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Post by Alan Hayes on May 28, 2018 9:52:06 GMT
As a veteran of three Catweazle Fan Club events and considerably more besides that have been focused on other television series (The Avengers, Doctor Who, The Prisoner, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy), I thought it might be interesting to ask people here what it is they get from gatherings like the annual Catweazle Weekend?
In my case, it's three-fold, at least in the case of Catweazle:
1. Social - meeting friends and making new connections 2. Meeting people who worked on the series 3. Getting to see the filming locations - in Catweazle's case, even getting inside them (the Farm, Brickendonbury)
I've never been one to collect autographs or want my picture taken with the stars, but it was nice to be able to say thank you to people like Geoffrey Bayldon, for the positive mark they made on my life. Obviously, in almost every case, that's no longer possible now, sadly but inevitably.
So, what has motivated you to attend a Catweazle event in the past, what are you looking forward to at this year's event, and - on the other side of the coin - if you don't attend events, what is it about them that makes them not your thing?
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Post by greyweazle1066 on May 28, 2018 17:01:30 GMT
For me Alan meeting up with other fans, and the magic of Hexwood and Brickendon, I have only missed one weekend since 2006 so was extremely lucky to have met most of the Catweazle character's and became good friends with Geoffrey.
Sue and myself are planning on visiting Geoffreys grave to put some flowers on it on the friday of the Catweazle weekend, so if any members would like their name added to the card then please leave your names here.
I have recently spoken to Wendy, Mike and Julia Smyth who wish to be remembered, both incedently have had issues posting on this new forum and have asked me to let you know, they assure me that they have registered, this maybe a contributing fact why not many are posting, or there not going on here.
Anyway this is your chance to remember Geoffrey, so please come forward with your names.
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Post by Alan Hayes on May 28, 2018 18:06:01 GMT
That's a very kind thought about the card. Please add my name and my wife Alys' to the card. Thank you.
If anyone is having trouble posting on the forum, please email me at alan.stuart.hayes@gmail.com and I'll try to help.
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Post by greyweazle1066 on May 28, 2018 18:30:20 GMT
Your more than welcome, I will put your names on the card, if you want to chat anytime email me your number at greyweazle@sky.com and I will call cheers Graham.
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Post by Carol Barnes on May 28, 2018 20:22:39 GMT
Well with regard to the club Alan, we started it because of the enormous love we found for the series after Gary put his private website up. We were amazed at the come back from our initial start. People wanted to reminisce about not only a programme they loved, but also the era and the memories of watching it as a child. The magic was so great that the willingness to join the club and participate was wonderful.
That essentially hasn't changed for me. Meeting lovely people who have the same love for the series and especially the cast and Kip of course and seeing them annually is so lovely - it's like a meeting of your extended family on a regular basis. Hearing from people tat know snippets about the filming and locations etc. is also a big bonus. It is always very interesting and we have had some great people come along and bring some fascinating items for us to see. We even had the photographers sports car there one year.
After 15 years it still gives me a buzz. I hope that others do too. Catweazle will always be magic for me, and chatting and meeting other fans in the locations is a huge, beneficial, and pleasant thing to do.
I think our club is particularly special, we have to do everything ourselves, we have no financial back up, we have no merchandise to speak of from that time (Geoffrey's agent thought it rather vulgar at that I believe!!!) so we have to produce it ourselves. We only have two series to work on - 26 episodes - although one was much more popular than the other, which is nearly 50 years old!!! so to still be going after nearly 17 years and still attracting members is amazing and it is down to 3 things - A totally wonderful and magical series, dedicated members - especially ones like David that work their magic for our benefit) and a willingness for our members to join in. We would of course like many more to participate and make it even more special and even more important - communicate their ideas and suggestions and thoughts. This forum is the perfect place to have a natter.
Graham I would love for you to add my name to the card, I may well visit Geoffrey before then, but the card sounds lovely. Thank you.
Geoffrey is never far from my mind and going through pictures of when Kip, Robin, Elspet and Moray joined us each year is both sad and uplifting at the same time. What truly lovely people they all were. Now they have left us in body, they have not left us in spirit. I truly believe they are still around us especially at the Catweazle weekends because they loved being there with us and THAT my friends is something money can't buy.
