After a rather difficult experience on the M6 last weekend, in dreadful weather, we decided that the best antidote would be a quiet afternoon watching the 1974 film of Swallows and Amazons.
It's such a lovely adaptation, and the film has been very well remastered; I haven't been able to bring myself to watch the 2016 film yet, there are just too many changes from the book. The 1974 adaptation is so close to the book. The film's locations are all instantly recognisable, especially Bowness-on-Windermere, or "Rio" as it is in the novel and film.
"The little town is known in guide-books by another name, but the crew of the Swallow had long ago given it the name of Rio Grande." Nancy said "we'll agree to Rio. It's a good name."
“Yesterday seemed unreal and wasted. Those pirates, the gun in Houseboat Bay, the chase up the lake to Rio were a sort of dream. He woke in ordinary life.”
On Sunday we popped up to "Rio" for an ice cream and a walk along the Glebe. Watching the small boats on Windermere it's almost possible to imagine that the Swallows and Amazons are sailing them from Wild Cat Island!
