Isn’t Life Wonderful!

Charles (Peter Asher) tells us his favourite game is watching the grown ups.

“This is where we live - Father, Mother, me and the Servants”. Mackerye End, Harpenden in Hertfordshire.

Spring has sprung at Mackerye End. A view from this angle yields a field of daffodils. (SR)

Uncle Willie has gone missing. Charles thinks he knows where to find him. The Crown Inn, Farnham Royal in Buckinghamshire.

The Crown Inn is still flourishing, as is its foliage. (SR)

Uncle Willie (Donald Wolfit) stops off for “one little snifter” at The Crown on his way home. The Crown Inn at Farnham Royal which also appears in 'Bless This House'.

No horse and carriage outside today. (SR)

At his house, the relatives gather for a family meeting to discuss Uncle Willie. The same house appears in 'A Lady Mislaid'.

Members of the family greet each other outside Uncle Willie’s house.

At the pub, Uncle Willie is excited when little Charles suggests the family is to arrange capital for him. The Crown Inn, Farnham Royal.

Antony Blair took this wider shot of the same location with the wall seen to the right now inside the building.

The house is being prepared for the arrival of Uncle Frank’s intended, Virginia van Stuyden. The garden of Mackerye End, Harpenden, Hertfordshire.

Uncle Willie arrives at the house to discuss his future.

He gives a wave to Charles as he enters. The front door of Mackerye End House.

Charles has sneaked to the station to see Uncle Frank arrive, and hides in the buggy behind them. Geoff Dodd finds Charles and the buggy approaching 'St. Michael's', Wildhill Road, Hatfield opposite the junction with Woodside Lane. (RL)

A muddy Woodside Lane today. (SR)

Uncle Frank and entourage arrive at the Hall, where they have decided to stay. This is the South Lodge of the Panshanger Estate, situated where the Old Coach Road passes through Cole Green in Hertfordshire. (SR)

The lodge and gate piers remain intact even though the main house was demolished in 1954. (SR)

A closer view of the gates at the Hall. These adjoin the South Lodge, Panshanger Estate. (SR)

Today, with a bright red gate. (SR)

Charles runs to see Uncle Willie’s bicycle shop. Fore Street in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. The street is also seen in 'Invasion Quartet'.

Fore Street today has less ivy. (SR)

Frank (Robert Urquart), Virginia (Dianne Foster) and Lady Probus (Fabia Drake) arrive at the bicycle shop. This is very probably a set.

The family have come to tea. Mackerye End House, Harpenden, Hertfordshire.

A necessarily off-angle shot taken through the gates shows how the front garden has been formalised. (SR)

Everyone turns up on their newly purchased bikes. The drive at Mackerye End House.

The family prepare for a bicycling trip to the beach for a picnic.

The cyclists meet up with father’s horse and trap. Stephen Linsell notes that looks very much like the triangle of grass at the junction of Harpenden Road and Pipers Lane in Hertfordshire, which is not far from Mackerye End.

However this spot is now the favourite, as it is yards away from that of Capture 11 in which the cart also appears. It is where Woodside Lane splits as it approaches Wildhill Road in Hatfield. (SR)

The seaside is reached. Blackpool Sands at Blackpool, Dartmouth in Devon.

Fun and games on the beach. South Milton Sands in Kingsbridge, Devon.

Charles is sad that he has nobody to play with. South Milton Sands, with Thurlestone Rock in the distance.

Mother takes father outside to see the birthday present she has bought him. Mackerye End.

It is a bike. As father is exhausted trying to open the crate, his handyman Green (Russell Waters) finishes the job.

Father's first attempt at bicycle riding does not go well. The gates of Mackerye End, Harpenden in Hertfordshire.

The bicycle careers toward a ford. Waterend Ford, on the River Lea at Waterend in Hertfordshire. (SR)

A drier Waterend Ford today. (SR)

Father rides up the footpath. A similar shot of the footbridge at Waterend Ford appears in 'Now and Forever'. (SR)

The footbridge after its latest reconstuction. (SR)

Cecil Parker or a stuntman? It all ends in a splash. Waterend Lane, Hertfordshire. (SR)

Virginia arrives at Uncle Willie’s front door, having broken up with Frank after a spat. Aunt Kate invites her to travel to Exmoor with them.

The train ride to Exmoor. According to railmoviedatabase.com, this is a very rare shot of a train on the Princetown branch on Dartmoor, three years before the line closed.

The train nears the station. In reality, Cole Green station on the Welwyn Garden City to Hertford line in Hertfordshire which can also be seen in 'Come on George!', 'The Lady with a Lamp' and 'Wedding Rehearsal'.

The platform edges are all that remain, but these are being maintained for walkers and cyclists on the Cole Green Way. (SR)

A door opens and the family alights. Cole Green Station, Hertfordshire, which closed to passengers in June 1951. The station is now a picnic area and car park for the Cole Green Way.

The family leave the platform. Cole Green Station, Hertfordshire, which was open from 1858 until 18 June 1951.

Leaving the station in the autocar. Cole Green Station, on Station Road, Letty Green, Hertfordshire.

On the road to Pinetop Hydro.

Arrival at Pinetop Hydro. Macdonald Frimley Hall Hotel & Spa, Camberley in Surrey. Frimley Hall was designed and built in 1882. It was formerly owned by J.F. Wright, of Wrights Coal Tar Soap and his wife, formerly Miss Avery of Avery Scales.

In today's view the conservatory makes way for more accommodation. (SR)

When Frank discovers Virginia at the Hydro, he chases after her. Frimley Hall became a hotel just before the Second World War and is now run by Scottish hotel group Macdonald.

Less wall vegetation and more autumn leaves. (SR)

Uncle Willie drives Frank and Virginia off in the autocar, crashing through the balustrade. Macdonald Frimley Hall Hotel & Spa, Camberley.

No prop balustrade in today's view. (SR)

The family look on in horror, but no bones are broken and Frank and Virginia are reconciled. Macdonald Frimley Hall Hotel & Spa at Camberley in Surrey.

The conservatory was more in keeping I feel. (SR)