Adventure in the Hopfields

After accidentally smashing her mother's prized china dog, little London girl Jenny (Mandy Miller) leaves her mother a note and sets off from home to make the money to buy a new one. Travelling by train, she follows her friend's family to Kent to earn money hop picking in the countryside. After the first day of hop picking, Sam Hines takes her with him to a junk shop where she sees a china dog just like her mother's. Mr. Hines lends her the money to buy it, but the dog is later stolen by two local children - the Reilly boys. Jenny chases after the kids into an old mill, but the thieves lock her in the loft. When lightning strikes the decaying mill and sets it on fire, Ned Reilly returns to rescue Jenny in the nick of time and goes back to the mill to get the china dog.

TV Guide gave the film two out of four stars, noting "An above average children's film, with believable characters and story."[4] The Radio Times rated it two out of five stars, writing, "In days of yore, the poor folk of South London flocked to Kent and went hop-picking...this exciting tale offers bullying, theft and a climactic lightning storm. A little piece of British social history from the future director of The Towering Inferno."[5]

In 2002, a copy of Adventure in the Hopfields was discovered in a rubbish bin in Chicago, United States, and subsequently purchased by film buff Barry Littlechild for $35. The film was screened at the village hall in Goudhurst, Kent, near the filming location, on 8 March 2002.[6]

• Adventure in the Hopfields on IMDb
• Clip of film at YouTube