Now and Forever

The story opens in fictional Mellingham. The view from St. James' church in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire with High Street crossing the scene.

More shots of the sunny market town in the heart of England are seen. High Street in Chipping Campden with the still trading Bantam Tearooms to the right and the Market Hall on the left.

Jon Wennington revisited the Cotswold town.

The entrance to the school that Janette Grant attends stands on the opposite side of the road to Mellingham Motors. Edward Goolnik identifies this as outside Mill Hill Public School on The Ridgeway in Mill Hill NW7 adding that he was there as a pupil at the time and met Janette Scott during filming.

Denis Hoare visited the entrance to find that it appears not to have been used for many years and is now in a sad state of repair. His patience for passing pedestrians and a cyclist was not rewarded. (RL)

At Mellingham Motors, the phone rings before proprietor Mr. J. Pritchard (Jack Warner) answers a call from Mrs. Grant who orders a car to take her daughter to the school concert. This has the appearance of a studio set.

After the car taking her daughter to school departs, Mrs. Grant sets off for the golf club.

When she orders that the car takes her back home, Mike Pritchard persuades the upset Janette to sing in the concert. This is Irton Hall near Holmrook in Cumberland located by Ian Dunkin.

Janette Grant (Janette Scott) and Mike Pritchard (Vernon Gray) spend time by the river.

As the two return from the theatre one evening, Mike's car, 'The Rocket', stalls while passing through a ford. The ford takes the River Lea over Waterend Lane at Waterend to the east of Wheathampstead in Hertfordshire. The ford also appears in 'Isn't Life Wonderful'.

It was behaving itself the day I went. (SR)

Dawn breaks and Mike gets the Austin Seven Sport running again before driving Janette home. Waterend Lane with the barn of Waterend Farm in the left background.

Mike stops at the end of Janette's drive before carrying her to the house where Mrs.Grant finds him in her daughter's bedroom.

The disapproving Mrs. Grant drives her daughter into town. High Street, Chipping Campden with St. James' Church in the left distance.

Jon Wennington found that the tree has gained a little weight.

When she stops the car outside the Post Office, Mrs. Grant tells Janette that she is sending her to stay with her Aunt Dorothy in Toronto. Looking through the Market Hall on High Street, Chipping Campden.

Looking through the same arches by Jon Wennington.

While her mother is sending a cable to Canada, Janette gets out of the car. High Street, Chipping Campden in Gloucestershire.

Jon Wennington found the location relatively unchanged.

A Morris Oxford comes to a screeching halt as Janette runs across the road in front. High Street in Chipping Campden with the Market Hall to the left and the tower of St. James’ church in the distance.

More parked cars for Jon Wennington to work around.

The distraught young girl continues to run. Victoria Street in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire.

Janette heads for Pritchard's garage to find Mike. Alongside the River Windrush in Bourton-on-the-Water with the War Memorial in the left background and High Street on the right.

Peter Barella found just a few more people about when he visited.

When Mike's father tells her that he's out on a job, Janette continues on to school where she climbs the clock tower. The Clock Tower at Irton Hall in Cumberland identified by Ian Dunkin.

With her mother determined to stop the relationship, Janette elopes with Mike just as Hector is leaving after spending the evening with Mrs. Grant.

The lovers drive through the night. Facing south-west on High Street in Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire with the Lygon Hotel to the left.

Jon Wennington found that the hotel has encroached onto the road.

Having slept in the Rocket after travelling 107 miles, the couple wake up on the following morning.

En route to Scotland where they plan to get married, Mike and Janette take a break for breakfast. Outside the Redesdale Arms on High Street in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire with the Grade II listed Redesdale Hall, or Town Hall, to the right.

The scene now by Philip Rattan showing the columns at the entrance to the Redesdale Arms but to the right, Redesdale Hall is unfortunately surrounded by temporary shuttering.

The two pause to look at engagement rings and ask the Jeweller (Henry Hewitt) for prices before being invited inside his shop. High Street in Moreton-in-Marsh confirmed by Philip Rattan.

Capturing the same location, Philip's shot includes the same wooden window frame of the building currently occupied by Ian Tait Opticians. However, the window behind has now been replaced by a bow window.

After buying a ring they can afford, Mike and Janette continue on their way. High Street, Moreton-in-Marsh with Redesdale Hall in the top left background.

Philip Rattan's view shows that the buildings on the far side of the road appear largely unaltered, but with the grass has since been replaced by tarmac.

As the couple's description is circulated to police patrol cars, Mike pulls off the road for petrol.

The Pump Attendant (Hal Osmond) approaches the roadster as it comes to a halt.

While the Rocket's fuel is topped up, across the road a police car stops an identical Austin Seven.

When the roadster brakes down, Mike and Janette push it to the top of a hill where they admire the view. Andrew Francis advises that the view is of Tarn Hows, about one mile off the B5285 Hawkshead to Coniston road, then in Lancashire.