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phelings
Catweazle's Apprentice
Posts: 41
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Post by phelings on May 28, 2018 21:26:53 GMT
I've been a member of quite a few clubs over the years including Six of One , Fanderson, Randall and Hopkirk etc but I've yet to attend any gatherings because I'm still too embarrassed to attend what were once seen as almost comical events. Those of us old enough to remember seeing Catweazle when it was on in 1970 will undoubtedly have followed the changing attitudes to what much of us have loved for decades. I don't mean Catweazle specifically but it was the time travel element that interested me even at age 7. So obviously I was also into Dr Who, Star Trek etc and within a couple of years was buying Marvel Comics and trying to keep tabs on anything sci fi/ fantasy related because at the time it was a rare thing to see on tv and it was always treated without respect. The closest we got to mainstream acceptability back then were shows like The Six Million Dollar Man - hardly the last word in fantasy. As a young teen I was ridiculed for enjoying Spiderman but fortunately I had enough friends who also liked it that the jokers never managed to bother me. I recall getting on the school bus on weekday mornings around 1975 not long after the animated Spidey show arrived in Anglia Land to the throngs of the catchy theme song being sung by the jokers who thought it would embarass me. It didn't work but it did kind of sum up the general attitude people had if you showed an interest in that type of material. I recall a trip to Forbidden Planet in 1977 for my birthday and my mums absolute amazement that apart from me all the browsers in the shop were adults. She really couldn't believe it. The arrival of Star Wars shortly afterwards helped things along but we were still geeks and /or nerds. Mainstream acceptance of my interests started with C4 when they aired The Avengers and then The Prisoner. Over the next 10 years home video showed the "suits" that what they thought was for geeks only was in fact of interest to many more than they thought. As our generation started to get jobs in the industries that mattered they were able to use that knowledge to get things on tv or out on video because they knew it would sell. And of course it was during this time that Catweazle appeared on home video. Despite several screenings in London but AFAIK nowhere else in the country (until Granada+) the show was still remembered. But ask a tv exec to repeat it in your region and you'd be laughed out the building. As the shows we loved started to re-appear new audiences found we were right all the time. More commentators were prepared to step forward and join in the congrats rather than ignore them as they always had done. Improving special effects technology was very important as it finally meant that the geeky nerdy ideas we had always enjoyed could now be presented to the masses without embarrassing special effects and over the next decade or so our geek tastes not only went mainstream they went to the top of the list with numerous fantasy movies and tv shows - the like of which we'd never seen before.
Of course during that slow build up the geeks and nerds had already been attending conventions devoted to their favourite shows for many years. Dr Who, Star Trek, Fanderson etc. Prior to home video I could see fans enjoying the opportunity to watch episodes. But I felt it would be embarrassing to be involved in "workshops", etc. Even chatting to the stars seemed a step too far. I always remembered Shatners "get a life" comment which seemed to be quite apt advice for those who took part and often makes me wonder how many of the "stars" are there for the fee and the autograph income but inside think we're a bunch of losers. Despite knowing I would have enjoyed chatting to the stars, asking questions etc there was that niggling memory of the nerd/geek treatment back in the day along with my own gut reaction when seeing videos from some of the events. I saw a video from a Fanderson workshop and while the content would have been of interest it looked like my upper school classroom with a dozen or so people being lectured about esoteric trivia and minutiae. Similarly with events like fairs where I've been a seller on several occasions I always feel the mum and daughter in full Star Trek Bajoran costumes browsing stalls was a step too far. It would most definitely have been such a pleasure to have met Geoffrey Bayldon and Robin Davies to let them know how much I loved their work on several shows but the nerd in me still thinks as if it was 1975 and I can't get past it.
Sadly I've missed the chance now to meet the casts of several great shows but they remain here via their home video presence. As I've not attended these types of things its what makes the reunions on releases like Catweazle, The Champions, The Persuaders, Randall etc so enjoyable.
Hope I've not added too much negativity to the thread. Needless to say I wish everyone many happy hours who attends events and not just Catweazle ones.
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Post by Carol Barnes on May 29, 2018 13:40:28 GMT
I just feel sad that you have missed out when you had no need to. I have had people look at me at work and say "who's that?" and point to a picture of Catweazle on my desk. I then tell them who and what he is. They look as if I am a loon! Then I explain the concept and some of the stories. Do you know what, they usually say "oh that sounds great fun, I must go on to you tube and watch it when I get home!!!"
