Dead Man's Treasure Hunt - locations and news

MikeR · Post by **MikeR** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 9:48 am

Factor 100 packed in case the forcast is accurate and leaving in 40 minutes. See you there Geoff.

mariocki · Post by **mariocki** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 10:25 pm

A very enjoyable day, full report to follow in due course

Andrew Pixley · Post by **Andrew Pixley** » Sun Jun 22, 2014 7:16 pm

Many thanks to all those who organised this weekend's event. Just back home and very tired. More detailed comments to follow in due course.

All the best

Andrew

mousemeat · Post by **mousemeat** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 4:00 am

Andrew Pixley wrote:Many thanks to all those who organised this weekend's event. Just back home and very tired. More detailed comments to follow in due course.

All the best

Andrew

can't wait to hear about the event etc

Tara46 · Post by **Tara46** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 1:08 pm

Many thanks to all who organised the Dead Man's Treasure Hunt event this year. This was the first time I have attended and I had a wonderful time visiting the locations on the mystery tour & on the Treasure Hunt itself. Thanks to all who made Andy & I welcome and we certainly hope to see everyone again next year

MikeR · Post by **MikeR** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 2:45 pm

To begin with I’d just like to reinforce what others have said regarding the event… a very enjoyable get-together hosted at the new venue the Premier Inn at Bricket Wood, which has appeared in various episodes of The Saint and The Baron. Some footage of Steed’s Bentley being affected by broadcast power and being driven into the ford at the end of the drive was shot here for The Positive Negative Man episode of The Avengers.

The mystery locations tour on the Saturday took in the large property known as Starveacres, based on Watford Road at nearby Radlett, which appears in Small Game for Big Hunters, Escape in Time, Something Nasty in the Nursery and Have Guns… will Haggle.

From here we went to the Building Research Establishment off Bucknalls Lane at Watford, which provided two locations in The Positive Negative Man. This was a government complex in the 60s, but has since been acquired by a large company and although there has been some major redevelopment on the site, the two buildings visited by Steed and Emma, are still there. This is a location that I've never been to before, although I have inspected the site and confirmed that the two buildings still existed by using Bing Maps bird’s eye view.

This site also contained Prince Charles Eco House and a concrete model of the Mohne Dam, where some experimentation took place in miniature before the famed Dam Busters raid. Our guide also indicated that recently some filming had taken place there for the new series of 24, telling us that it took eight hours to film a ten minute sequence feature a car stunt and shoot out.

Progressing further, we visited Shenley Hall where the treasure hunt in Dead Man’s Treasure took place and we also relived the event the following morning at the same location, where the annual recreation of Benstead’s car rally began.

Progressing further, there was a short stop at the gates of Woodside Lodge, Wind Hill Road, Hatfield, as seen in Invasion of the Earthmen and then we travelled to Essenden, to look at the gateway to Camfield Place. However, as tour guide Chris Bentley explained we have never managed to gain permission to see the large property here, but guess what, all that has changed. We discovered that Camfield Place was owned by the son of Barbara Cartland and it was where she wrote countless books and not only that, a previous owner was Enid Blyton had also been a famous author. The episodes with footage shot here were Split!, Requiem and Bizarre. The large property looked exactly like it did in the 60s, although the ivy and shrubbery was overgrown suggesting that no one actually lives in the building, the window frames are still turquoise, as seen when it appeared in The Avengers.

The tour was concluded at Hatfield House, included because of shooting there for The Avengers feature film starring Sean Connery and Fiona Shaw.

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 5:35 pm

MikeR wrote: This site also contained Prince Charles Eco House and a concrete model of the Mohne Dam, where some experimentation took place in miniature before the famed Dam Busters raid. Our guide also indicated that recently some filming had taken place there for the new series of 24, telling us that it took eight hours to film a ten minute sequence feature a car stunt and shoot out.

That's pretty efficient - about two to three times the usual amount of completed film in a day!

Thank you for an excellent report - it sounds wonderful.

mousemeat · Post by **mousemeat** » Tue Jun 24, 2014 9:53 am

Frankymole wrote:
MikeR wrote: This site also contained Prince Charles Eco House and a concrete model of the Mohne Dam, where some experimentation took place in miniature before the famed Dam Busters raid. Our guide also indicated that recently some filming had taken place there for the new series of 24, telling us that it took eight hours to film a ten minute sequence feature a car stunt and shoot out.
That's pretty efficient - about two to three times the usual amount of completed film in a day!

Thank you for an excellent report - it sounds wonderful.

amen.....and I wished I could have been there as well...soaking it all up!

Andrew Pixley · Post by **Andrew Pixley** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 7:43 pm

Mike's given you a run-down of the tour and the sights, so really it's just left to me to enthuse about the event as a whole. Having been away from the event for a year, the real highlight was to get back and meet up with people again; just being able to chat to so many people with a passion for imaginative television on the Friday and Saturday evenings was quite, quite brilliant ... and certainly reminded me of the wonderful frisson of chatting to like-minded people all the way back in 1987.

The venue for the event was ideal. Lovely location right in the area around Borehamwood ... and a location in itself. Plenty of parking and, in our experience, very nice and quickly prepared food. Terrific locale and a real pleasure to visit.

The tour really was first class. Since the innovation to use buses/coaches a few years back, it's made the whole experience of touring these amazing places far, far more pleasurable and far, far less hassle. And the places that we visited - as detailed by Mike - were quite wonderful; all credit to the smart and clever people who organised all this. And at the venues themselves, special arrangements had been made to allow access, etc. which made the event feel unique. Chris Bentley gave some very nice background context to the venues, and the wonderful frame grabs so beautifully prepared and handed round were absolutely perfect - a real hallmark of the quality of a well-organised event.

While I'm sadly no longer in a position to really actively take part in the hunt itself any more, everyone seemed to have a very great deal of fun. We went to some very nice places, and were able to enjoy them on a very nice day. A really nice touch with the prices were sets of the more recent anniversary trading card sets - a lovely memento of the event.

What with having people around to answer any questions or queries quickly and clearly, it was a real pleasure to return to the event, to see so many people again, and to be reminded of why this is such a special event.

With deep appreciation to all those involved for a quality weekend.

All the best

Andrew

Andrew Pixley · Post by **Andrew Pixley** » Wed Jul 02, 2014 7:46 pm

Tara46 wrote:Many thanks to all who organised the Dead Man's Treasure Hunt event this year. This was the first time I have attended and I had a wonderful time visiting the locations on the mystery tour & on the Treasure Hunt itself. Thanks to all who made Andy & I welcome and we certainly hope to see everyone again next year

So pleased you enjoyed it, and thank you for your very kind conversation on the Sunday. A pleasure to chat to you. Hopefully see you again at the next one.

All the best

Andrew