Happy Day! Children of the Stones and the Voyage Home from Elbury Mount Primary School.....

A painting which featured in the HTV drama Children of the Stones
with the cryptic quote: "Quod non est simulo dissimuloque quod es"
(I deny the existence of that which exists)
(possibly the reply by Worcester City Council's Education Department to an Ofsted grilling shortly before the demolition of Elbury Mount Primary School and the construction of the new Fairfield Community Primary School)

Happy Days: The Children of the Stones

Stewart Lee: 41st best stand up and fan of Children of the Stones

A while ago I was watching a few episodes of Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle, which was recently shown on BBC2. Stewart Lee is one of my favourite comedians, so I thought I'd take a look at his website, hopefully to view a list of forthcoming tour dates, and just to be generally inquisitive. By chance I happened to notice a link for a previous show that Stewart Lee had hosted on Radio Four back in 2012. 

Happy Days: The Children of the Stones
a radio documentary featuring an assortment of stone circle enthusiasts, fans, cast members
and even one dissenting conspicuous refusenik

It was called Happy Days: The Children of the Stones, and was a documentary which highlighted the production and location of a famous children's TV series, whilst combining the collective memories of writers, cast and fans along with thoughts and opinions about the legacy of Children of the Stones.

Back to the Future

In my time at Elbury Mount Primary School, there wasn't much which made me want to scarper home from school!




With the possible exception of two TV programmes:

1. Spider-Man:

Your friendly neighbourhood spider-man who I legged it home to watch on TV

2. Children of the Stones:

stones, science, folklore, unique artwork, a magus and an Austin Maxi...

The Voyage Home

My way home had varied over the time I was at Elbury Mount. During the early to late 70's I lived at Cherwell Close, over in Tolladine. 

The ruins of the old rebel base at Cherwell Close

Back in the 70's the landscape around Elbury Mount was open and kid-friendly. There were open fields that surrounded the school, compared to the jumbled array of housing that's been built in and around of what little remains of Elbury Mount Primary School today.

The present day entrance to Elbury Mount Junior School

At home time, I'd walk down Langdale Drive, up Ambleside Drive, where I'd either turn right and walk around Rydal Close, or I would carry on and turn right at Troutback Drive, then walk over the Gorse. It seemed a lot quicker than walking via Elbury Park Road and down Tolladine Road! That just seemed boring and slightly more laborious. The determining factor would depend on with whom I was walking home with at the time! Robert Isles, Simon Peters and Steven Kinchen all played their part in my reasoning!

The Gorse: I trekked over there before the pavement slabs!

I was one of the children of the stones!
I watched these slabs being laid by two mysterious council workers

We eventually moved from Cherwell Close, over to the open spaces of Astwood Road and Brickfields Park. 

Astwood Road: a major feature being that you can drive through here at 30 miles per hour

In theory, my route home seemed straight forward compared to walking up and over the gorse. I'd either walk down Brickfields Road, or detour via Cedar Avenue with my mate Chris Doughty. I also had a phase where I'd ride to school on my Raleigh Grifter. I'd leave my bike at Sean Crump's house, then later at home time, I'd coast all the way down Brickfields Road! But from time to time I'd still amble along via Rydal Close and Troutbeck Drive. Just to walk home with my friends.

Stones, Wailing, Vampires and a Tardis

(plus a strategically placed Cushion)

Matthew, Sandra, Kevin and Margaret
debating whether the legacy of Leo Sayer would last as long as the circle of stones 

Children Of The Stones was first broadcast on ITV (on my local TV channel, ATV) back in January 1977. I can remember watching the first episode with my sisters, Tina, Susan and Dawn in the front room of our house at Cherwell Close. My most striking memory was of the soundtrack. 

At the very start of the programme was the HTV theme tune:

I've always liked the Harlech TV intro music. It's only several seconds in length, and was probably made using an old analogue synthesizer. To me it sounded kooky, and was befitting as a precursor of what lied ahead! I'm a fan of Boards of Canada, who were influenced by the music of TV programmes in the seventies and eighties. I'd like to think that music of the ilk of the HTV theme played it's part and inspired Boards of Canada. 

The main theme, and incidental music of Children Of The Stones are possibly the most spookiest I had ever heard in my short life! The soundtrack was composed by Sidney Sager. The general theme throughout the show was a cappella of macabre disjointed voices, (The Ambrosian Singers) which were singular and collective, and when punctuated throughout the drama was ethereal, discordant and unsettling.