There are hundreds of so called "nerds" or "geeks" about, but you know what - that is what the reason the world goes round. These people who have such and interest and are seemingly "anoraks" are the ones people go to for information and historical facts. Also on many occasions when you start listening to these people they are pretty interesting and it makes you think "golly, it's quite good that this people are so into these things otherwise we would lose the facts etc."
The difference with Catweazle was it was such fun, his antics, his expressions, his comprehension of things. Also the fact that sometimes he was the child and Carrot was the adult and then sometimes Catweazle pulled something off that made him a true wizard. The secret pact between the brothers where we kids were party to it too, the wonderful "den" that we all craved we could visit and live in!! It all made such an impact on us. It etched itself in our memory and evoked a moment in time that we are able to revisit. I also hope that the club and Catweazle gatherings bring that back and perhaps can produce more memories that we can create with Catweazle at their heart.
As a last remark, if you can get there -PLEASE come along on the 16th June, you will be welcomed not embarrassed I can assure you of that.
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Post by greyweazle1066 on May 29, 2018 15:36:06 GMT
We maybe looked upon as nerds or geeks by many, but just look Carol at all the wonderful actors and actresses that complemented Catweazle. Hattie Jacques Brian Wilde Bill Owen Neil McCarthy Moray Watson Peter Butterworth Elspet Gray Robin Davies I could go on Brilliant well written, and executed Catweazle is by far the best childrens program of it's time.
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Post by Alan Hayes on May 29, 2018 17:39:39 GMT
I always think that interests are good things to have. It's just others who decide whether those interests are 'cool' or 'nerdy', but in reality being a fan of a TV series is no different from following a football club - only fortunately you don't hear about Catweazle Fan Violence or Riots... So, what's the better interest, eh? A positive one fuelled by the imagination or a tribal one fuelled by the desire to get one over on others?
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Post by Carol Barnes on May 29, 2018 21:06:14 GMT
Absolutely Alan, and anyway when you see and feel something that makes you feel warm and happy why not celebrate it! I am a very nostalgic person and I am one of the lucky people that had a wonderful childhood of which Catweazle was a part of and I love reminiscing and being able to feel and discuss it all over again. I have met some lovely people in the process and have had a great and fun time with them so Catweazle has been doubly great for me!
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phelings
Catweazle's Apprentice
Posts: 41
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Post by phelings on May 29, 2018 22:45:56 GMT
My post was really just to explain why I never attend events. Catweazle was a bit different to the usual "nerdy/geeky" shows even when it was first shown so I don't think it fits into the same bracket as things like Dr Who and Star Trek. Catweazle was a show that the general public "got" even in 1970 but it still took nearly 30 years to re-appear on tv for most of the country.
As a side note - is anyone aware of any Catweazle repeats on other regions bar LWT? Or is it as I remember it and outside London you got the one screening and that was it?
A few months after series 2 ended LWT began series 1 again at 5.10 on saturday July 10th 1971. By the end of July no other region seems to be showing it. It doesn't look like LWT aired the repeat in an unbroken run though as its replaced by UFO later
Series 2 repeats starts Sunday May 21st 1972 at 4.10. Another interrupted run it gets switched to 12.45 and eventually ends at the start of September
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Post by greyweazle1066 on Jun 5, 2018 22:47:45 GMT
Thank you to those who have replied to my post re putting a card and flowers on Geoffreys grave, anyone who wishes to have their name added please add to this post before next week, Sue and myself are making a visit as we are in the area, this Is a fitting tribute to Catweazle and of course Geoffrey who has left us the magic, God Bless you Geoffrey.
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Post by buzzquoth on Jun 7, 2018 10:59:31 GMT
A lovely gesture Graham, please can you add jacqui & me to the card. Thank you!
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Post by greyweazle1066 on Jun 7, 2018 15:24:17 GMT
Consider it done, hopefully pop it in some laminate to preserve the card, thanks for getting back.
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Post by greyweazle1066 on Jun 11, 2018 9:52:47 GMT
Hi everyone this is the list of names I have so far who have replied, if you wish to have your name added then please reply before this Thursday. Carol Sue Mike Julia Alan Alys Andrew Jacqui Russell Doug from Devon Jeff Whitlam Wendy Craig Jeff Alice David Wiseman Liz Ian Baker Alan Wojak Julie and the girls.
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Post by greyweazle1066 on Jun 11, 2018 9:53:28 GMT
And me of course.
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