1963: The Tale of the RELUCTANT PUB PUNTER | Tonight | Weird and Wonderful | BBC Archive
Ойын-сауық
Christopher Brasher reports from Twyning's Fleet Inn, where the duties of publican and ferryman are combined. Or, at least, they should be. In 1963 however the refusal of the new landlord, a Mr James Watt Smith, to operate the 'ancient ferry' across the River Avon met with much consternation among the locals.
"Rural England is never quite what it seems."
Clip taken from Tonight, originally broadcast on BBC Television, Tuesday 24 September 1963.
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Пікірлер: 132
I just went to the Fleet just now. Fantastic pub still going strong. Please stop by if you are ever in the area.
Thank god Mr Cholmondley-Warner from the Brewery turned up to restore some order 😂
@medleydeluxe5298
4 ай бұрын
I say Mrs Cholmondley-Warner may have disapproved of such an overwhelming instance of getting ones socks rather moist, most incapacitating I should say if I may?
@JJONNYREPP
Ай бұрын
1963: The Tale of the RELUCTANT PUB PUNTER | Tonight | Weird and Wonderful | BBC Archive 0644am 30.5.24 as he decries the alleged virtues of mr polly and his retrograde activities eg: sitting atop convent walls, perving at the young gals....
7:24 The perfect answer to a tricky question!
@Boppa1260
9 ай бұрын
😂🔫
@KarmasAbutch
9 ай бұрын
“Swim it!” Was a pretty good answer too
@thesmallnotesduo
4 ай бұрын
The Brits are the funniest people on earth.
The best part of this segment is that both parties to the dispute (Mr Watt Smith and Mrs Jehan) agreed to stage the little skit
Oh my goodness! This has EVERYTHING, I love it! The narration is brilliant. The publican is perfection. The location is idyllic. May I retire there, please?
@davidpeters6536
9 ай бұрын
Only if you will row the new boat.
@denniseldridge2936
9 ай бұрын
OK, but choose the side you wish to live on wisely, as you'll be stuck there for a good long time lol.
@rjjcms1
9 ай бұрын
Are you interested in a vacancy as a ferryman?
@blackvulcan100
7 ай бұрын
It's not that special much better places to live in Glos.
@TJH1
7 ай бұрын
@@blackvulcan100Gracious no, even the accent is ugly.
I'm afraid to say that the people who shot the person who drew up the information about the ferry, have been shot
@OlafProt
9 ай бұрын
😂
@petergivenbless900
9 ай бұрын
A møøse ønce bit my sister!
@OlafProt
9 ай бұрын
@@petergivenbless900 Møøse trained by Yutte Hermsgervørdenbrøtbørda
@teddy1066
6 ай бұрын
Wi nøt trei a høliday in Sweden this yër?
@dayanidhi9391
4 ай бұрын
Why was it people, rather than a person?
"So, if you want the pub you have to operate the ferry, right?" "Eh? Yeah, whatever." "I really need you to understand that because it's a legal obligation." "Yeah, yeah." "You are listening, right? Because if you buy this pub from me you are absolutely legally obliged to operate this ferry as well." "Mmm? Yeah, yeah. I hear you." Three months later... "Ferry? This is the first I've heard about it!"
Brilliant 😂 “The man who designed the calendar has since been shot” 😂😂 7:25
Chris Brasher of course was the 1956 Olympic 3000m steeplechase champion, and had helped pace Roger Bannister to the first 4 min mile. Later he co-founded the London marathon in 1981.
@rjjcms1
9 ай бұрын
I wondered about that. Is it definitely the same Chris Brasher?
Back then landlords were more interested in barring people than attracting customers. Rudeness was just a given.
bit before my time, but TAKE ME THERE, RIGHT NOW 😁 the landlord's marvellous moustache and laissez-faire ciggie is everything!
Chris Brasher, if I'm not mistaken was a fine runner who - I think - was a pacemaker for Roger Bannister when he broke the world record for a mile run. A gentleman and a scholar.
"yes the man who has designed that calendar has since been shot" totally deadpan😆
Ha I love the grumpy publican. 'Swim it, push off out of it.....' The original Basil Fawlty.
@kellysouter4381
9 ай бұрын
He's rubbish
this is a rare Python Sketch,,
@JJONNYREPP
Ай бұрын
1963: The Tale of the RELUCTANT PUB PUNTER | Tonight | Weird and Wonderful | BBC Archive 0648am 30.5.24 it's a brief nod to keeping one's pecker up - whether that be the lowly would-be ferry user or the brow beaten publican... i'd take my own dinghy and paddle across. as for using the pub - out of spite, probably...
