THE TRUMPTONSHIRE TRILOGY

CAMBERWICK GREEN,TRUMPTON AND CHIGLEY

ON THIS PAGE -"I never noticed that before." A collection of all sorts of anomalies,quirks and continuity errors that I've noticed whilst trawling through the series.Some are harder to find than others,and I've probably found most of them. Which is merely confirmation that I should get out more of course.But enough of my problems.

CAMBERWICK  in no particular order...........

Returning to the theme of scale and perspective,check out the size of the milk bottles in relation to the people in Paddy Murphy's episode (in particular).

Truely the most generous measure of a "pint" you're ever likely to see !

So whilst the customers were no doubt happy,poor old Thomas Tripp was clearly a hernia waiting to happen.

And any Trumptonshire birds wanting an early morning bit of cream would've had their work cut out getting through that foil.

In Mr.Dagenham's episode - Was the helicopter really such a good idea ?

Well,of course it was. It was fab !

But it does make you extremely grateful that the series were wire-free in a F.A.B Thunderbirds-type way.Although even stop motion animation needed the help of wires to get the helicopter off the ground. (well,how else  ?)

Although,to be fair,they're not nearly as noticeable as the ones in Gerry Anderson's stuff,and you can only really see them against dark backgrounds ie.when it's on the ground ironically.And invisible enough to make the pic clickable for a blown-up version.

Other helicopter issues........

It appears to have a petrol tank but no engine ! The downdraft is extremely selective as to what it rustles.And the sound effect sounds like a domestic vacuum cleaner.

But it was still a neat idea,and the animators obviously weren't fazed because it re-appears in Chigley. So,hurrah.

Take a look at the regular route used by the fireman and you'll notice the

houses have no guttering...no chimneys...no telephone wires...or curtains.

Not that you can't do without any of those things of course,except for the guttering.But,spare a thought for the poor postman because there are no house numbers or names either.And that's just plain cruel.

All of which is perhaps a little odd when you consider it's much-repeated stock footage,and so maybe worthy of a bit more attention.Especially as other were more fortunate,with the Minton & Cobbit cottages getting both chimneys and curtains,despite being seen a lot less often.But I suppose there were only 2 of them.Everythings rendered too you'll notice,just as a further matter of simple expediency.

Mind you,it's quite nice not to have to look at inappropriate upvc and stone cladding.And then there's the aesthetic clutter of tv aerials,satellite dishes, exterior electricity meters and wheelie bins.Oh,and grafitti,potholes........

Just a couple of dialogue observations to finish off Camberwick for now.

In Mr.Murphy's episode - Mrs.Honeyman mentions "the church bazaar" in a seemingly church-less community.And as villages always had a church at their hub,it's actually a strange omission.Probably skirted round for expediency reasons ie."if we have a church we'll get complaints there's no synagogue" etc etc etc -but I'm only guessing.

Mind you,even a modest rural church would've meant more than a few modelling man-hours,which may have had more to do with it.

In Mrs.Honeyman's episode,Captain Snort informs us that "...we certainly need a better electricity supply..." Which,of course,pre-supposes that you have one to start with.Which is interesting when there's not a pylon in sight...anywhere... in the entire series. Mind you,Windy's such a hero he probably supplies the whole community's needs via a wind-powered generator at the Mill.Either that or he plugs in his trike and pedals like fury !

"And not a pane of glass broken" we're informed by Narrator Brian in the Greenhouse episode when the fire brigade remove that dodgy chimney.

Which is slightly less impressive when you look closely and realise it doesn't actually have any.And neither does Mr. Bilton's Chigley greenhouse,which also happens to be identical in every other respect as well. (shown further down)

In the Mayor's Birthday episode,it's clearly stated that the Mayor wants a painting of the Town Hall to "put on the wall behind his desk".And in all the following episodes that's exactly where it's hanging.But,strangely,in Mr.Platt and the Painter,it's gone awol.  "Troop. Please call continuity immediately!!"

In "Telephones" we see the engineers van parked in a certain position.Then in the space of 15 seconds realtime footage there are a couple of cuts and it appears in a slightly different position each time -clearly moved by the animators so as not to restrict the revised view.

The edge of the animating table can clearly be seen in shot here.

And it's actually quite a persistant and glaring error with Colley's Mill scenes throughout the 2nd episode-sometimes with the whole edge in view with front-on shots.And it also happens in the 1st episode to a lesser degree.But they presumably spotted it after episode 2,didn't have time to refilm and simply made sure it didn't happen again-which I don't think it did. Although quite how it was missed at all is a little hard to fathom because it's pretty glaring even on a normal speed run-through,nevermind frame-by-frame.

2 from the Roger Varley episode

No.1 - When Mickey Murphy is mixing,you can clearly see the wire in his arm where the sleeve ends and the hand begins.Not the only example by any means,but certainly one of the most noticeable,and probably explains why sales of short-sleeve tops were particularly slow in Trumptonshire.

