Swallows and Amazons (1974 film) Swallows and Amazons (1974 film) Swallows and Amazons is a 1974 British film adaption of the 1930 novel of the same name by Arthur Ransome. The film, which was directed by Claude Whatham and produced by Richard Pilbrow, starred Virginia McKenna and Ronald Fraser, and a young Zanna Hamilton. Its budget was provided by Nat Cohen of EMI Films who had funded the successful 1970 film "The Railway Children". During the school holidays, the Walker children (John, Susan, Titty and Roger) are staying at a farm near a lake in the Lake District of England. While sailing a borrowed dinghy
Richard Armstrong (author) Richard Armstrong (author) Richard Armstrong (18 June 1903 – 30 May 1986) was an English author who wrote for both adults and children. Most of his books were novels set at sea, or sea stories. For one of those, "Sea Change", he won the 1948 Carnegie Medal from the Library Association, recognising the year's best children's book by a British subject. He is also known for a biography of Grace Darling in which he challenges the conventional story: "Grace Darling: Maid and Myth" (1965). He is often described on the cover of his books as "author and mariner". Ralph Richard