Trumpton

If you are 40 or over I bet you can remember and recite the cry of the Trumpton Fire brigade’s roll call; “Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grubb.” Although my memory seems to put the first name as being Hugh, the correct version is Pugh, twins with the same names!

These are probably the most remembered and well loved characters from the children’s TV series Trumpton. Trumpton being the main Market town of Trumptonshire close to Camberwick Green and the Village of Chigley. I just wish I could find the real towns and villages to go and visit!

Most of the plots of this second series of the Trumtonshire series of programs centre around the rescues conducted by the fire brigade, however never once is there a fire! This is due to the animators not being able to easily replicate fire or flowing water.

Trumpton always began with the town clock at 9:00am and the words; “Here is the clock, the Trumpton clock, telling the time steadily, sensibly, never too quickly, never too slowly, telling the time for Trumpton.”

As with Camberwick Green the programs are on the whole about everyday life, each program introducing some new characters, each having their own theme song. The Fire brigade would invariably be called to the rescue at some point with the unforgettable roll call.

There were 13 episodes, originally aired between January and March of 1967.

At the end of the show we would be played out by the Fire Brigade becoming the Fire Brigade Band playing in the park Band Stand for all of the townsfolk.

Unlike the third in the series Chigley, Trumpton had completely new characters from Camberwick Green, but each as before had their own theme song that would be sung when they appeared.

Nick Fisher, the bill sticker who would probably be arrested today for sticking up the offending posters everywhere.

Miss Lovelace, the milliner (hat maker) and owner of three little annoying dogs, Mitzi, Daphne, and Lulu.

The Mayor, his driver Philby and the town clerk Mr Troop.

Mrs Cobbit, the flower seller.

Mr Antonio in his pink, white and green icecream van.

Mr Platt, the towns clockmaker, not seen many of these in towns anymore.

Walter Harkin, the painter.

Mr. Wantage and his assistant Fred, the highly efficient telephone engineers.

Raggy Dan, the rag and bone man, the guy that takes away the rubbish to recycle.

Mr. Robbinson, the window cleaner.

Mr. Wilkins, the plumber.

Chippy Minton, the carpenter who has to be rescued after sending a message by pigeon.

And of course the famous Trumpton Fire Brigade (and band);

Captain Flack and the firemen Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grubb!

 There were 13 episodes for Trumpton, sames as for Camberwick Green, these were aired first the year after the original Camberwick Green, between January and March of 1967. All episodes were in color, if you were lucky enough to have a color television at this time, I certainly didn’t watching the programs in black and white until the early 1970s.

 

1. The Bill Poster
2. Miss Lovelace and The Mayor’s Hat (sounds almost naughty don’t you think)
3. Mrs Cobbit and the Ice Cream Man (This list is beginning to read like a confessions of ….list)
4. Miss lovelace and the Statue (I will make no more comment!)
5. Mr. Platt and the Painter.
6. The Mayor’s Birthday
7. Telephone
8. The Rag and Bone Man
9. The Window Cleaner
10. Cuthbert’s morning off (His name was omitted from the roll call)
11. The Plumber
12. Pigeons
13. The Greenhouse

The writing for Trumpton was by Alison Prince, with additions from Gordon Murray as the producer and Freddie Philips as the composer and lyricist.

Freddie Philips created all of the music, over 50 songs, and all of the sound effects for things like the sails of Windy Miller’s windmill (a sound that still haunts me today 40 years on!)

Animation by Bob Bura and John Hardwick, assisted by Colin Larage,Pasquale Ferrari, George Debouch, and LenPalace.

The sets were created by Margaret and Andrew Brownfoot in the living room of their home in Harrow Hill.

The narrator was Brian Cant who alegedly recorded all of the tracks shoe-less in a broom cupboard in the producers home. He went on to do many more years of work on “Play school” and “play away.” Brian Cant provided the voices of all the characters and sang all of the songs, even though they had to adjust many to match his limited range.

The creator and producer was Gordon Murray, without whom this wonderful series would never have existed!

 

Trumpton was filmed using models and a process of animation known as “stop motion”, the same way that they filmed Camberwick Green. The models are posed and one frame of film is taken. Each model is then moved a fraction more and the next frame of the film taken, giving the illusion of movement when the film is viewed.

This “stop motion” animation was the trademark of the main animators of this series, Bob Bura and John Hardwick. They rebuilt Gordon Murray’s original models of the characters with wire so that they could hold a pose. They filmed each scene in it’s entirity without any form of editing as in filming today.

It took around a week to shoot one reel of film, of around 2 and a half minutes, so each episode took at least 4 weeks to film. Some sequences of film being re-used in different episodes so that things were easier and quicker.

Because of the style of filming, the writters were told not to script for water or fire as these would be too difficult to replicate using this process, however in the episode, windy Miller and Pc McGarry have to get rid of the bees and actual smoke is used, but none of the characters are seen to move at all during this scene.

One of the other strange things in the filming of this series is when the characters speak, none of them have a mouth! Unless it is the Sgt.Major shouting, otherwise the characters wave their arms about to show who is speaking!