilst she's presumably a similar age to Mrs.Murphy,her victorian dress sense makes her seem much older.
We learn that her husband is "the Chemist",but we never get to see him- or the shop for that matter.
And having to contend with her high-energy flitting about and machine-gun verbals,he probably consumes more aspirin than he sells.
That said,she always comes across as more amusing than annoying and is a valuable counterpoint to the more laidback characters.
"Chatter,chatter,have you heard the latest gossip,not a word to anyone.
But do you know that,natter natter,well my dear,you could have knocked me over with a feather. I...was... shocked ! "
Jonathon Bell - Farmer
His main song ( No.1 ) pretty much says it all really.
He's very much the wind-of-change counterpoint to Windy's old school ideals.
And whilst the general conclusion is that there's room for both,Gordon Murray ensures that if anyone ends up looking like a bumpkin,it's Farmer Bell -allbeit a wealthy one.
He has a wife although she's never seen and is only mentioned in passing when,for instance,the Doc calls to treat her "rheumatics".And whilst he has no children,his machines are clearly his real babies ....
A truck for general use (reg."JB1") .... a tractor .... "a forklift loader" .... and -a "mechanical digger" which is only seen in 2 Chigley episodes "Clay for Mr.Farthing" and "The Fountain",accompanied by the 3rd song listed below.
All bought from Mr.Dagenham incidentally,as is his "electric milking machine","new plough and a television set"
But despite all that,he does still need unseen "farm hands" to help him out,so it's clearly a decent size spread.
Although the most we ever see of it are the buildings and yard.And no-one's ever seen out in the fields.
1. " A go-ahead farmer is Jonathon Bell,who works his farm and works it well.
He doesn't hold much with the good old days,in modern times use modern ways.
Electric,mechanical,all that is new which does the work that men used to do.
He swears by it all and he proves it too,on his modern mechanical farm."
2. " Driving along in a farmer's truck,in an "I can do anything" farmer's truck.
A pig or a hen,a calf or the men,a bale or a sack all go in to the back.
You can even spread muck from a farmer's truck,an "I can do anything" farmer's truck. "
3. " For jobs that are big a mechanical digger is bigger and better and quicker
It lumbers and lurches and lifts heavy loads,digging deep ditches or holes in the roads
Trenches for water,main cable or drain,rumbling and roaring and taking the strain
Loading up lorries with rubble and soil,a mechanical digger will tirelessly toil
For jobs that are big a mechanical digger is bigger and better and quicker "
Mrs.Dingle - Postmistress
She runs the combined Post Office and General Stores with no mention of any family, and seemingly only a puppy dog called "Packet" for company.( "Packet" as in 'parcel',and not 'poo' presumably )
Whilst she flits in and out of procedings fairly regularly,she's a rather non-descript figure.
And certainly isn't helped by not having a signature tune.Which is perhaps rather strange when you consider she's essentially at the hub of village life.
So she's actually not as well-remembered as her pet seems to be ( ouch !) .... not that he had a song either !
She does however get this little one-off refrain when she's helping Peter the Postie sort the letters in the very 1st episode ...
" 3 for Mickey Murphy,2 for Dr.Mopp,1 for Mr.Honeyman who keeps the Chemist's Shop.
2 for Windy Miller,3 for Captain Snort,and 6 for all the soldier boys who live in Pippin Fort "
This song was accompanied by a quaint,if slightly bizarre,little twirly dance by the 2 of them.
Actually the only dance sequence in the whole Camberwick series ( for dancing,think Chigley )
Camberwick's famous local bobby.
His motorbike immediately gives him quite a lot of kudos of course.And he also gets a lot of airtime too,which further cements his place in the consciousness.
But it's his ear worm of a song hook that really makes him so memorable .... the staccato "P_C_McGarry No.4_5_2" only playing 2nd fiddle to the goliath that is "Pugh,Pugh,Barney McGrew" !
And he also holds the Camberwick record for the most number of lyrical variations.With the first 3 being from his own episode and the last one from Mrs.Honeyman's:-
1. "Here comes the policeman,the big friendly policeman,P.C McGarry No.452.
Lost a key,cat up a tree,baby lost a shoe ?
Then get a policeman,a big friendly policeman,P.C McGarry No.452."
2. "Here comes the policeman,the big friendly policeman,P.C McGarry No.452.
Lost dogs,thick fogs,or don't know what to do ?
Then get the policeman,the big friendly policeman,P.C McGarry No.452"
3. "They've got the policeman,the big friendly policeman,P.C McGarry No.452.