Perfect slice of England and sadly our disappearing humour. Since watching this I've given up my ideas of planning and designing calendars.
Visual media history kicks ass.
Nice to see that the Fleet Inn is still there, although it seems to have had its ups and downs (fires and floods) over the years. Hopefully it has someone who is not quite such an awkward old sod running it now
@rjjcms1
9 ай бұрын
I suspect the putting his life at risk defence was a load of old boathooks he came up with to get out of the duty because it wasn't proving profitable.
@DrPepper22222
7 ай бұрын
Cant argue with the quality of the moustache though
@benlachenal771
4 ай бұрын
@@rjjcms1 a load of old boathooks 😅. That's a new one on me, I'm taking it
"The man who designed that calendar has since been shot." Christopher moved down to the river bank to finish the segment, ha.
This sort of thing makes me immensely proud to be British 😂
There's an Alan Whicker quality to the reporter. That voice. Great stuff. I can imagine he, and the rest of the film crew made proper use of the pub when filming this.
It's Jimmy Edwards from Whack-O!
@OlafProt
9 ай бұрын
I was trying to think of who he looked like 😂 spot on
"STOP BANGING THAT BLODDY SAUCEPAN BEFORE I RAM IT ON YOUR HEAD !!"
We had a meeting in january and desided you can bloody well swim across.
Worth watching for that ending interview!
What a smashing moustache!
@medleydeluxe5298
4 ай бұрын
The Barbour has since been shot
@jamesphlames7498
2 ай бұрын
Here here!
I've drank in a few pubs that had landlords like that back in the day. Absolutely priceless, we used to go in just to wind them up, they were always good for a laugh in a Basil Faulty / Victor Meldrew sort of way. People take things too seriously these days.
I LOVE England. Please, let's not lose it or give it away.
@eadweard.
4 ай бұрын
You're about half a century too late.
@thesmallnotesduo
4 ай бұрын
Not yet my friend, not yet@@eadweard.
@davidkennedy8929
2 ай бұрын
Unfortunately it’s being given away as we speak!
@aidenbrennan7871
2 ай бұрын
Did you post this in 1965? I'm afraid you're too late old boy, it's a long distant memory. The Trojan Horse was wheeled through the gates many years ago, the only difference to Troy was that in this case there were plenty of "responsible" people watching!
@thesmallnotesduo
2 ай бұрын
@@aidenbrennan7871 What happened to the 'We will fight them on the beaches' mentality my friend? This may be our darkest hour (yet) but it's never too late
What a moustache!
@Cosford869
9 ай бұрын
Yeah, it's a proper man's moustache. I like it when he tells the annoying biddy to get out of it as well. Proper man that you wouldn't mess with.
@williamc6564
2 ай бұрын
Magnificent
@gegwen7440
2 ай бұрын
@@Cosford869 Yes he is if you are a woman but I doubt that the idiot would talk to another man like that.
@gegwen7440
2 ай бұрын
What a mess IMO
Dig em in handlebar chops!!
"swim it" hahahahahaha
Nowadays, this is the only BBC I watch, made when that organisation was respected and admired.
Aah 1963 a vintage year
"The man who designed that calendar has since been shot."
It seems like the sensible solution in this situation was to have a self service rowing boat. Just one, located at the crossing point. If it happened to be on the other side of the person wanting to cross, they could ring the bell and hope that any person from the other side would come help them and I am sure they would eventually.
@aidenbrennan7871
2 ай бұрын
A pully system with a boat attached each side seems far more practical, even a woman could operate it. British ingenuity don't you know, always seeking new ways to make the lives of the farer sex easier.
My man should have charged people his £1 for the ferry. That would have kept the local busybodies in check...
In the 1960s/70s the BBC used to explore different lifestyles, quirks and hobbies. Long gone with this journalism now.
@aidenbrennan7871
2 ай бұрын
Well, they kind of still do ... !
"The man who designed that calendar has since been shot." It's been a long time since corporate spokespeople had anything resembling a sense of humour.
When at the end there he said "Good Night" he should have walked into the water.
Top parody. "Rural England is never quite what it seems".... for all those that were in the net for the preceeding 10 minutes. 😂
Only in England 😂
Good for the Landlord. Health and Safety risk assessment would have holed the tub.
Is there any ferry today?
Genius
Is the pub still open? Or housing for people not from the area.
@davidrenton
Ай бұрын
still a pub, stilled called the fleet inn, still looks the same, not sure about the ferry service though
The scripts of Monty Python wrote themselves.
@jemmajames6719
4 ай бұрын
Eh?
@Neil-Aspinall
3 ай бұрын
@@jemmajames6719 If ya don't get, good luck Jems...........