The drama surrounded the fictional village of Milbury, which was in fact the real village of Avebury, Wiltshire, which contains the largest stone circle in Europe, and is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Children of the Stones was filmed during the glorious summer of 1976.

The village of Milbury (really Avebury, Wiltshire)

An astrophysicist Adam Brake, (Gareth Thomas) and his son Matthew (Peter Demin) arrive at Milbury to investigate a large Neolithic circle of stones that surround the village.

Matthew (Peter Demin) and Adam Brake (Gareth Thomas)
pointing out where flared trousers end and drainpipes begin

Adam and Matthew examine the stones and discover that they contain mysterious properties. The villagers of Milbury are strangely amenable, overtly pleasant, and greet each other with a peculiar salutation, "Happy day!" 

Adam and Matthew unpacking their sound system for an illegal Bay City Rollers outdoor rave

Adam and Matthew have two allies, the museum curator Margaret, (Veronica Strong) and her daughter Sandra, (Katherine Levy) who are also trying to uncover the secret of Milbury. They discover that an ancient, mystical source of power from outer space is being tapped into by a sinister magus, Mr. Hendrick. (Iain Cuthbertson) 

Margaret (Veronica Strong) and Sandra (Katherine Levy)

Adam and Margaret trying to unearth the secret of the stones

Adam and Matthew discover that within the circle of the stones, the village is caught in a rift in time, and plan to escape from Milbury by trying to ascertain the unearthly power behind the stones, and break Hendrick's control over the villagers.

Hendrick showing Sandra and Margaret his ursa major supernova lighting concept 

Children Of The Stones was written by Jeremy Burnham and Trevor Ray, and was directed by Peter Graham Scott. The role of Adam Brake was played by Gareth Thomas, who went on to star in the cult sci-fi TV series, Blake's Seven.

Adam Brake portrayed by Gareth Thomas

The role of Matthew was played by Peter Demin, who was the ripe old age of 17 when Children of the Stones was made.

Matthew Brake (Peter Demin)

The role of Sandra was played by Katharine Levy, who was only 14 at the time of filming. Katharine Levy has appeared in other TV productions like I Claudius, Robin of Sherwood and The Day After Tomorrow. She has also trod the boards in many Shakespeare plays.

Sandra, played by Katharine Levy 

Mr. Hendrick (Iain Cuthbertson) praising Carl Sagan and the cosmos

Iain Cuthbertson, who played the role of Mr. Hendrick, is another charismatic actor who I also remember playing the villain, as Roderick Scunner Campbell in the ITV show, Supergran ("Is there nothing she cannae' do?" ) 

Dai the poacher portrayed by Freddie Jones
(before Freddie was trapped within the circle of the children of Emmerdale Farm)

The role of Dai, the poacher, was played by one of my favourite character actors, Freddie Jones, who has been a mainstay in British film, TV and theatre for many years. I think that Freddie Jones cameo in the movie Firefox, (starring Clint Eastwood) was by far the most engaging role of the film!  

The ensemble are mesmerised by the ancient morris dancing ritual

Children of the Stones ran over seven episodes. Every week I would leg-it straight from school to get home to watch the human stones, and hear the seminal wailing voices, from in front, or behind one of our living room cushions. The aforementioned cushions had been on alert the Saturday before during Doctor Who, and the late-night Hammer horror movie on BBC2!

I found Children of the Stones very creepy. I was captivated by the paranormal themes like folklore, lay-lines, pagan worship and those ominous, stark imposing stones. 

Back in 1977, Adam and Matthew investigate the circle of megalithic stones
using an oscilloscope, an Olivander wand and pair of Beats by David Soul headphones

Amid all the supernatural shenanigans, I was enthralled by the use of science which was touched upon throughout the series. The lead characters, Adam and Matthew used scientific investigation, analysis and conclusion to understand how to evade Hendrick, and effect their escape. 

Mr. Hendrick
Complete with a frilly shirt and an atomic clock

There were themes of archaeology, and astronomy, like the ursa major constellation, a black hole, a supernova and referencing phenomena like time dilation. I was an impressionable kid, and at the time I was a fan of science and science fiction. This caught my imagination, and made me want to learn more about our world and the universe around us.

Sandra, (Katharine Levy) Matthew (Peter Demin) and Kevin (Darren Hatch)
Another ordinary day at school studying quantum physics and celestial mechanics

Close Encounters 

of the Meningitis Kind......

In the first week of September, in 1977, I was eight years of age. I had just started my second year at Elbury Mount Primary School. Our classroom was on the ground floor, at the very end of the corridor, opposite Mr. Byland's class. 