The Rocket coasts towards a garage. Waterhead to the south of Ambleside in Westmorland. It appears that Esso got in first for product placement.

Keith Prested found that the former garage buildings have been cleared to make way for a new lakeside marina development.

Mike brings the roadster to a halt as the Mechanic (Toke Townley) is locking up for the day. This is the garage at Waterhead alongside Lake Windermere. The buildings survived for many years although the pumps did not . . . .

. . . but on his visit, Keith Prested discovered that the buildings have been demolished along with the tree.

Leaving the car for repairs at the garage, Mike and Janette look for a room for the night. Lake Road in Waterhead, Westmorland with Lake Windermere in the background.

Ambleside Pier stands in the background of Keith Prested's shot.

With the Rocket back in working order, the lovers head north. Looking north towards Ambleside on the A591 in Waterhead, now in Cumbria.

Keith Prested stood looking towards Ambleside . . . in the rain.

Mike and Janette take the film's B147 road.

In Mellingham, Mrs. Grant (Pamela Brown) visits the Police Station where she and Mr. Pritchard are told that their offspring are making for Scotland.

A police car follows the eloping couple's route.

Hills are climbed as the police pursue Mike and Janette northward. Andrew Francis tells us that the chase occurs on the unclassified road that runs roughly south-west from Howtown, near Pooley Bridge, on the shore of Ullswater.

The police are held up momentarily by a heard of sheep. The unclassified road running from Howtown, located by Andrew Francis.

When the Rocket breaks down again, Mike comes up with a plan. Identified by Andrew Francis, this is the unclassified road that runs south-west from the hamlet of Howtown in Westmorland.

Mrs. Grant and Mr. Pritchard examine the wreckage of Mike's Austin Seven. Dot C. remembers filming taking place during 1956 near where she lived in Cumberland's Duddon Valley and recalls "My Mam was an extra but we had to go to school and were not allowed to watch." Dot still has a photo of the shoot where the car of the eloping couple was pushed into the river which can be seen at the bottom of this page.

When they realise that all of their money was in the Rocket, Janette's engagement ring is pawned. Looking on to High Street from Waxhouse Gate in St. Albans, Hertfordshire with the Clock Tower at the southern end of French Row in the right background. French Row also appears in ‘Hand in Hand’ and ‘The Magic Box’.

Waxhouse Gate with entertainment and food stalls for the crowds beneath the Clock Tower. (PW)

The couple reach a railway station and Mike walks onto the platform. Coniston railway station on Station Road in Coniston, Lancashire identified by Robert Shrives.

Keith Prested's comparison shows that nothing remains of Coniston station, with the site now occupied by a collection of light industrial buildings and parking spaces.

Mike stands behind a luggage trolley. The ‘down’ side platform at Coniston station with High Dixon Ground in the right distance.

Keith Prested found that the buildings at Dixon Ground are now obscured by trees.

Janette watches from nearby before approaching the station.

A police car stops and Mike sees Mrs. Grant get out to speak with the Station Master. The station at Coniston opened in 1859 and was the terminus of the branch line from Foxfield to the north of Kirkby-in-Furness.

Taking this shot facing south, Keith Prested tells us that the first part of the former railway route is now a footpath.

Janette walks towards the station as Mike jumps the fence to intercept her. Looking across the goods yard at Coniston station. The slate office in the background is still extant.

Keith Prested's view shows that the building which was once occupied by Mandalls Slate Co. Ltd, is now derelict.

The two climb into the back of a truck carrying pigs and are driven away. Coniston station goods yard with the station’s north end signal box in the right background. The station and line closed to passengers in 1958 and to goods traffic in 1962.

As expected, Keith Prested found that there are a few more cars these days.

Farmer Gilbert (Charles Victor) and his wife Aggie (Marjorie Rhodes) discover that the runaways have spent the night in their stable. This is Thwaite, formerly Low House Farm, Troutbeck, Westmorland, a 16th Century Grade II listed farmhouse. It was restored using traditional methods and craftsmen in the late 1980s. (SR)

Mike and Janette leave the farm and continue towards the border where their parents are waiting with the police.

The charming illusion created by the flickering image vanishes in a blink when the film’s depiction of the ancient border between England and Scotland appears. By referencing the background mountains, Andrew Francis identifies this as the Grade II listed Birks Bridge south of Cockley Beck on the River Duddon to the north of Seathwaite, just off the unclassified road that runs through the Duddon Valley on the border between Lancashire and Cumberland. Andrew adds that the bridge is under a quarter of a mile south of Birks car park and understands that the original lane, or lonning, which is now just a faint grassy path, once led to the farms of Birks and Grassguards.

This one frame postscript features the photograph that Dot C. mentioned earlier and shows filming taking place for the scene in which the car ends up in the River Duddon at Birks Bridge near Hardknott Pass. Dot explains that the photo was actually taken in Lancashire as the Duddon was the boundary between Ulpha, Cumberland and Seathwaite, Lancashire. Hardnott, where the car left the road, is north of the river in Cumberland.