Follyfoot

buffaloskinner · Post by **buffaloskinner** » Sat 05 Jan, 2008 12:08 am

For anyone thats as old or even older than me, this will surely bring back memories. Filmed in Harewood estate and at Wetherby during 1971 -1973.http://follyfoot-tv.co.uk/

buffaloskinner · Post by **buffaloskinner** » Sat 05 Jan, 2008 12:10 am

Series 1 DVDhttp://follyfoot-tv.co.uk/

grumpytramp · Post by **grumpytramp** » Sat 05 Jan, 2008 12:49 am

buffaloskinner wrote: For anyone thats as old or even older than me, this will surely bring back memories. Filmed in Harewood estate and at Wetherby during 1971 -1973.http://follyfoot-tv.co.uk/ Nothing more sticks in my memory than the lightening tree in the opening sequences and of course the lyrics to the title dity:Down in the meadow where the wind blows free, in the middle of a field stands a lightning tree.It's limbs all torn from the day it was born for the tree was born in a thunderstorm.CHORUSGrow, grow, the lightning tree, it's never too late for you and me;Grow, grow, the lightning tree, never give in too easily.Down in the meadow where the wind blows light, the lightning struck in the middle of the night.Limbs stripped bare by the lightning flare the lightning flare was a wild affair.CHORUSDown in the meadow where the wind blows cold, the lightning tree stands stiff and old.Branches bent when the lightning rent the lightning rent from the firmament.CHORUSDown in the meadow with the wind in the west, the lightning tree faced up to the test.Its heart went snap when it took the rap, the terrible rap of the thunder clap.CHORUS Down in the meadow when the wind blows free, a whispering breeze in the lightning tree.Dreams come true if you want them to if you want them to, then it's up to you.CHORUS x2The rest was horsey soap nonesence beloved by my sister which I cannot recall ........ but I am embarassed to admit that there must have been some female jodhpur action to stimulate my teenage attention to almost every episodes!

wiggy · Post by **wiggy** » Sat 05 Jan, 2008 2:51 am

see it on you tube in it's entirety,we lived,during the summer monthes at a place just outside knaresborough and we often walked up to follyfoot....yes it is a real place and so was......is....the farm

wiggy · Post by **wiggy** » Sat 05 Jan, 2008 2:53 am

buffaloskinner wrote: For anyone thats as old or even older than me, this will surely bring back memories. Filmed in Harewood estate and at Wetherby during 1971 -1973.http://follyfoot-tv.co.uk/ filmed mainly at follyfoot....harrogate/knaresborough

buffaloskinner · Post by **buffaloskinner** » Sun 06 Jan, 2008 12:02 am

Hi Wiggy seems you are getting mixed up with Follyfoot the TV Farm at Harewood and Follifoot the village at Harrogate.Filming also took place in Wetherby and around the Armley and Burley areas of LeedsHOLLIN HALL …. Just off the A61 Harrogate Road on the right about 1 mile before Harewood House entrance (now a private residence).When Yorkshire Television first decided to make the series Follyfoot, they knew exactly what they had in mind for a location. The problem was finding the right place... The TV scriptwriters had an idea of Follyfoot Farm in their minds, which was complete right down to the last brick and stone. So it was a pretty tall order trying to find a place which exactly matched up to requirements.It was Jane Royston, who looks after the horses seen in the TV series, who finally found what was soon to be `Follyfoot Farm' - and it was quite by chance that she happened upon it. Jane was out riding in the beautiful countryside which lies between Leeds and Harrogate, when she suddenly came across a group of old buildings, on the Earl of Harewood's estate. Jane knew that the site was potentially perfect for the series. Yorkshire Television agreed with Jane as soon as they saw it, and an army of workmen moved in right away, to set about the enormous task of renovation.THE WORK BEGAN ... Stonemasons arrived, as well as carpenters, landscapers, painters ... workmen of all kinds. Everything was completely remade, nothing was improvised, or just made to look realistic. Everything at Follyfoot Farm is build in the stone and brick which were used to make the original farm buildings many years ago. Apart from the fact that the actors wanted everything in the series to be quite authentic, there was another reason for rebuilding so thoroughly. If polystyrene and plastic had been used they would never have stood up to the strong winds which blow over that area of the Yorkshire moors. When the workmen had finished. Follyfoot Farm stood before them, perfect in every detail. It had come to life again, just as the stories of Follyfoot come to life on the television screen. Some of the buildings were made completely habitable, to house Jane Royston and her assistants who live at the site during the months of filming to look after the horses. The horses have comfortable quarters too, in extensively renovated stables with all mod cons. And what you never realise as a viewer of the series is that one of the barns is in fact a canteen and dining hall for the actors and production staff.An essential part of the Follyfoot set is, of course, the Lightning Tree, and Yorkshire Television had to look around for an old, dead tree, and replant it in the yard of the farm. Well, sure enough, the tree they chose certainly looked as though it might have been struck by lightning, when it was first uprooted and planted again at Follyfoot. But after a few weeks the production team noticed that somethingrather strange had happened to their old, `dead' tree.... The Lightning Tree had come to life! First, tiny green buds began to appear on the branches, and soon they burst out into leaves. Rather than uproot this remarkable tree again, and look around for another Lightning Tree, they let it continue to grow. So now, every time the Lightning Tree is due to appear in a camera shot, someone has to go out and cut away all the green leaves!That's one story of Follyfoot Farm the cameras have never told!The attraction to the programme was Dora for the boys and Steve for the girls, oh and some horses of course …..

buffaloskinner · Post by **buffaloskinner** » Sun 06 Jan, 2008 12:10 am

Location .... Location .... Location

wiggy · Post by **wiggy** » Mon 07 Jan, 2008 9:23 pm

the years pass,the vision dims...ah the ravages of time!!!

Troll · Post by **Troll** » Tue 05 Feb, 2008 8:51 pm

Hi, I remember the programme well. I even took part in a competition to design the record sleeve. Didn't win but got a runners up prize, can't remember what though.I did like that Dora and her horse.

Trojan · Post by **Trojan** » Tue 05 Feb, 2008 10:41 pm

I don't remember much about Follyfoot but I do remember another early Yorkshire TV kids' programme -"Tom Grattan's War" which was about WWI. The reason I remember it was because it featured a "tank" and this "tank" was actually a Cat D6C with khaki painted wood panels on it made to look like a tank - the machine belonged to Levertons at Gildersome (Cat dealers) and the panelling was put on there. Levertons at the time were one of the largest privately owed companies in the country (second only to Pilkingtons I heard it said) and the Chairman - Mr Geoffrey Myers was a major shareholder in YTV.