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Benington

1981 , Benington (Hertfordshire)

Cat no. 229133

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Paul Barnes visits Benington to find out what life is like for the residents of this Hertfordshire village.

In this episode of “Portrait of a Village”, presenter Paul Barnes visits the Hertfordshire village of Benington. He meets with several locals to find out about their day to day lives and experience of living in the village. The film opens with Barnes talking to Harry Bott – owner of Benington Lordship – by the village pond. Mr Bott talks about how the village is split into two halves: the older half being a designated conservation area containing the church and Norman castle; and the other half containing more modern housing. An area of green space that joins the two halves of the village is known as “Flatbacks”. Mr Bott mentions how the parish council has tried on numerous occasions to get a 30mph speed limit imposed in the village, but have so far been unsuccessful. Mr Bott notes how the school is situated next to a national speed limit sign, and when questioned by Barnes worries that it will take the injury or death of a child to make a sensible limit happen. A woman is shown driving a vintage Austin car through the village with a Labrador in the seat beside her. She is introduced as Pat Planner via voiceover, and the camera then cuts to her home where Barnes interviews her husband Brian next to two other vintage cars. Mr Planner explains how he restores vintage cars, and hopes to race one car – a Morris Cowley – in the 1982 Peking to Paris race. Mrs Planner then arrives in the Austin, and Barnes tests out the driving seat of the car whilst commenting on how small it is. At a stud farm belonging to bookmaker Joe Ward Hill (younger brother of William Hill), Barnes meets with Ward Hill’s daughter Jane who runs the farm. Jane explains how mares from the farm are sent away to visiting stallions, before returning to foal. When asked about the success of this particular stud, Jane talks of how one particular mare named Lady’s Walk has had a racewinner in every foal with Scott Joplyn and David Galaxy Affair being particular examples. As the horse next to Jane becomes restless, she is shown taking it out for a ride to conclude the first part of the episode. In Part Two, a number of tractors are shown in the vicinity of agricultural machinery specialists Bracey’s of Benington. Barnes interviews Harold Oakley, who works with modern farming equipment in his day job and restores vintage tractors in his spare time. Mr Oakley talks about the differences between modern and vintage tractors such as the lack of hydraulics or a driver’s cab. He mentions having driven a steam-powered cultivator, and how much he enjoyed the experience as he was able to hear the sound of the cultivator working through the soil without the constant noise of an internal combustion engine. When asked by Barnes if he would have preferred to do his job when steam-driven machinery was commonplace, Mr Oakley says that he would but that older farm workers would tell him he’s better off with more modern tools. After briefly discussing the impact of the growth of nearby new town Stevenage on the village residents, Barnes visits Benington Lordship (Manor) where he meets with Sarah Bott who lives in the house with her family and takes charge of the gardens. Mrs Bott explains how she enjoys collecting all kinds of plant life, and tends to place things wherever she can find room. Barnes asks if she ever eavesdrops on visitors to the gardens, and Mrs Bott says that she has heard people wondering how she and her family can live in such a large house. She has also heard suggestions that the family don’t live in the house but still keep it heated, which amuses her as actually the complete opposite is true. In closing commentary, Barnes mentions how residents living in villages such as Benington can sometimes feel isolated. A series of voiceovers from Benington residents reveals that this isn’t the case, and that Benington offers tranquillity whilst still being close enough to Stevenage and London to be convenient. After the end credits, a number of shots with original sound are shown which were probably used as B-roll for the final programme.

Featured Buildings

Benington Lordship

Keywords

Village life; Portrait of a Place; Agricultural Machinery; Gardens; Horse Breeding

Background Information

"Benington is a village and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of Hertfordshire, England, about four miles east of Stevenage and 35 miles north of London. There are two theories regarding the naming of the village. One comes from Saxon times and is derived from the name of the river to the west of the village - the Beane. The middle syllable 'ing' is common in place names all over south-east England and means 'people', Benington therefore meaning The Town of the Beane Folk. The second view is that Benington is a corruption of the name 'Belinton' which appears in the Domesday Book. This is thought to mean the town of Bela's people, after the name of the man who led the first group of immigrants to the area." - Wikipedia "The Peking to Paris motor race was an automobile race, originally held in 1907, between Peking (now Beijing), then Qing China and Paris, France, a distance of 14,994 kilometres (9,317 mi). The idea for the race came from a challenge published in the Paris newspaper Le Matin on 31 January 1907, reading: "What needs to be proved today is that as long as a man has a car, he can do anything and go anywhere. Is there anyone who will undertake to travel this summer from Peking to Paris by automobile?" The race started from the French embassy in Peking on 10 June 1907. The winner Prince Scipione Borghese arrived in Paris on 10 August 1907." - Wikipedia

  • Production company : Anglia Television

  • Presenter : Paul Barnes

  • Script : Paul Barnes

  • Director : Ron Downing

  • Producer : Ron Downing

  • Camera : Geoff Greenleaf

  • Sound : Colin Lovewell

  • Sound : Vic Thurston

  • Editor : Kevin Waters

Manifestations

Benington

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