 | ||||
Camberwick, Trumpton and Chigley
Trumpton aka "Camberwick,the Sequel"
Trumpton had the onerous task of following Camberwick Green- a show that was not only hugely successful,but ground-breakingly original as well.
So,no pressure then !
And it first hit our screens exactly one year later on Jan.3rd 1967,in the same Watch With Mother slot.
Whilst they couldn't hope to repeat Camberwick's intial "wow" factor,Trumpton has always been just as highly regarded. Delivering a completely new cast of characters,new locations and new songs.
And yet all done in a way that still felt reassuringly familiar.
In short,another monster hit and 13 more iconic episodes.
Which was great news for all concerned of course.
In fact the only real downside was that it ultimately turned out to be Trumptonshire's geographical high water mark.
As the 3rd installment proved you can only reinvent yourself so many times.
But more about Chigley elsewhere.So let's start our tour around good old Trumpton Town ....
The Opening Titles
All the Interiors of the above buildings
The Greengrocers:
There's only one scene in a store room,which is basically the Minton kitchen set,stripped bare with some crates of veg on the floor and a table and phone.
So minimalist,in fact,that it's really not worth posting a pic .... so I haven't.
2a The Printers: pics below
The only room we get to see is the front room,accessed directly via the front door,which houses the printing machine.
The Town Hall: 3 seperate sets used here.
3a The Mayor's office is the main one and gets used a lot.
3b The Town Hall attic (one episode only)
3c The Clock Tower interior (one episode only)
All the locations outside The Square
Trumpton Park
Quite a well-used location. As follows ....
Pic 1 Shows the famous bandstand featured at the end of every episode.So here's a rare off duty moment.
Pic 2 has the duckpond,that Cuthbert falls in to.
Pic 3 is the toolshed that Raggy Dan uses as a temporary store.
Pic 4 shows the greenhouse,prior to the chimney demolition by the fire brigade.
1. 2. 3. 4.
The Cottages
Pic 5 The Mintons residence is to the left,with Mrs.Cobbit's to the right.
Pic 6 The only internal shot we get to see of either is the Minton kitchen.
Pic 7 And we're also shown the Minton's carpentry workshop.
Although it's never made clear whether it's the green lean-to in pic 5. Or another building at the back of the house.
5. 6. 7.
The Fire Station
Pic 8 Base camp for the best remembered Trumpton characters.
Pic 9 With the main doors open we get to see the gang make their entrance down the pole,to their solitary tender.
Pic 10 The only other internal view we're given is the control room -although it's never referred to as such.
But it's where Captain Flack takes all the calls (usually from The Mayor),and flicks the switch to sound the alarm.
8. 9. 10.
Opening Title Sequence - Discuss !
Should they have faded straight into the relevant episode as soon as the clock tower figures disappeared back inside and the doors slide shut ?
Did what follow simply feel rather superfluous,with nothing to specifically lead you into that particular episode ?
Granted it was added to signify the town waking up and springing into life.But an additional bit of dialogue during the clock segment could have done that
Maybe something like .... "It's 9 o'clock and everyone at Trumpton is getting ready to begin a new day ...."
Stock footage was a great animation time-saver. But ......... ?
All the Trumpton Locations
The set-up here is very similar to Camberwick,apart from the fact that Trumpton is a town and not a small village.
So instead of a "Green" we get a "Market Square"
And this acts as the central hub,with a small handful of satellite sites dotted around for added interest.
The Market Square
The main building is the Town Hall,with the integral clock tower and a statue of Queen Victoria in front of it.
And there are 2 shops flanking it on each side with the fourth side largely unseen as that's effectively where we view from.
What strikes you most is the rather odd mix of shops - a greengrocer .... a printer ....a hat shop .... and a clock shop.
Presumably chosen for the storylines they could offer and also their variance from the ones' found in Camberwick, rather than what they could offer the poor old inhabitants.
Although some more amenities are mentioned,but never actually shown.And more on them later.
The pics below are arranged where they appear on screen. Top 3 = wide shots .... 4 below = close-ups of each shop.
Left Middle Right
Locations mentioned .... but never actually shown
This was a very quick and easy way of building up a visual picture of the community without ever having to take the time to model them.
So the following get mentioned in dispatches:-
In the Rag & Bone Man episode,the Mayor informs us that he has "to open the new children's ward at the "Trumpton Hospital".
Although that's slightly confusing,because later on he mentions something "for the children's ward of the new Trumpton Hospital".
Also in the same episode,Raggy Dan says that the Cottages [ the Minton/Cobbit semi's ] are "out on the Oakridge Road"
And still in that same episode,Mr.Craddock makes mention of "the Bank".
A further spin on the Oakridge road location comes in the Pigeons episode,when Mrs.Cobbit walks a very short distance from her house and finds "the Lane" blocked.
It leads to the Market Square.But whether it's either a continuation of the Oakridge Road,or simply an offshoot isn't clear.
In the Mr.Platt & the Painter episode,the Mayor tells Troop that "I shall be late for my bazaar".
Which follows on from the reference by Mrs.Honeyman in Camberwick to a "Church" bazaar".
So clearly there is a God in Trumptonshire,but in the absence of a church he just moves in elusive ways.
In the Pumber episode,the Mayor again proves useful by telling us "I'm just off to inspect the Gasworks".
Presumably methane-powered courtesy of Farmer Bell ? ( his livestock,not him personally of course.)
In the Pigeons episode,Mr.Platt gives us ....
"I'm taking them (pigeons) to the Station (rail) as soon as the Bus comes."
And once again the Mayor comes up trumps when he's talking to Mr.Bolt in the Telephones episode,as we're told...... "..we've had some complaints about the lights in George Street."
Thanks for that Mr.Mayor,but until you get some street signs made we'll never know where that is exactly.
Not that there's any apparent street lighting either come to think of it .... except in George Street of course.
But the award for the most references in this category goes to .... Mr.Troop.
Although he does cheat a bit because they're all contained in his song.
So we can add a Library .... Swimming Baths .... Waterworks .... and a Youth Club to the mix.
And that's presumably the same swimming baths used by the Pippin Fort troupe,which is mentioned in Camberwick.
All of which goes to prove ....
.... that Trumpton was indeed supposed to be quite a reasonably-sized town.
In comparison to the village of Camberwick,and the even smaller hamlet of Chigley.
All the Trumpton characters and their songs are on the Trumpton Pt2 page
The Town Hall
Mr.Munning's Printers Miss Lovelace's Milliners
Mr.Clamp's Greengrocers Mr.Platt's Clock Shop
This 4th side of the Square is largely unseen by the audience
On this page - the initial impact,opening sequence & locations. Part 2 - the characters & songs here
2a 3a 3b 3c 4a 5a 5b
4a The Hat Shop:
As with the Print Shop,the front room is all we're shown.It houses a rather sparse selection of headgear and it's a wonder she could afford the lease.But,as ever we can put such worldly concerns to one side.
5a The Clock Shop:
It's the same pattern here as with the Munnings/Lovelace establishments.ie.shop floor access only.
Although we are also shown the back yard where he keeps his pigeon loft - 5b