But at least Mickey could mix as much as he wanted without fear of getting an arthritic wrist.

Although I'm not sure Doc Mopp was equipped to tackle metal fatigue.So let's hope they were galvanised so he could at least cross rust off his list.

No.2 - Black-coloured doughnuts ?

Yes,black. And answers on a postcard c/o Mrs Dingle please (or by email to me)

And not just black doughnuts,but sado-masochism too (some bakery !).Because,if you look closely,you'll also notice the rather vicious-looking animating pin used to attach them to his hand. Which is actually visible in quite a few frames,when the doughnuts aren't either flush to his hand or it's masked by the bag.

Not that there's a better way to pick things up when your hands don't have any fingers.But maybe a dark-coloured pin against a light-coloured background wasn't the best idea.And whilst it's possible they used the same pins throughout,at least the heads shown peeping through the tops of Paddy and Windy's hands appear lighter.Although it's a toss-up whether they're actually any less noticeable simply because they appear in shot a lot longer.

I should stress however that no actors were hurt in the making of Trumptonshire.

Although the animators probably drew blood ocassionally.

While we're on the subject of Mr.Carraway,have a look at the wall behind him

-shown a bit better here.

His ceramic wall tiles are clearly suffering from bad bubbling and pleating.

Anyone would think it was a glued paper effect !

Of course,I suppose it may actually have been a simulated tile-effect wallpaper rather than actual ceramics.In which case,you'd have to hope he did it himself,because it's not much of an advert for Walter Harkin's handywork.

"Good Lord Paddy. Do you expect me to drink it or sell it wholesale  ?!"

"Up to you Mr.C,but if we stand here any longer you'll have to scoop it out !"

A Fish called Wanda.

But have you ever heard of a fish called Dab ? -mentioned in Carraway's song.

Well,I suppose if we'd all supported our local high street fishmongers they wouldn't have closed down and we'd all know what it was.

And as I'm just as guilty as the next person,part of my community service has been to source this little snippet from a 2008 Guardian website piece by Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall -Dab laid bare

Eggs,sugar and flour and maybe just a quick squirt of WD40

In the "Mrs.Cobbit & The Ice Cream Man" episode,watch the Mintons drive through Trumpton (Trumpton) And they pass..........Dr.Mopp's house !

Well,obviously houses can look identical,so it's clearly just a coincidence.

Er,yes,that's it.

As is the similarity between their van and Mr.Carraway's of course.

And in that same vein,have you noticed that the wall to the left of the Fire Station is the same stretch of wall used to adjoin Dr. Mopp's property in Camberwick   ?

Inane but true.

And,speaking of that dodgy chimney........................

It's hard to see clearly even in stills,but as it's being toppled there's a brief unintended view of the honey-coloured interior wooden support frame used in the modelling.

Pity poor old Captn Flack though.

A chimney lined with wood and still no fire !

Mind the Gap !

Trumptonshire and the real world collide.

Scientists dismayed by confirmation that the Earth is indeed flat.

I don't know if this next one is right or not as I freely admit to knowing nothing about livestock. But do milking cows have horns ? I wasn't aware they did,but clearly they do if Windy's "Bess" is anything to go by.

What I do know though is that that our 4-legged friends don't have a clear join where head meets body,which this one seems to suffer from.Although it seems happy enough and Windy's clearly not concerned.So that's ok then.

It's also the identical twin of the one seen in FarmerBell's milking parlour,some 30 yrs before Dolly the Sheep told us it was even possible !

Judging by the way Doc Mopp's looking at his new plate I can only assume he's surprised as the rest of us.

Mr.Crockett's red-cabbed breakdown truck,pictured at his garage,was just one of many that went un-plated -including Thomas Tripp's milk float,Mickey Murphy's bakers van,and Mr.Dagenham's sports car amongst others.

The orange cabbed lorry was another of course,which leads nicely onto the next category.....

TRUMPTON

"I don't want to worry you dad,but do you know we're in the wrong series ! "   

" You hum it son......."

Well,that's it for now,and I hope no-one's been too traumatised by this intrusion into the workings of a national treasure.But,personally,I think it all adds to the charm and actually makes you appreciate just what a good job they did on a shoestring budget.

And if anyone takes a keener interest in stop motion as a result then my work is truely done.

So,while I press for the deification of Nick Park,you might like to 'Google' Jan Svankmajer

"What's that Windy   ?"

"No.

You're not an oddball"

If your attention often wanders from a primary scene in the foreground to an interesting inanimate object in

the background,then you'll love these.Because it "carpets and curtains" viewing,Camberwick-style.

Some may have been slip-ups,but others were simply the result of pragmatic corner-cutting,done deliberately

to save some time and money.And they were never intended to be put under the scrutiny of an adult with a

dvd remote and far too much time on his hands of course.

A bit of fun   ?  Yes.   The sort of detailed insight you'd expect from this site   ?  Yes.

But also a small window into the fascinating world of stop motion animation.

And here are the results - affectionately revealed for the first time anywhere...........

