Tots TV ... what happened next

[® Andy]

When my eldest son was very little, one of his favourite TV programmes was Tots TV. We owned most episodes on VHS and I had to watch them many many times! If you don't remember Tots TV, it had three main characters … Tilly, who was French, Tom and Tiny … and they lived in a secret cottage in the woods!



Ultimately they grew up, fame went to their heads, they left their secret cottage and moved to Hollywood where they discovered drink and drugs and never returned!

Their cottage? Well it sits unloved and derelict in a copse in a middle of a field on a farm in Warwickshire as discussed in this thread ... http://www.cliosport.net/forum/show...tubbies-used-to-live-next-to-Global-Gathering

I've not got out exploring much over the last few years, courtesy of a dearth of stuff local to me and generally too little time. However, after 9+ years of the Vee being my "daily" driver, I finally gave in and got a second car just the other week, for local stuff but also for business miles that I've always tried to avoid in the Vee. It's a mighty 3-cylinder 1.2 Polo, nicknamed "The Beast". Given a first business trip North in it, it seemed rude not change out of my suit and negotiate irate farmers, barbed wire fences and rampant nettles and brambles to pop in and relive the old times.

In the woods ...

I knocked ... no Tots home!

The bit you didn't get to see ... the production "suite"

Thatched roof long removed!

The production end of things was dug down = clearly regularly flooded and very muddy!

No floor left where the Tots "lived" ...

"Upstairs"

Little buckets for little Tots!

Mostly wood building, with thatched roof, and TV lights = lots of these still around!

The production "pit" ...

 

[Nik]

Really interesting pics Andy, I grew up in Stratford so know the area and the Ragdoll company well, but didn't realise that was still there!

 

[Paprika123]

Christ that brings back memories!

 

[SharkyUK]

Not at all familiar with the Tots but that's cool

 

[Dave..]

The French one pissed me right off, I'd never even given a moments thought about where it was filmed though! Amazing it's been left to ruin like that!

 

[Alex5]

That's actually really interesting cheers!

 

[ColinG]

Imagine the spiders... Balls to that!

 

[Yorkshire]

I remember this and that donkey thing that used to come to the stable door? Interesting it's just been left there to rot!

 

[Andy_con]

good work mate, I saw somewhere someone said is the reason there are not floor boards cos that's where the people controlling the puppets used to sit?

why are the wood floor boards not there but the wood joists are.

 

[Dan...]

It's sad to think it's been left like that!

 

[Andy_con]

all we need to do now is find where in the night garden is filmed and send you there

 

[Rubicon_]

Oh my god amazing!!

I grew up with this show when a tot, so many memories!

 

[Scrooge]

I'm staying/working 2 miles down the road from this... I may go and have a look with the camera.

 

[Andy_con]

andy im guessing not signs of the teletubby pond being drained?

 

[Andy_con]

interesting thread here

the chap suggests in the night garden was filmed on the same farm

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1432425&page=14

 

[Knuckles]

Was it a cottage that was used for the show or a set that was built and left? Such a shame as it looked lovely

 

[rctempire]

Excellent pictures.

Really sad to see it when i reckon if I went back home i could find the VHS (the thing before DVDs and BluRays)

Looks like the floor was taken out. Different from that video that had the floor in.

 

[® Andy]

good work mate, I saw somewhere someone said is the reason there are not floor boards cos that's where the people controlling the puppets used to sit?

why are the wood floor boards not there but the wood joists are.

There was definitely a floor in there originally ... there's no way they could have worked without one since it's just bare earth beneath. Even when dry it'd have been a pain, and now it's just sticky mud! Main joists are still reasonably sound, but one of the braces broke under me as I stood on it whilst taking a picture of the stairs. Given the fact that it's not water tight at all, with no thatch and numerous holes in the ply panels they had underneath, it's actually remarkably sound all told though! I've seen water destroy buildings in much less time than this has had! Also no signs of mould or fungus. I suppose it's reasonably well ventilated.

andy im guessing not signs of the teletubby pond being drained?

Must admit I didn't head down further across the fields to look at the Tubbies site. As small as the house is, I always lose hours when exploring and I had to get back on the road. Also you're very open to being seen from the farm in general. I always use aerials to plan my access with a thought to sight lines and so tackled the Tots TV copse from the back corner.

 

[® Andy]

Was it a cottage that was used for the show or a set that was built and left? Such a shame as it looked lovely

Absolutely a purpose built set ... and done properly! Basically a small (maybe half to two-thirds scale) timber framed house. The roof beams etc. are proper old beams. The walls I'd imagine are mostly ply in the middle, with some brick footings, and then rendered properly inside and out. The roof was ply sheeting, but then had proper thatch on the outside. The fire place is a proper brick built one up to a real chimney. Half of the production end of things is in the "main" house, but with the floor dug down a good half a metre, and then the room that clearly the AV cabling came into (with the patch panel) is a flat roofed breeze block building (that's actually subsiding a little bit and so has a visible crack).

 

[® Andy]

I'm staying/working 2 miles down the road from this... I may go and have a look with the camera.

Thick trousers and long sleeves are what you need, and prepare to get muddy feet .