 | ||||
THE TRUMPTONSHIRE TRILOGY
CAMBERWICK GREEN,TRUMPTON AND CHIGLEY
So,how many of the above did you actually remember ?
There are the Pughs & Barney McGrew,and Windy Miller of course.Oh,and PC McGarry No.4_5_2.
But how about after that ? Well,for me at least,not many.
Which is slightly surprising given how much time I'd spent watching them.But it was really only their names I was struggling with and not the actual characters themselves.Because most were memorable enough to mean the series always amounted to more than just a few star turns.
In short,never underestimate the contribution of a supporting cast -and certainly not here.
If only life imitated art eh ?
We'd all links arms and waltz off into the sunset.
So it's hardly a surprise that so many people look back at Trumps rather whistfully.
It's just such a lovely exercise in the art of wishful thinking.A sort of identikit existance based on only the best bits,so that you end up with something considerably more edifying than your average Crimewatch photofit.
An opportunity to re-acquaint yourself with some of the better elements of human nature that seem to have got lost along the way.
And a chance for kids to experience the world of care-free happiness that childhood should always be.
Oh,and the opportunity to be able to ignore historical and period anomalies purely in the name of entertainment.
Edwardian looking doctors in a boneshakers,women with floor-length dresses,and working windmills,all rubbing shoulders with helicopters,Corbusier style concrete monoliths and a young girl wearing a groovy 60's style dress.
Yep,it was all over the shop.But few would've noticed and even fewer would've cared.
Although,just for the record,let's look at what else was thrown into this Trumptonshire melting pot..........
So that'll be the Butcher,Baker and Candlestick Maker then......Well,you'd probably assume that was a pretty safe bet, and I doubt you'd really have cause to be too fazed by an appearance from the GingerBread Man to top it all off.
But Trumps always had its' feet firmly planted in reality,even if we're not absolutely sure what that particular reality was.
So the Baker,yes.But no Candlestick Maker- probably too retro even for Trumps.Or maybe just a victim of that thorny problem of successfully animating flame which meant Barney Mac and friends had such an easy life.
I'm not entirely sure why there wasn't a Butcher's though.Other than it might have been a little too distressing seeing the dismembered relatives of Farmer Bell's livestock on screen.Although the thought of the proprietor sloshing around ankle-deep in entrails does put a smile on this particular big kid I have to say.There's nothing like a bit of gooey slop !
Hmmm,well maybe not,and certainly not from Auntie Beeb in the 1960's.
The presence of shops like a fishmonger's is a nice reminder though that such things did actually exist as stand-alone businesses outside of supermarkets........and,thankfully,still do if you look hard enough.
A world without supermarkets,fast food outlets,or coffee shops.Who'd have thought it ?
But people did indeed manage to function without them,and that more genteel pace of life is further reinforced by characters like the bargee, milliner and rag n bone man.All of whom would barely register with any of today's audience and are evidence that perhaps the series should be shown in schools as pieces of social history if nothing else !
CAMBERWICK - FOR PICS & FULL BIOGS SEE CAMBERWICK Pt2
PETER HAZEL - Postman
MR.CROCKETT- Garage Owner
DR.MOPP - Doctor
JONATHON BELL - Farmer
ROGER VARLEY - Chimney Sweep
PC McGARRY No.452 - Bobby (on motorbike)
MR.DAGENHAM - Salesman
MR.CARRAWAY - Fishmonger
MRS.DINGLE - Postmistress.Has puppy called 'Packet'
THOMAS TRIPP - Milkman
WINDY MILLER - Miller and cultural icon.
MRS.HONEYMAN & BABY - Local Gossip & wife of Chemist- unseen,as is shop.
THE MURPHY FAMILY - Bakers
(MICKEY & DORA MURPHY and kids MARY & PADDY.)
CAPTAIN SNORT - In charge at Pippin Fort
SGT MAJOR GROUT - 2nd in command....