A long time ago, in a stone circle far, far away.......
Alan Richard White: an impressionable Elbury Mount pupil
complete with a Luke Skywalker haircut and a home knitted jumper

I wasn't very happy at the start of the second year at Elbury Mount. In my first year I was in Mrs. Pratt and later Mrs. Davies class. At the start of my second year I was pulled aside, and told that I would be separated from the rest of the second year. Instead of being with my friends, a 'select' few of us from the second years was placed in a class of third years. I felt like I was being punished by the school, by being split from all my friends in the second years! I wasn't allowed to leave the big playground, so consequently, I couldn't see my mates across the divide in the little playground! It felt very strange for quite a while. At the start of the term I would wander around in the bottom corner of the big playground. I felt alienated, but it didn't take me too long to settle into my new class. I found some new friends, and my teacher, Mr. Baker was a down to earth character who inspired me to learn and ask questions. We would discuss all kinds of topics, mainly what interested me at the time, so it was mostly science fiction, like Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, Star Wars, and Doctor Who, which I really enjoyed at the time. We were both interested in ufology, so Mr. Baker and I would discuss Jimmy Carter's close encounter with a UFO! 

We Are Not Alone
Mr. Baker and I had a few interesting conversations about UFO sightings.....

It was at about this time that I got ill. I woke up one morning with a swollen head, a rash, and a huge headache. It started off with the mumps, however, I got progressively worse. I was later diagnosed with meningitis, which at the time was frightening to me. I had whooping cough some time previously, which in retrospect is really hard to believe? I can certainly remember not feeling very well, coughing a lot, and taking red and yellow medicine. It just seems difficult to think that I had whooping cough.

The mumps: much the same symptoms as space mumps

One of my most distinctive memories of meningitis was of feeling physically weak. As my condition deteriorated I lost my strength, I've got some pleasant memories of struggling find the energy to walk. It's kind of strange to read about the mumps and meningitis now, where it seems as though it's not really considered that serious anymore? Yet at the time when I had meningitis I had never felt so ill. However, I eventually recuperated and returned back to some semblance of normal life at home and at school.

Lin Chung and his rebel alliance battling the empire in The Water Margin

By contrast, my other vivid memory of meningitis was of watching the cult Japanese TV series, The Water Margin (based on the classic Chinese Novels) on BBC2. I enjoyed watching Lin Chung and his band of outlaws galloping on horseback around Liang Shan Po, getting into all kinds of battles in their quest to rob the rich and feed the poor! There was a lot of sword play, but very little martial arts, and Bert Kwouk's narration reminded me of Pink Panther films. It seemed light years away from Adam and Peter Brake caught in the stone circle, driving around Milbury in an Austin Maxi trying to solve the mystery of the sinister Mr. Hendrick! 

Towards the end of the school term our class day trip was at St. Ann's Well, in Great Malvern. We went by train (an old boneshaker diesel multiple unit) from Worcester Shrub Hill to Great Malvern, then walked uphill to St. Ann's Well, where we had a nice cool drink of water!

St. Ann's Well, Great Malvern
home to a water leak and an elaborate basin

I bought my mum a small collectible stone rabbit, then rounded off the day by walking down the hill, and having an outdoor swim at Malvern Lido. However, I got my arm caught in the safety rail around the pool, and had to get a lifeguard to jimmy my arm out with a crowbar! 

Notes From 1977 - 1978

May The Force Be Moving With You....

We moved from Cherwell Close to Astwood Road in 1978. I wasn't exactly sure of a precise date? But thanks to a couple of issues of Star Wars Weekly, I've been able to narrow it down to at least a few weeks in 1978.

Marvel Comics: issue #1 of Star Wars Weekly
a moisture farm, a jedi hermit, a new hope and a self-assembly x-wing fighter

Star Wars was first released on the 25th May 1977, I didn't get to see Episode 4: A New Hope (I feel so silly for the whole 'Episode 4: A New Hope' thing, it's Star Wars for crying out loud!) when it was first shown at the Odeon, Worcester. However, I did eventually get to watch Obi-Wan Kenobi and his blue light sabre a couple of months later when Star Wars returned to the Odeon during the summer holidays. From the first moment I saw that triangular star destroyer chasing the Alderaan diplomatic cruiser across Tatooine I was hooked!! 

After many TV commercials, issue one of Star Wars Weekly was released by Marvel Comics on February 8th 1978. It was ten pence, and I bought it from Derwent Newsagents. (By Elbury Mount) It had a model x-wing fighter which you could construct yourself! There was a comic strip serialization of Star Wars, plus a competition where the prize were many Star Wars collectibles. (toys) The question was simple, (paraphrasing) What is the famous jedi good luck adage? (I didn't know the answer....)