Swarming bees in the trees.Swarming people too.
They've got the policeman,the big friendly policeman,P.C McGarry No.452"
4. "Here comes the policeman,the big friendly policeman,P.C Mcgarry No.452.
Workmen seen on the Green,what are they going to do ?
They'll tell the policeman,the big friendly policeman,P.C McGarry No.452"
Mr.Crockett - Garage Owner
He spends all of his screen time either minding the pumps or out and about in his tow truck
The garage itself is somewhat of a disappointment really.
With no hydraulic lift,or anything else to capture the imagination quite frankly.Even allowing for the fact that the stop motion/water issue meant we were never going to get a car wash !
But he does have the notable distinction of being the only Camberwick character that also appears in Trumpton ( in a role other than a passive bystander.) And not even Windy can claim that.
" If your car is needing petrol.If your van has broken down.If your motorcycle engine starts to stick.
Then go to Crockett's Garage, to Mr.Crockett's Garage,he will do the work and he'll do it very quick.
Fill her up,fill her up the petrol pumps are working.Pump them up,pump them up,you know what tyres are.
Hurry up,hurry up there is no time for shirking,if you want a very super sort of car."
Thomas Tripp - Milkman
He "gets all his milk and butter from Farmer Bell" ( except for the occasion when Windy has to step in to bale him out.)
And on his Saturday morning round he's helped out by Paddy Murphy. Milk float
No family's mentioned and he shares the monolithic Dairy with just a black cat called Tabitha.
Not greatly used.But,like Peter the Postman,he's a useful link character because he can obviously crop up virtually anywhere and no explanation's needed.
Sadly he's also the recipient of one of the weakest songs -probably in either Camberwick or Trumpton actually.
But maybe it "jingled" your "jang" ?
" Here comes the milkman,Thomas Tripp the milkman.
Can you hear the milkman with his jangle,jingle,jang ?
What does it matter if the bottles make a clatter,
one doesn't want to chatter over "jangle,jingle,jang."
Peter Hazell - Postman
No van,not even a trolley for this postie.Just good old-fashioned legwork with a trusty sack "upon his back".
Actually a fairly peripheral figure,because whilst he appears quite a lot he doesn't get too involved.
But he's a good narrative link character,like the milkman.And it's no coincidence that he's chosen to take us on the introductory tour of Camberwick in the very first episode.
No family mentioned and we don't get to see where he lives.Excellent little tune though,helped in no small measure by some jaunty whistling which any small kid always finds irresistible. 2 versions ....
1. " Peter the Postman is a very busy man.He empties the boxes as quickly as he can.
He puts all the letters in a great big sack and whistles as he marches with his load upon his back."
2. " Peter the Postman is a very busy man,delivering the letters as quickly as he can.
He carries them with care inside his great big sack,and whistles as he marches with his load upon his back."
Mr.Dagenham - Salesman
A quite remarkable salesman is our Mr.Dagenham,and his song tells you all you need to know about why he's driving around in a sports car and not in a Del Boy 3-wheeler.
Not that there's any hint of the spiv about him of course as this is Trumptonshire and not Peckham.Although we never find out if he actually lives in the County.
And he's a slightly odd addition to proceedings really.Useful for storylines,but a bit incongruous as a character.
His best customer ? Farmer Bell
"Our Mr. Dagenham he can sell anything,anything,anything money can buy.
A tea set,or a jacket,a pram,or tennis racket,a telly or a toaster,a trumpet or a trike,
an overcoat,a motor boat,a holiday in Africa,a bathtub or a button,a bugle or a bike.
Our Mr.Dagenham he can sell anything,anything,anything money can buy."
In his own episode,he also tries to interest Farmer Bell & Cptn.Snort in a helicopter (no sale !),so we also get this ditty ...
"Helicopter,helicopter,riding so high,whirling,churring,sweeping the sky.
Over the house tops and over the trees,you'll fly like the birds and you'll buzz like the bees."
Roger Varley - Chimney Sweep
The film "Mary Poppins" came out in cinemas a year before production on Camberwick started and clearly influenced this characters' appearance.Although Dick Van Dyke's 'cockernee' and 'chim-chim-cheroo' are both absent.
Question - What mode of transport do you give a Victorian-looking sweep ? A plain hand cart like the one Raggy Dan has in Trumpton ?
Answer - a motorbike .... with a sidecar to put his brushes in of course !