....of the "soldier boys"
ARMITAGE,FEATHERBY,HIGGINS,HOPWOOD,LUMLEY & MEEK
TRUMPTON - FOR PICS & FULL BIOGS SEE TRUMPTON Pt2
THE MAYOR
PHILBY His Chauffeur, and MR.TROOP,The Town Clerk
MR.ANTONIO - Ice Cream Man
MR.BOLT- Borough Engineer
MR.CLAMP - Greengrocer
MR.CRADDOCK - Park Keeper
MR.MUNNINGS - Printer
MR.PLATT- Clock Maker
MR.ROBINSON - Window Cleaner
MR.WANTAGE & FRED - Phone Engineers
MR.WILKINS - Plumber
MISS LOVELACE - Milliner.Has 3 pekenese, 'Mitzy','Daphne and 'Lulu'
MRS.COBBIT - Flower Seller
NICK FISHER - Bill Sticker
CONSTABLE POTTER - Bobby (on motorbike)
RAGGY DAN - Rag n Bone Man
WALTER HARKIN - Painter & Decorator
"THE ARTIST" - Un-named transient artist
CHIPPY MINTON,WIFE DORA AND SON,NIBBS- Father & Son Carpentry business & house mum
CAPTAIN FLACK & Firemen PUGH,PUGH,BARNEY McGREW, CUTHBERT,DIBBLE AND GRUBB - Legendary Fire Brigade.
"AUNTIE" - Fireman Cuthbert's
CHIGLEY
LORD BELBOROUGH - Owner of Winkstead Hall BRACKETT - His Butler MR.BILTON - His Gardener BESSIE - His rolling stock steam engine BINNIE - His static steam engine (water pump)
MR.CRESSWELL- Biscuit Factory Owner MR.FLETCHER - Factory Manager WILLIE MUNN - Worker (Mr.Clamp's nephew)
MR.SWALLOW - Wharf operator MR.RUMPLING - Barge Owner
MR.CLUTTERBUCK - Builder HORACE AND CYRIL - His Brickies
HARRY FARTHING - Potter & daughter, WINNIE
MR.GUBBINS & MR.SNEED- Dustmen
ON THIS PAGE -The basic character lists,plus a wider look at their place in Trumptonshire society and how it functions.
( don't worry,it's not quite as dull as it sounds ! )
That said,in Trumptonshire society no-one's really labelled as a support act.
It's far more like your average bee or ant colony,than your typical disfunctional human society.
Each individual has a clearly defined role and each is ultimately dependant on one another.
'a place for everything,and everything in it's place.' And very much a sum of all its' parts.
Not a whole lot different from the real world.But the major difference in Trumptonshire is that they're all perfectly comfortable with it and it's actually viewed as a positive rather than simply a necessity.
Everyone rallies round to help others when required -ranging from Camberwick's soldier boys and Trumpton's firemen right down to the likes of the ice cream man who pitches in to repair Mrs Cobbit's ceiling.And even Chigley's Lord Belborough mucks in and transports goods on his railway and plays the organ for the Biscuit factory workers at close of play each day.Who,in turn,do little to dispute the song's premise that "everything pleases and nothing dismays as the music so merrily plays".
So it's little wonder then that any problems and discord never last longer than 15 minutes.
Any other omissions from this fully functioning society ?
Well,unsurprisingly,none of the usual cradle to grave necessities are shown.No hospital,church,undertaker,graveyard or crematorium.Birth was at least recognised as a pre-requisite for existence by the presence of Mrs Honeyman's baby although there are only ever 3 kids on show besides that,which is somewhat odd.(Mary,Paddy and Winnie)
But you'd hardly expect death to loom large and the good news is that it doesn't "loom" at all.
Yep,no-one dies in Trumptonshire.Perish the thought.......if not the inhabitants.Although,of course,Mr.Murray did later relent and add a crematorium (ho-ho).
The remarkable Doc Mopp appears to keep all illness at bay single-handedly.Although there is mention of a hospital in Trumpton but it's never shown.A fate that also seems to befall anyone who might be considered the wrong side of
middle age.Because apart from Mr.Carraway and Barney Mac,I can't immediately think of anyone who looks remotely old aged.....
"Troop.Have we got a pension deficeit ?"
"No your Worship.We haven't got any pensioners"
"Ah.Splendid."
Funny eh ? Well,maybe it seems that way to us now.But as a kid it all seemed fair enough of course,because anyone over 20 was old. Sigh.
But all-in-all a nice mixed bag of characters that meant that things were never dull.
And if you couldn't find someone to warm to,then you really were a very hard nut to crack for one so young !
Trumptonshire - Life as we'd like to know it ?