Star Wars Weekly issue #10:
 The rebel alliance move on a Saturday morning
from their old base on Dantooine to a new stronghold on Yavin IV

Above is issue #10 of Star Wars Weekly, which was released on 12th April 1978. We moved from Cherwell Close to Astwood Road on the Saturday of this comic's release. The last few weeks over at Cherwell Close seemed very surreal. I found it very difficult sleep in the days leading up to the time we moved. The night before, I hardly slept at all. I kept peering out through my bedroom window into the murky twilight. My mind played tricks on me. I kept seeing a mysterious spectral figure sat under an adjacent street lamp! (I thought it was a tramp) By the time I finished looking in-and-out of my bedroom window dawn had broke, and the mysterious grey spectre had melted away 

Saturday morning eventually arrived, so we took the short trek via Tolladine to Rainbow Hill. On the way over I kept thinking about Star Wars Weekly. I desperately wanted to get my comic, but my mum wouldn't let me get it. I asked as we walked past the Astwood Road Post Office. I begged, pleaded and mithered, but to no avail! What a miserable Saturday it was. It stayed dry for a couple of hours through the morning, then it poured down of rain all day. I was absolutely gutted! I stopped buying Star Wars Weekly after that. Spider-Man, Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four, The X-Men, The Avengers and Thor helped fill the void left by Star Wars Weekly. 

You're Smurfin' Out of Ease......

My world was turned upside down in the summer of 1978. A song that released on Decca Records changed the way I looked at pop music. It featured an old man dressed in black, with white hair, a beard and spectacles singing with some blue bodied, white hatted, elf-type creatures called smurfs. The Smurf Song was released in the first week in June. Father Abraham was the man with the beard who also featured on vocals. 

To this day, I have no idea why I liked the smurfs, but I did. I was obsessed with them. My mum bought me the record from Boots. I couldn't wait to watch them smurfin' on Top of the Pops on the Thursday evening. The Smurf song had been a smash hit all over Europe. I had dreams of the Smurfs conquering the UK charts. It seemed only a matter time before it was number one, but alas, my smurf dreams were shattered by the unlikely duo of John Travolta and Olivia Newton John, with some black satin pants fairground-themed duet entitled, "You're the One that I Want" which topped the charts from 17th June to the 12th August. According to Noel Edmonds, (on the Top of the Pops 1978 Christmas Special) it topped the charts for nine weeks. To this day I hate that song, and utterly despise Grease. But on reflection, I think I'm leaning in the same direction towards The Smurf Song.....

Here's a list of top 100 UK chart singles from 1978
Pick your favourite or not-so-favourite tunes from back in the day click here

Just to think, I Feel Love by Donna Summer (and Giorgio Moroder) was released on GTO Records in July of 1977. Now there was a record that really did turn my world upside down! I used to listen to that track on my mum's radiogram. My favourite bit of the tune was at the middle, in the instrumental breakdown. It's probably as close as I've ever been to being in a tranced out state!

Just for the sake of parity, I'd like to point out that The Muppets were in the charts in 1977 with Mah Na Mah Na & Halfway Down The Stairs.

Here's a list of top 100 UK chart singles from 1977Pick your favourite or not-so-favourite tunes from back in the day click here

Back to the Future Part II:

Walking (Home) With Dinosaurs....

Back in 2013, on my many nightly journeys back home on foot from Newtown Road, I would often walk via Ambleside Drive and Brickfields Road. In the teeming rain or the swathing silvery twilight, my Elbury Mount home time memories would flood back as I retraced my primary school time-loop footsteps. I would reflect on my happy memories, and the friends I had encountered through my life. To me it was a trip down memory lane, where I would often reminisce about Elbury Mount Primary School and it's glowing throng:

