juho69

...and I ride on the foot-plate, there and back again.

So sang Lord Belborough every week on 'Chigley', the last of the three Gordon Murray puppet series. Lord Belborough was Lord of the Manor in Chigley, a hamlet near Camberwick Green in Trumptonshire. He lived at Winkstead Hall and was waited on by his butler, Bracket, who would go along the same corridor to look for his master each week - and end up in a different room.

Also, Bracket accompanied his master every week when he took out his steam train, Bessie, to call on or help one of his tenants. The above tune was always sung on their trip.

'Chigley' differed from 'Camberwick Green' and 'Trumpton' in that it contained far less characters. There was Mr. Farthing the potter and his daughter Winnie, Mr. Swallow the wharfinger, Mr. Cresswell the biscuit factory owner - and that was about it. As a result, almost all the stories centred on Lord Belborough and his relationship with his tenants. Nevertheless, he seemed to have been a good and just Lord of the Manor. There were no reports of the inhabitants of Chigley refusing to pay their dues to their Lord nor of the biscuit factory workers going on strike! Indeed, they all turned out loyally after the six o'clock whistle, to dance to the barrel organ which Lord Belborough kindly operated for them himself.

Evidently, Gordon Murray knew how to appeal to his audience as, like 'Camberwick Green' and 'Trumpton', 'Chigley' contained good story lines, rounded characters, repeated sequences (Bessie the steam engine) and satisfying endings. All three series were part of my childhood and it is a credit to Mr. Murray that I still remember them so fondly.

(Footnote: unfortunately, a few years ago, Gordon Murray confessed that he burnt all the puppets after the series ended. I think Captain Snort should have imprisoned him in Pippin Fort.)

...wound up and ready to play. But, this box can hide a secret inside it. Can you guess what is in it today?

So began all the episodes of 'Camberwick Green', a peaceful, sleepy village in Trumptonshire, the first of the Gordon Murray puppet series. One would be on the edge of one's seat, trying to guess which character would come turning up out of the music box, to the haunting, high-pitched tune.

It might have been Peter Hazel the Postman, Jonathan Bell the farmer, Mickey Murphy the baker, Mr. Carraway the fishmonger or - best of all - Windy Miller. Each episode centred on this particular character, the story and events developing around him or her. The viewer tended to follow the character through a day, seeing where he or she lived and worked, and trying to join in with his or her own, catchy little song.

For example : "Mr. Murphy is a master baker, pudding, pie and pastry maker, biscuits, buns and birthday cakes; everything is masterly that Murphy makes!"

The episode ended with the character's return inside the musical box, with narrator Brian Cant wishing them, "Good-bye!"

The strengths of the series were its good plots, repeated sequences (so important for children, like the musical box) and its rounded, memorable characters. Who can forget nosey gossip Mrs. Honeyman (we never saw her chemist husband - with a wife like her, he probably never spoke), Mrs. Dingle in the Post Office with her yappy dog Packet, P.C. McGarry Number 452, wealthy Dr. Mopp with his grand house and car and - above all - Windy Miller, with his penchant for home-brewed cider? There was room enough in Camberwick Green for Pippin Fort, where lived Captain Snort, Sergeant Major Grout and the six Privates Armitage, Featherby, Hopwood, Higgins, Lumley and Meek. ("Driving along in an army truck, in a humpity, bumpity army truck...").

Such was their popularity that ornamental figures of many of the characters in 'Camberwick Green', 'Trumpton' and 'Chigley' have been available for sale in the last few years. Videos of some episodes have been also produced. It is a compliment to the programme that I can remember so much about it, so many years later.

My brother and I loved 'Camberwick Green' and its offshoots. In the early 1970s, we were fortunate to attend an exhibition of life-size puppets of the series, in Clacton in Essex, and we still have the photographs! The series deserves to be repeated; it was a classic.

...Telling the time, steadily, sensibly; never too quickly, never too slowly; telling the time for Trumpton.

Thus began every episode of 'Trumpton', the middle of the three Gordon Murray series made in the late 1960s. It says much for its impact on me that I wrote the above quotation from memory!

Trumpton was the largest of the three settlements in Trumptonshire (Camberwick Green being a village and Chigley a hamlet). In Trumpton was located the Town Hall, which boasted the rather grand Trumpton Clock. The Town Hall was presided over by the Mayor, with help from Mr. Troop the Town Clerk and the services of their chauffeur, Philby. In the town centre were most of the shops, including Mr. Clamp the greengrocer, Mr. Platt the clockmaker, Mr. Munnings the printer and Miss Lovelace (with her three dogs Mitzi, Daphne and Lulu) the milliner. Under the statue of Queen Victoria in the centre sat Mrs. Cobbett, selling her flowers.

This tranquil setting was often visited by labourers who lived outside the town, notably Chippy Minton the carpenter and his son Nibs (odd name!) Whenever the good citizens of Trumpton had a problem, the would always call...The Trumpton Fire Brigade! (Altogether now - Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grubb.) Led by the long-suffering Captain Flack, the boys would come out to get cats down from trees, rocking-horses off bonfires - almost anything, in fact, apart from putting out a fire. And, they ended every episode by giving a band concert for everyone in the park.

In all seriousness, however, the makers of 'Trumpton' recognised the importance to children's stories of a good plot, rounded characters, repeated features (e.g. the Fire Brigade and Clock sequences) and a satisfying ending. It says much that, twenty-odd years after last seeing it, I can remember so many of the characters and story lines. Bring it back - I think today's children would enjoy it.