Reflections on a Simple Past | 02. Swallows and Amazons Forever!
Freedom, carefree abandon, simplicity, nostalgia and the odd swallow, but a far cry from the Amazon.
In this series, I look back at some of the people, places and things which have so richly influenced and inspired my love of all things simple.
All the photos in this post (except the one of me sporting my ahead-of-the time ‘protect the world; save our planet’ t-shirt) were taken by me, age 8, on our first holiday to The Lake District in August 1991.
I think it’s fair to say that the English have always had a love affair with The Lake District, in the same way their love affair with steam trains remains undiminished. I must confess that my love affair started young. But it’s an affair which was possibly doomed had I not been welcomed into the wonderful world of Arthur Ransome, and all things Swallows and Amazons.
How lucky I was to be brought up on Ransome’s wonderful series of children’s books, first having them read to me, then reading them myself. The books, of course, came first, for the 1974 film of Swallows and Amazons, and also the 1984 BBC television dramatisation of Coot Club and The Big Six, Swallows and Amazons Forever, came later.
You can well understand that having read the books, The Lake District was top of my list of potential holiday destinations. I wonder if, as a child, I expected to meet all the characters there? Possibly not, but we were certainly able to hunt out and enjoy visiting the many locations. Even though they’re perhaps not as romantic as they sound in the books, one can’t escape their nostalgic pull.
Ransome’s series continues to prove popular, and with the 50th anniversary of the Swallows and Amazons film this year, has seen somewhat of a resurgence of late. But what is the enduring draw of these tales so far-removed from our 21st century world?
I suppose that for many of us, the children in Swallows and Amazons, and indeed, in the other books, had the carefree childhood so many of us craved, perhaps even more so in retrospect as adults. They could somehow roam free through the countryside, the woodland, and across the lakes. It wasn’t a wild childhood, but it was certainly a childhood in the wild. Climbing trees, making dens, and building fires were all part of their adventures. It’s hard, even now, to not read those books and not feel that inextricable grip of nostalgia.
That love affair we English have with The Lake District is perhaps epitomised in Swallows and Amazons and the other books in the series. Let’s be honest, we have an unmitigated love affair with nostalgia, and is there anything more nostalgic than the childhood freedom of the Swallows and the Amazons?
We look back now, and perhaps see the simplicity in those fictional lives. Somehow, with the most basic of supplies, great adventures could be found and had. Simple food - eggs and bacon, and bread and jam - could be enjoyed at leisure, cooked and prepared outdoors with the most basic of implements. Milk was collected from the farm, not a supermarket in sight.
We have to be honest though, and say that for all its merits, we view nostalgia through rose-tinted glasses. For many children of the 1920s, this was in no way representative of their childhood. The Lake District now, with its endless hotels, resorts and coach-loads of tourists, feels a far cry from the Holly Howe, Wild Cat Island, Rio and Houseboat Bay of Swallows and Amazons.
But, as there is an ever-increasing yearning for something slower and simpler, perhaps a new generation will start their own love affair with The Lake District, and that by reading the tales of the Swallows and the Amazons, they too will find their own adventures in life. As for us adults, there are plenty of adventures to be had.
Swallows and Amazons forever (and down with the natives)!
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I loved these reflections, David. I have a similar relationship with The Railway Children – nothing excited me more than the idea of moving to a remote cottage somewhere in Northern England! I think this is why returning to old literary favourites is so lovely as it reminds us of a simpler time, and also brings back so many feelings from when we read them as children. Thank you for this trip down memory lane! 🌼
Just catching up on this, thank you for sharing your lovely memories from the Lake District - they feel very poignant as someone who lives here now :)