CHIGLEY

Here's a couple of good "now you see it,now you don't" continuity blips from episode 13,"A Present for Lord Belborough"

Shot one just has a tree behind the wall.We then follow Mr.Antonio to another part of the garden where he cuts the grass,and when we return the tree's gone and is replaced by some shrubs.Unfortunately it doesn't end there,because the middle shrub clearly hasn't been anchored down sufficiently and over the course of several frames it slowly leans over to the left before finally disappearing from view altogether.But that's what happens when you try to mess with nature !

I can recommend the drunken bush though.It's actually quite amusing.But I'm probably just easily pleased.

It's the same greenhouse as the one used in episode 13 of Trumpton too of course.

Right -Some more landscaping here.

The first pic is taken from episode 1.

And they clearly thought the shot was too cluttered and had a rethink.

With the result being the 2nd shot, which is how the Pottery frontage looked for the remaining 12 episodes.

Below -Ditto Lord Belborough's train journey after that 1st episode. Foreground clutter of the greenhouse and the pink structures,that were used as Farmer Bell's hen houses in Camberwick,gave way to the clearer sight lines in pic 3.

No filler cap,headlights or number plate.

But the latter was a very hit and miss affair in Trumptonshire .And more on that later

Myths exploded No.2,749.......

Another nail in the levitation coffin

Fans of Windy have already elevated him to almost God-like status.But I can confirm that the mark on his hand is indeed the top of a pin and not evidence of stigmata.

At least I think it is !

As alluded to above,vehicle registration was somewhat haphazard in Trumptonshire.Some got no number plate at all. Some got a personalised one like Farmer Jonathon Bell (JB1) and some got something near to what we'd call normal,like Mr.Carraway.And far be it for me to suggest that "JB1" caused any envious glances,but before Camberwick had run its course,Doctor Mopp had swapped "1901",visible in the early episodes,for "MOP1"

Short of both time and money,the production team re-used materials where it was thought no-one would notice (or care).And not only perfectly sensible but  pretty well-executed too,because how many of these would you really have noticed  ?.............

The orange lorry actually appeared in all 3 series.

From left to right - As "the workmen's lorry" in Camberwick.As Mr.Clamp,the greengrocer's lorry in Trumpton.And as the dustcart in Chigley,complete with a new rigid back section to replace the green canvas and finished with a can of spray paint by the look of it.

More noticeable though was probably the one below that started out as Mr.Carraway's fish van in Camberwick and then turned up in Trumpton being used by father and son carpentry team of Chippy and Nibbs Minton.

I'm not sure if the green-ish side panel on his version was a paint job or a trick of the light though as I've only just noticed it as I write.But,either way,the only real clue was presumably a strong smell of fish.Although the particular pic I've used for Carraway's version is lifted from episode 11,so that's a painting in the back and not an enormous bit of plaice.

Not that vehicles were the only things recycled in Trumptonshire of course.                               The life of a jobbing actor

Buildings,scenery,props and even people were pressed into repeat service.Like Walter Harkin,who was the painter and decorator in Trumpton,but not before he'd appeared as one of "the workmen" in Camberwick -a character that also ventures into Harkin territory by appearing at the end of Trumpton episodes as one of the onlookers at the band concert. Although,you won't be surprised to hear that Mr.Harkin doesn't join him.And whilst the hair and tache make him one of the most memorable,you'll never see Camberwick's PC McGarry and Trumpton's Constable Potter together either !

To the right,are 2 snapshots from Captain Snort's episode.

The 1st one has at least one tree,and probably 2 if look hard left.

And then we return a little later and someone's had the chainsaw out.

More landscaping under "Chigley" too

Below right- In Mr.Crockett's episode - Mr.Crockett removes the army truck's radiator cap and holds his watering can up to fill her up.No water visible of course,which is just as well when there's no hole for it to go in !

Below left -In Dr.Mopp's episode  - compare the bakery dorma window outside to the shot inside. A tardis effect that crops up more than once in Trumptonshire. And the sort of loft conversion we can only dream about.

More proof-as if it were needed- that Stop Motion animation isn't best executed when you're as pushed for time as the Trumptonshire team were.

And those examples aren't the only ones where scenary movement caught them out.

Gordon Murray even admits they had to reshoot bits of the pilot episode,that later became Camberwick's "Peter the Postman"-specifically,the bit at the beginning where he walks through the woods.Because they discovered after shooting that the heat of the lights had softened some of the trees sufficiently that they visibly drooped down as he passed by.

Imperceptible at the time simply because it happened very slowly as they shot frame by frame.

Some more examples that weren't picked up  ?

Try Camberwick Episode 9 from about 11 minutes in.

The barriers behind P.C.McGarry move on their own several times as he walks up and down in front of them.

Or how about Doctor Mopp's episode in Camberwick

When the Doctor and Windy are watching the thrushes nest,keep your eye on the bush in front of Windy.

And I don't doubt there are others too if you look hard enough.