And,to be fair,it's the only thing that's particularly memorable about him.With his song not really helping much either.
" Sweep all.
Here comes Roger Varley as black as a crow,
to sweep all your chimneys which stand in a row.
Big chimneys,small chimneys,low chimneys,tall chimneys,chimneys so straight and chimneys awry,
with his rods,brush and sack and his suit shiney black,he'll whirl and twirl his brush up the flues to the sky.
Sweep all."
Mr.Carraway - Fishmonger
Unusual as he appears to have a few more years on him that most of his fellow inhabitants.Although how old is anyone's guess.
The boat's well and truely pushed out with the fish analogies as we're told his family has a sea-faring past,and he also enjoys fishing himself.
He likes to visit old friend Windy for a chat and some cider.
And also uses his maritime knowledge to teach geography to the boys at Pippin Fort - a trip he makes in a vehicle that's a dead-ringer for the one the Minton's use in Trumpton.
" Fresh fish,fine fresh fish.
Herring,plaice,mackerel,turbot.Whiting,cod,halibut,dab.
Prawns,crabs,crayfish and lobster in green parsley and set upon a slab.
Fresh fish,fine fresh fish."
Pippin Fort :-
"A military academy.A school for boys who want to be soldiers". And used by the following ....
Captain Snort is the man in charge and is the only one in Pippin Fort who gets his own song.
He also has the slightly bizarre distinction of being the only Trumptonshire character with teeth on show -2 buck teeth to be precise.And is suitably straight-backed and matter-of-fact as you'd expect.
"Captain Snort is a soldier man.Scarlet and gold a soldier man.
He'll work a boy as hard as he can,to turn him into a soldier man.
Captain Snort is a soldier man who lives in Pippin Fort."
Sergeant Major Grout serves under Captain Snort,and actually does all the ordering about.
When not on duty,he likes to help out Mr.Crockett at the Garage.
The 6 boys under him,who all have the rank of "Private",are ....
Armitage, Featherby, Higgins, Hopwood, Lumley and Meek. And as they all look the same,here's just a group photo
Character development is patchy,but we do pick up a few things about them along the way ...
Higgins is "the smartest boy on parade"
Meek is caught "daydreaming" on parade once and gets embroiled in a brief storyline with Mrs.Honeyman's baby.
Armitage is "the best swimmer" and appears in diver's gear during a Chigley episode.
But the biggest role goes to Lumley in the Mr.Murphy episode who,despite not knowing his left from his right,turns out to be "a born baker" and becomes Mickey's "part-time helper"
There's also an un-named bugler who always sounds "morning parade",occasionally sounds the "alarm" and sometimes answers the phone -all from within the confines of the fort's front-right turret.
But,strangely,it's Sergeant Major Grout who does any bugling that's required outside the Fort ie.in the Snort episode when they're all at the Green.
Collectively,the Pippin Forters fulfil exactly the same role the firemen do in Trumpton ie. making themselves available to help anyone in the community who needs it.
And this they do in between their regular studies,"manouevres" and trips to the swimming pool -the last 2 of which are mentioned but never shown.And always using their army truck to get there.
These are the 3 song variations that accompanied them on their travels.....
Main version
"Driving along in an army truck,in a humpity,bumpity army truck.
The people wave to the soldiers brave,who sing and shout as they lurch about.
Oh we are in luck,we will never be stuck in our humpity,bumpity army truck."
Mr.Murphy ep.
"Driving along in an army truck in a humpity,bumpity army truck.
Away to the pool,so deep so cool to swim and shout as they splash about.
Oh we are in luck,we will never be stuck in our humpity,bumpity army truck."
Mrs.Honeyman ep.
"Driving along in an army truck,in a humpity,bumpity army truck.
The people wave to the soldiers brave,who sing & shout "we will drive them out.
They will soon be stuck and down on their luck in their battered old,spattered old workmen's truck."
To round things off,we have these 3 un-named characters.
Their main appearance is in Mrs Honeyman's episode.But they also feature collectively in the Roger Varley episode,as well as being useful crowd scene infill elsewhere.
The workmen are kitted out identically to Mr.Crockett,Mr.Wantage & Fred in Trumpton and Messrs. Gubbins & Sneed in Chigley.So if one of them turns up on your doorstep you'd be hard-pressed to know whether you were having your drive dug up,car towed,phone checked or bin emptied.But,at least they do always manage to turn up,which clearly demonstrates what a utopian world Trumptonshire really is.
