Comedy Map of England

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You’re having a laugh – visit the nation’s comedy towns
By Chris Hastings and Stephanie Plentl
22/06/2008

What with the weather and the prices, a holiday in Britain is often no laughing matter, so it may raise a smile to discover that tourists are being enticed here with an appeal to the funny bone. The first comedy map of England will direct visitors from home and abroad to landmarks connected with the nation’s best comedy talent and its favourite shows.

Some, such as Torquay, the setting for Fawlty Towers, or Holmfirth in West Yorkshire, home to Last of the Summer Wine, already feature on the tourist trail. Others, such as Slough, the setting for The Office, have never before found their way on to the visitors’ map. Idyllic settings such as the tiny Buckinghamshire village of Turville, where the Vicar of Dibley was filmed, and the village of Pluckley in Kent, the setting for the Darling Buds of May, have previously been little known outside the world of location scouts.

The map also includes individual properties with strong comedy connections, such as the Cricket St Thomas estate, which featured in To The Manor Born, and former Warners Holiday camp in Dovercourt, Essex, made famous in Hi di Hi. It also identifies statues and plaques honouring famous comedians such as Eric Morecambe, Tony Hancock, Terry Thomas, Charlie Chaplin, Stan Laurel and Willie Rushton. Even Benny Hill’s grave in Hollybrook cemetery in Shirley, Southampton, gets a mention.

Laurence Bresh, of Visit Britain, said: "England is renowned for producing some of the very best comedy in the world and our sense of humour is a trait that the English are famous for. Comedy is an integral part of our heritage and culture and the Comedy England campaign will encourage visitors to explore some of the regions, locations and attractions which have contributed to this, and further increase the 100 million trips that Britons take in their own country every year."

Alongside the map is a comedy calendar, which includes the World Gurning Championship in Egrement, Cumbria; the World’s Biggest Liar competition, in nearby Holmrook, and the Bognor International Birdman contest, which this year takes place in Worthing.

Britain’s comedy films are also celebrated. The map features the vilage of Monkton Combe which was the setting for the 1953 film The Titfield Thunderbolt; the Boatman Inn which appeared in Four Weddings and a Funeral, and the Cumbrian holiday cottage of Uncle Monty in Withnail and I. Even the Lancashire town of Colne, where the Monty Python team shot the musical number Every Sperm is Sacred, is included.

Some areas have already seen visitor numbers increase due to an association with a comedy programme. The Norfolk town of Thetford, where Dad’s Army was shot, has capitalised on the show’s popularity with guided walking tours and a recently opened museum dedicated to the series. "Some sites are completely unchanged," said David Brooks, from Thetford’s tourist office. "The town has worked hard to preserve the area for enthusiasts, so that it really brings the show to life for them."

Not everyone, however, is convinced of the merits of the Comedy England project. Andrew Davies, the Bafta-winning dramatist who wrote the Bridget Jones films, said: "It sounds a bit desperate. I can’t imagine myself going on a comedy locations pilgrimage. Because I wrote Pride and Prejudice, people are always asking me where it was shot, but I haven’t got a clue." He added: “If people are going to say to their kids, we’re not going to Disneyland this year, we’re going to the birthplace of Charlie Chaplin, I think they’re going to be disappointed.

Comedian Griff Rhys Jones commented: “You don’t need to go to Torquay to get the Fawlty Towers experience. You can find the same standard of service in hotels across the country.”

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This Andrew Davies is a prize pillock! I remember seeing a blog a few years back where Alan Partridge fans had tracked down the house in the series that was owned by his 'Biggest fan'. It was funny to see that people were actually that bothered... and shows that there is a definite desire for it.

[11antoniacourt]

I love this stuff. The list contains some interesting places. Having problems with the link though.

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nice one antonia - the link wasn't working for me until I just looked... here's a follow-up.

This place is a joke
This week Enjoy England launched a map, highlighting famous comedy venues and attractions around the country. We decided to create our own, with the help of some famous names
Harry Deansway
The Guardian,
Saturday June 28, 2008

Craig Hill
I've performed at the Edinburgh Festival for 10 years. I get shouted at a lot: "what's under your kilt?" I always say "your future!" The festival's great but the funniest thing that happened to me was on a crowded bus. This poor woman got on who, I assume, must have got ready in a rush and grabbed her coat off the washing line because she sat in front of me with two huge wooden pegs on each shoulder. The whole bus was in hysterics but no one told her why, because then it wouldn't have been funny anymore. The temptation to go up and say "Hello Peggy!" was huge.

· Craig Hill is performing at Newbury Corn Exchange (www.cornexchangenew.com) July 11, and at the Gilded Balloon for the Edinburgh Festival July 31-August 25 (www.gildedballoon.co.uk).

Lucy Porter
There used to be a brilliant comedy gig in Derry at the Delacroix Inn. One of the best things about it was the weird B&B they put the comics in. It wasn't so much the sticky carpets and strange smells that bothered you, but on my first visit the landlord came bursting into my room at three in the morning bellowing "Where is he?" He then proceeded to search my room for signs of illicit sexual activity, while I cowered alone under the covers.

· The Bare Necessities will show at the Edinburgh Fringe, July 30-August 25. (edfringe.com).

Pappy's Fun Club
The landlady at the Admiral Owen Pub in Sandwich, Kent, always insisted that Spike Milligan spent his honeymoon night here. We know this because it's where we began performing comedy and before each gig she'd make an announcement to ensure the audience was aware of her pub's comedy heritage. The mere mention of Milligan's name raised expectations that we couldn't possibly fulfil. The week he died she insisted we show a video of his brilliant, groundbreaking Q series before we novices took to the stage. The locals wasted no time in pointing out the clear difference in quality.

