This is Titchfield, ostensibly in 1940 though the still is from a film shot in 1949. “Landfall” is an adaptation of the Nevil Shute novel of the same name and stars Michael Denison as Flight Lt. Chambers and Patricia Plunkett as Mona. It is set in 1940, Chambers is flying Ansons for Coastal Command from “Emsworth Airfield” before apparently making an almighty cock-up by depth charging and sinking a British submarine “off of Selsey Bill” – just before the attack a shot of Studland Bay and Old Harry Rocks is seen.
He goes on leave, having requested a transfer and not expecting to see Mona again , a Portsmouth barmaid for whom he has fallen. He is upset to find that he has been posted to “Titchfield aerodrome” to fly Wellingtons in bomb trials in a secret navy project. The film is quite good, staying close to the book and, being set in the local area has a few points of interest. I’m intrigued by the locations however. The Portsmouth street in which Mona and her parents live is obviously a constructed set but the airfield sequences and the shots of aircraft are real. So, bearing in mind the film was shot in 1949 when Ansons were long relegated to training or transport roles is the shot below of Thorney island or of another coastal airfield?
This shot follows a close up of a taxying aircraft and may well have been shot when Ansons were operational though from what I have seen on t’internet that type was not used at Thorney in 1940
This shows the Wellington at “Titchfield”. Again a concrete apron leading to a grass runway. The aircraft is seen taxying but the complete takeoff isn’t shown.
The background has what seem to be white painted aircraft, probably civil types and would have been filmed in 1949 as the Wellington was shown carrying a magnetic influenced bomb in a cradle underneath the bomb bay. Where there any airfields near Titchfield of sufficient size to accommodate a Wimpey?
Michael denison is striding down the hill to the pub and looking back toward Patricia Plunkett (out of shot). This is almost the culmination of a walk undertaken by their characters toward the pub at the bottom of the slope. The landscape encountered on the way certainly looks to be Hampshire or West Sussex, can anyone identify where by reference to the buildings and tower behind Denison?
And this is the pub they reached, the “Red Lion”. This may have been a normal house mocked up to resemble a pub or it may have been, maybe still is, a real pub. The interior shots show a fairly basic bar with a couple of Gales adverts on the walls. Either the designers did a bit of research or a real Gales pub was used. Mona (Patricia Plunkett) does a good job of draining her pint pot after the seven mile walk by the way.
Oh, and if you are intrigued enough to want to get the film which isn’t half bad, try the link below:
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Location Location. I’ve just found this blog so sorry about the late reply. You may already have the answer but I’m certain that the ‘Red Lion is the one at Charlton, just off the A3 at the top of Horndean.
Thanks Dave!
From memory of my drinking days it’s a pretty good pub, could well be worth a drive out there one day soon. So do you have an interest in military vehicles or collecting? You are more than welcome to come along to a meeting (4th Thursday of each month) Drop me a mail for further details or check out the front page – curry night in January!