Reliable maybe,but no songs for this peripheral threesome.Although their truck features prominently in all 3 series and is discussed on the oddballs page -amongst many other things.
One loose end ....
Well,it's just one unattributed song in the Captain Snort episode actually.
".... every wednesday as regular as clockwork,at the bottom of Mr. Carraway's garden is a stream.And there's nothing nicer than a quiet afternoon spent fishing"
It's a group activity featuring Mr.Carraway,Captain Snort,Mickey Murphy and Windy.With Doctor Mopp taking photos.
And it features the only song in the series that isn't directly attributable to a specific character.
A really languid little tune.And as near a musical nod to the laid back 60's flower power vibe as we ever get.
Mainly an instruemental too,as you'd expect with the paucity of lyrics.
"Sitting by a stream,fishing.By a summer stream,fishing.
In still deep water where lazy fish flee.Fishing,in the sun."
Overview
What's listed ?
Everyone (or thing) that's mentioned specifically by name is listed here,plus their modes of transport and songs.
Some characters were given Christian names,some not and they're listed with all the information we get.
Obviously some merit less comment than others,either because they only appeared in one episode or they just didn't do very much.
Why do some characters have more than one song ?
As they're quite descriptive the songs were occasionally tweeked to fit certain storylines.But the tune always stayed the same,any changes to the lyrics were minor and I've only bothered to list them all just as a matter of record really.
A nice little touch though,when it would have been easier just to have left them as they were.
Some characters also had specific songs when they were travelling somewhere ....
ie. "driving along in a baker's van" ...."in an army truck" .... etc.
Although some journeys were just accompanied by the character's personal signature song or an instrumental version.
On this page - all the Camberwick characters and all the songs Trumpton characters/songs - here.
Characters mentioned .... but never actually seen
" Tom Ranger " in the P.C.McGarry episode
Brian Cant says .... " Mr.Crockett shows him (McGarry) a car which he has just repaired.A very nasty dent in the wing. Mr.Dagenham did it avoiding little Tom Ranger,who ran into the road after his ball.It could have been a nasty accident ".
" Dr.Mopp's nephews " in the P.C.McGarry episode.
McGarry asks Windy if " Dr.Mopp's nephews have been fishing up here without a license."
" The vet " in the Dr.Mopp episode. Mentioned by Farmer Bell.
" Farm hands " in the Mr.Murphy episode.
Farmer Bell discusses an order on the phone with Private Lumley,who's helping out at the Bakery ....
" .... 6 walnut cakes.I'm giving a party for my farm hands and I always give them walnut cake.It's their favourite and they come to expect it "
So Farmer Bell's clearly not that mechanised that he can dispense with help altogether.
Although how many he employs obviously depends on how far he can make "6 walnut cakes" go.
" Mrs.Varley " in the Peter the Postman episode.
Mrs.Honeyman tells Mickey Murphy ....
" .... and talking of currant loaves,did I ever tell you of the time Mrs.Varley tried to make a currant loaf ...."
" Mrs.Varley's cat " in the Peter the Postman episode.
Mrs.Honeyman talking to to Peter the Postman ....
" .... and talking of babies,have you heard Mrs.Varley's cat has just had 10 kittens.."
" Mrs.Varley's old mother " in the Mr.Murphy episode.
Mrs.Murphy talking to Private Lumley ....
" I promised I'd visit Mrs.Varley's old mother "
" The boys " in the PC McGarry episode
We're told " .... that the boys at the end of the village were fighting over a cricket bat,"
Fighting ? Young ruffians !
" Mrs.McGarry's nephew " in the Farmer Bell episode.
Mrs.Honeyman talking to Farmer Bell ....
" .... and ever since Mrs.McGarry's nephew had the jaundice ...."
Jaundice ! Oh well,at least it wasn't rickets .... " a rickety-rackety Auntie's boy " perhaps ? Sorry. Very bad taste.
And finally ....
The clown that only appears in the closing credits sequence.
The production team needed a character that could carry a bit of stock footage for all 13 episodes.
Largely to act as a counter-balance to all the time they spent having to animate the 13 different music box scenes for the opening sequence.
They could have chosen one of the main characters of course -obvious choice,Windy.
But as they had no way of knowing which of them,if any,would turn out to be the most popular they simply went for an indeterminate "everyman" figure dressed in an outfit that every 60's pre-schooler would understand.
And whilst it might seem a little incongruous at first,it quickly just feels right somehow.
And a suitably upbeat way to finish this look at the Camberwick cast list !