· Pappy's Fun Club host a sketch night every last Monday of the month at the Wilmington Arms in Clerkenwell, London.

Barry Cryer
My weirdest gig was at a business fair outside Harrogate. The guy who booked me said "you are on at 9.45." I thought that's OK but it was 9.45am. Anyway I told him he was mad doing comedy at that time. "No we do it every year and they love it," he said. So I turn up in this massive marquee where there is a video link with Hull set up.

It turned out that I was going to be sharing the bill with George Bush senior. I didn't stick around to see how he got on but I'm sure I was much better value for money.

· See Barry Cryer at the Chichester Festivities (chifest.org.uk) on July 5.

Wil Hodgson
I remember going to the Paignton Palace theatre in about 1984 to see the Krankies supported by Stu "I could crush a grape" Francis. There was also some cat in a spangly suit singing Bond themes accompanied by Legs & Co-style dancers. It was one of the greatest shows I've ever seen and I'm not being ironic or flippant. A proper seaside showbiz extravaganza. Acts like the Krankies, Russ Abbot and Jimmy Cricket mean far more to me than Bill Hicks or Alexei Sayle. The irony is that if the Krankies were to see my act they'd probably think it was utter rot as I just bang on about Care Bears mostly.

· Wil Hodgson plays the N20 Comedy Festival at the Battersea Arts Centre, London (bac.org.uk) on July 19.

Marcus Brigstocke
At a gig in Birmingham I once had a leg thrown at me. This man with a prosthetic limb was so angry with me that he undid his leg and threw it at me. There was no real comeback to that, apart from some shameless leg puns.

· Marcus Brigstocke's DVD, Planet Corduroy, is available now.

Graham Fellows aka John Shuttleworth
I used to stay at the Columbia Hotel (columbiahotel.co.uk) in Lancaster Gate, London, when I was on tour. Made famous by Oasis, who allegedly trashed the fourth floor on a regular basis, the bar always seemed to be closed (even at 8pm) and could only be opened by bribing the grumpy night porter. Breakfasts here were a similarly bewildering affair. An elderly waitress called Joan would turf you out of the seat you'd been shown to by someone else, and secrete you in a dark corner before abandoning you. But I quite liked that, and the miniscule full English that eventually arrived.

· John Shuttleworth is currently starring in his self-produced documentary It's Nice Up North available from shuttleworths.co.uk.

Richard Herring
The Derwent Pencil Museum (pencils.co.uk) in Keswick boasts that it's "the only attraction in the world devoted exclusively to the rich and fascinating history of the pencil". They don't seem to consider that there might be a reason for this. Because no one else thinks the pencil is worth celebrating. But everyone else is an idiot. Why not celebrate the pencil?

They manage to pack a lot in to the small shed that houses the attraction, a recreation of a graphite mine (which is actually less interesting than you are imagining), a room full of pencils which have changed only very slightly since they were first invented by John Ladyman (even his name is funny) and a screening room showing The Snowman which was drawn with pencils. Plus they have the second biggest pencil in the world. Not even the biggest. It's brilliant. I've been twice.

· Richard Herring is performing The Headmaster's Son at White Belly at 7.30pm throughout the Edinburgh Fringe (edfringe.com).

Andy Zaltzman
Swansea seafront is one of the human and natural worlds' most underrated joint achievements - the perfect marriage of majestic coastline and budget accommodation. There is no joke in the history of comedy that could not feasibly have been written on Swansea seafront. From the point of view of a middle-class, English stand-up there is no finer way to recover mental equilibrium after receiving the merited scorn of the audience, than by marching out of a one-frill-at-most B&B, onto the windswept arc of Swansea bay, gazing across the ambivalent waves, and acknowledging to yourself that you deserved that cocktail of silence and derision - safe in the knowledge that your wallet is only £15 worse off.

Catch Andy Zaltzman at the Edinburgh Fringe performing at The Stand, daily, at 2.40pm, and hosting Political Animal at The Underbelly, Wednesday to Sunday, 10.30pm. See thestand.co.uk and whatareyoulaughingat.co.uk for details.

Ian Moore
I once visited Torquay Aquarium, killing time before a gig. It was a depressing little place, and I was the only visitor. The fish on display all looked ill except for the catfish which was quite clearly dead. I pointed this out to the attendant, who argued that it was merely resting and that this was a trait of this catfish species.

"I'm a Monty Python fan as well," I said. We don't have pythons, she replied, only fish.

· Ian Moore is performing at Up The Creek in Greenwich, London, on July 4 (up-the-creek.com).

· Explore the English tourist board's comedy map at www.enjoyengland.com/comedy

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Withnail's farmhouse up for sale
Own a bit of comedy history

The remote Lake District farmhouse featured in the classic comedy film Withnail And I is to be sold. Sleddale Hall in the wilds of Cumbria is to go under the hammer next month, with a starting price of £145,000.

In the 1986 movie, it was Uncle Monty's Cottage – the bleakly remote bolthole where Richard E Grant and Paul McGann’s out-of-work actor characters spend a miserable weekend.

Many of the features used during filming still remain in the building, which dates from around 1802. Edward Holt, senior land agent of United Unilities, which currently owns the property, said: ‘Sleddale Hall is in one of the quietest parts of the Lake District. I hope it is bought by someone who can restore it. It would make a lovely family home.’

The cottage, which is being sold on February 16, is almost two miles from the nearest public road and is accessible only via a dirt track.

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Withnail & I farmhouse in the 1950s

More than two decades before it featured in the film Withnail & I, Sleddale Hall was home to the Harrison family. "My father farmed the valley but when the damn was built to make the reservoir we moved away," says Margaret Kuchczynski (Harrison). That was in 1965 - no one has lived there since.

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If I had the money I'd buy a place like that - one day!