Ambleside Drive and Elbury Park Road

Claire Green

Tina Moore

Lisa Chamers

Sharon Werth

Lisa Knibb

Nicholas Sherwood
Michelle Dyke

Christopher Dyke

Eskdale Close and Ambleside Drive

Troutbeck Drive

Lisa Butcher

Sharron Price

Andrew Orr

Wayne Jones

Robert Isles

Mark Davis

Bernice Harris

Ian Trainer

Karen Dargie

Richard Munslow

Sean Crump

Rydal Close

Bridget Hill

Jason Bills

Alan Mansell

Robbie Gowen

Kim Tasker

Poplar Avenue and Brickfields Road

Rachel Russell

Derek Heeks

Jenny Moule

Jon Cartwright
Angela Roddis

Russell Moss

Darren Wells

Richard Maggs

Sharon Curnock

Lee Bullock

Debbie Turberfield

Lee Virgo

Michael Wood

Colin Stone

Brickfields Road and Lime Avenue

Cedar Avenue

Debbie Olsen

Caroline Merrell

Beverley Burton

Dave Hook

Steven Clark

Peter Kears

Robert Clayton

Oak Avenue and Redwood Close

Oak Avenue

Russell Oliver

Wayne Minnis

Jo Tryner

Julie Miles

David Ballard

Trevor Bell

Paul May

Christopher Doughty

Carol Ward

Cheryl Gormley

Joyce Farmer

Graham Dargie

Thorn Avenue

Back to the Future Part III: 

Rewind Back to 1977.....

It was interesting to listen to Stewart Lee's BBC Radio Four documentary about Children Of The Stones, in particular the thoughts and opinions of the writers, cast, fans and Stewart Lee himself. 

Children of the Photoshopped Stones...

I bought a DVD of Children of the Stones just over two years ago, up until then I had watched various clips online. To actually sit down and watch the series all over again in it's entirety was a curious experience. 

Adam and Margaret taking a stroll and meeting some of the locals 

I believe that the test of the longevity any TV programme that I've watched from back in the day is to watch it now, and see if it stands up to the test of time. I'm glad and relieved to say that Children of the Stones is still as compelling now as the day I watched it back in 1977. All those spine-chilling sensations of my childhood resurfaced, but a little more sedate and controlled compared to when I first watched the drama in our living room, and the choir of voices still sounded incredibly atmospheric and spooky. 

Margaret (Veronica Strong) Adam (Gareth Thomas) and Mr. Hendrick (Iain Cuthbertson)

Children of the Stones is of it's age. It has the look of a TV show that was made in the 70's, but irrespective of the hairstyles, and fashions of the time, it's the quality of the production which stands apart. It transcended the boundaries of being just another kids drama. The finished article was an accomplished production which children and adults could both watch. Children of the Stones had a great script, with smart direction. The production was enhanced by the performance of an adept cast of experienced actors, where the finished article was absorbing, without being cliched or patronizing.

Matthew, Adam and Mr. Hendrick
pitching an idea for a TV show called 'Antiques Roadshow'

Stewart Lee said that Children of the Stones addressed his own childhood issues of conformity, fitting in, and was an abstract fear of the unknown. Oddly enough, when I first watched Children Of The Stones I didn't equate it to any of my own personal issues at that time of my life. I just watched a well made, spooky drama series, where a father and son used their ingenuity to escape from the clutches of an evil, controlling druid. 

The sinister Mr. Hendrick
who later held the producers of Children of the Stones
to ransom with the negatives of the show

Stewart Lee is only five months older than I am, yet it feels as though that he might as well have been twenty-five years older! I'm not sure whether that's an indictment of how insular I was, or evidence of the level of my naivety, or may be both? However, in hindsight I look back upon my second year at Elbury, and I do see parallels of conformity, and fitting in, which were a part of my own trials and tribulations. (albeit a storm in tea cup) 

(right) the controlling Mr. Hendrick (played by Iain Cuthbertson)
with his butler (left) Link (played by the marvellous character actor John Woodnutt)

The very thought of Children Of The Stones evokes fond memories of my childhood, but I think that's what happens when I remember any kind of media from the seventies and eighties that I like. It's what inspired me to write about Elbury Mount and my friends. 

Matthew (Peter Demin) and Sandra (Katharine Levy)

Children Of The Stones will always be attached with my own personal nostalgia, and sentimental value. I hearken back into my own childhood memories, which exists within the thickening fog of my subconsciousness. It's a place of refuge and escape from the outside world, a nexus of my cherished childhood memories and of the friends who I shared my life with, at possibly one of the most formative periods of my life.

Kevin (Darren Hatch), Sandra (Katharine Levy), Matthew (Peter Demin),
Dr. Lyle (Richard Mathews) and Mrs. Crabtree (Ruth Dunning)

Mr. Hendrick giving Adam an ultimatum,
"Join the circle or Matthew gets enrolled at Samuel Southall Secondary School...." 

Samuel Southall Secondary School followed in September 1980. Where issues of conformity, fitting in, and an abstract fear of the unknown would emerge, and become a reality.

come and join the circle at Samuel Southall Secondary School
We have a prospectus.....

Happy Day.....