Jimmy Edwards
The spending power of 6d in 1963 that was charged for the ferry crossing, is worth about 45p today adjusted for inflation. Since 'the man who designed that calendar has since been shot' it seem rather fitting that the landlord stuck to his guns and didn't run the ferry, despite the pressure from the various councils.
5:59 Yeah I wouldn’t get in that thing
my local
A gentler more genteel age
Surely he could have had his kid or a nephew punt across?
Did he not know when he took over 18 months previous this was an obligation? Why wasnt it addressed then? Just shows that Merrie Olde England had its problems that would be recognisable today..... " Not my problem!"
@OlafProt
9 ай бұрын
I would imagine the brewery put this guy in here, so he didn’t have much choice but to take the job.
@BuJammy
9 ай бұрын
Merrie Olde England? This is the 60s.
@rjjcms1
9 ай бұрын
Presumably if he'd refused in Merrie Really Olde England he could have been carted off to the Tower and had his head removed by a yeoman's axe.
This channel is superb. Sadly the BBC are un-watchable now. Gave up on them and my tv licence in 2000.
Self service the way to go 😭
I am standing here by the banks of the Mississippi...🎤
@phillipecook3227
9 ай бұрын
Mississippi? Think the lady would have to hit the saucepan a great deal harder ....
Is the narrator David Mitchells dad ? Sounds very much like him 😄
60 years sgo? May as well be 200 years ago.
@aidenbrennan7871
2 ай бұрын
May as well be 2 years ago, public transport has always been dogshit in this country
Reluctant publican, not punter, surely.
🤨🥴😲🤷♂️🤦♂️👍
An English lady 😮 five Wokes have just passed out 😅
"I can't afford to pay a man £10 a week!" Sounds like you can't afford to run a pub then, friend.
He should not have taken over the position in the pub This is why England is going to the dogs Because of people like him
@aidenbrennan7871
2 ай бұрын
Absolutely, he should have retired to the Costa del Sol instead like any decent Englishman, that way we could have had a kebab house on the river instead, far more useful and would attract the young folk to area as well!
That's how we lost some our heritage, laziness. If that pub is still there now the ferry would've made a nice little touristy attraction for the pub.
@aidenbrennan7871
2 ай бұрын
Get real, it would be a kebab shop
@itsirrelephantman
2 ай бұрын
@@aidenbrennan7871 a nice pub and a kebab van to tempt people over, good idea. The kebab makers aren't lazy. Skin flint pub owner too lazy and cheap to get someone to operate a little ferry.
Amos Brearly has clearly left the Woolpack
The Pub Landlord who has lived near the sea in Watchet all his life cannot swim in the same way Prince Andrew is unable to sweat.
Well what a manly, womanly , manly specimen ... seems like the 'They, them's' arrived on this green and pleasant land many years ago!
The councillor could of run the ferry or was it a case of not me thank you very much
I don't understand, are the pub man and the lady actors or are they playing themselves? Thats such a crazy dynamic to imagine to have two people in an actually rivalry to shout at each other from across a river in front of cameras. That must be such an absurdly strange and awkward situation to organise and film.
This man comes from an era when publicans were complete nobs. These days, he would be out of business in a week with his attitude.
@aidenbrennan7871
2 ай бұрын
Yep, instead we've got Wetherspoons, that's progress!
She's the clerk? READ THE STANDING ORDERS!!
Are they English by any chance? Didn’t get that.
no sex we are britisch ;)
This feels like a sketch.
This pub is now a World Economic Forum migrant processing and approval facility. We hope you enjoyed your heritage while it lasted
Miserable auld sod 😂
You should savour this folks as you wont hear the British bashing corporation talk about our beautiful heritage and culture anymore ! (At least not with any passion)
@machidaman
9 ай бұрын
Yes! Bloody progress! Comin' over 'ere, displacing our culture. Bring back the luddites! On a serious note, what do you actually mean? Anything to do with immigrants? Boats? Hmmm....
@wyverntheterrible
9 ай бұрын
They'd recreate it with a Black publican, and a Bangladeshi passenger.
@stepheng8779
9 ай бұрын
@@wyverntheterribleoh get over yourself bigot
@matt01506
9 ай бұрын
@@OlafProt If people like me don't stick up for British culture who will ? It certainly won't be the bbc, the London demographic, teachers professors or the youth that they indoctrinate would it.
@machidaman
9 ай бұрын
@@matt01506 have you ever stopped to think why all the smart folk you mention are lefty, snowflakey, tofu eating, wokerati? Because there is a direct correlation between education and politics; the higher your level of education, the more likely you are to be a leftie. Look it up.