Walmington-on-Sea

Map of the fictional 'Walmington-on-Sea

Walmington-on-Sea is a fictional seaside resort that is the setting of Dad's Army, including the BBC Television sitcom, the BBC Radio 4 series and two feature films (1971 and 2016).

Walmington-on-Sea is on the south coast of England which, following the fall of France and the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk during the Second World War, found itself on the front line against Hitler. It is situated in Sussex [1] and the nearest large town is Eastbourne, where Captain Mainwaring was educated in the local grammar school.

The series followed the adventures and misadventures of members of a fictional platoon of the Home Guard, a volunteer army formed from those ineligible for conscription by age, minor physical inability or occupation, to defend the United Kingdom from German invasion following the fall of France.

Amenities and filming locations

Brandon railway station stood in for the station at Walmington-on-Sea
The Guildhall at Thetford became Walmington-on Sea's Town Hall
Several episodes were filmed in Thetford's Nether Row
Filming of The Deadly Attachment took place on Mill Lane in Thetford
Thetford's 'Palace Cinema' (now a bingo hall) doubled as Walmington's 'Empire Cinema'

Over the nine television series, the action is set in various places in Walmington-on-Sea, the interiors of which were built in the television studios, while the exterior scenes were filmed at various Norfolk locations.[2] These included a pleasure pier (filmed in Great Yarmouth[3]) with a 20-foot (6m) wide gap blown in the middle to prevent it from being used as a landing stage by invading armed forces. The beach is protected with barbed wire and other defences including mines, pillboxes and tank traps.

Other locations, typical of a seaside town during the Second World War included a sweet shop, The Novelty Rock Emporium, at least two banks (the fictional Swallows Bank, which appeared in early episodes, and the real Martins Bank), the Marigold tea room, Anne's Pantry, the Dutch Oven, Corporal Jones's butcher's shop, Hodges' greengrocers, Frazer's undertakers, a cinema and numerous pubs including the Red Lion, which all suggest it was a reasonably sized place. There is also a Free Polish Club for Polish servicemen. In common with most real British towns, Walmington-on-Sea is given a church, Saint Aldhelm's, with a hall next door which is the setting for various community events in the episodes such as the Christmas pantomime and a place for the Sea Scouts to parade. It is also where the Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard platoon muster on parade nights.

Many outdoor scenes were filmed at Thetford, an inland town in Norfolk.[2] The 1971 film moved location to Chalfont St Giles, even further from the coast. The 2016 film is filmed even more distantly in Yorkshire.

Thetford's Guildhall (today the home of the Dad's Army Museum) became Walmington-on-Sea's Town Hall. The Guildhall featured in the 1972 episode Time On My Hands, in which a German Luftwaffe pilot dangled from the clock tower when his parachute became caught in the clock's hands. The Guildhall was also used in the 1974 episode The Captain's Car. The distinctive flint cottages in Thetford's 'Nether Row' appeared in four episodes: Man Hunt, The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones, The Big Parade and Time on My Hands. Mill Lane was used in The Deadly Attachment, while Thetford's real-life 'Palace Cinema' (now a bingo hall) doubled as Walmington-on-Sea's 'Empire Cinema' in two episodes – The Big Parade (1970) and A Soldier's Farewell (1972).[2]

Brandon railway station was used for exterior shots of Walmington-on-Sea railway station, while the platforms of Weybourne Station on the preserved North Norfolk Railway (a popular heritage steam railway) stood in for the platforms at Walmington-on-Sea station in the episode The Royal Train.

Residents

CharacterJob
George MainwaringBank Manager
Elizabeth Mainwaring
Arthur WilsonBank Chief Clerk
Jack JonesButcher
Mildred Fox
Frank PikeBank Clerk
Mavis Pike
Joe WalkerSpiv
James FrazerUndertaker
Charles GodfreyRetired
Dolly Godfrey
Cissy Godfrey
Mr SpongeSheep Farmer
William HodgesGreengrocer
Reverend Timothy FarthingVicar
Maurice YeatmanVerger
Beryl Yeatman
Mr GordonTown Clerk
Miss FortescueProprietor of the Marigold Tearooms
DoreenCinema Worker/Restaurant Worker
Edith ParishCinema Usherette
Mr CheeserightCinema Manager
Janet KingBank Clerk
Sidney BlewittRetired
Mr JonesMuseum Caretaker
Mr. Billings
Bracewell
RaymondButcher Assistant
Miss Doris Mortimer
Mrs. Yeatman
Desmond
CheesemanJournalist
Elgood
Hastings
Miss Meadows
Forkus
Day
Eccles
Woods
Taylor
Mrs Peters

Pubs

  • The Red Lion
  • The Six Bells
  • The Anchor
  • The Black Lion
  • The Dog & Partridge
  • The King's Head
  • The Feathers
  • The Fox
  • The Hare & Hounds
  • The Horse & Groom
  • The Horse & Hounds
  • The Fox & Pheasant
  • The Goat & Compasses
  • The Marquis of Granby

Tea shops

  • The Marigold Tea Rooms
  • Anne's Pantry
  • The Dutch Oven

References

  1. ↑ BBC Books - Dad's Army: The Defence of a Front Line English Village - 1989, p.5
  2. 1 2 3 Dad's Army locations on Literary Norfolk
  3. ↑ 'Dad's Army invade Great Yarmouth' BBC Norfolk website
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