A lovely weekend in some beautiful places with some wonderful people.
Many thanks to all those involved, particularly the organizers. Much appreciated!
All the best
Andrew
Dead Man's Treasure Hunt - locations and news
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Andrew Pixley
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Ian Wegg
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I would like to echo Mr. Pixley's thanks.
Taking part in the treasure hunt was the fulfilment of a long held ambition for me and it was everything I'd hoped it would be and more. The attention to detail was incredible, surely the organisers must spend all year preparing it?
Here are a handful of my snaps from a lovely weekend...
Thanks to all involved and commiserations to the team who somehow managed to beat ~ww and I to last place.
~iw
Taking part in the treasure hunt was the fulfilment of a long held ambition for me and it was everything I'd hoped it would be and more. The attention to detail was incredible, surely the organisers must spend all year preparing it?
Here are a handful of my snaps from a lovely weekend...
Thanks to all involved and commiserations to the team who somehow managed to beat ~ww and I to last place.
~iw
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Andrew Pixley
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Hey! Don't worry! Quite understand! You know the very high regard I have for you and your work ... and with the things you currently have to look forward to well, WOW, they're even more exciting than the Treasure Hunt, and I wish you guys all the very best as always!mariocki wrote:Thanks Andrew, that means a lot. Again, I'm sorry we didn't get to chat for longer but it's difficult trying to juggle so many organisational balls over the weekend. Hopefully you'll be back next year
Julie and I hope to be back next year ... but we certainly need to look into ways of being very careful about having ways to drop out of sections of the weekend to allow proper time for us to rest, eat and drink ... The event was a lovely blend of places, events and people ... but, sadly, what I could do without batting an eyelid when I was 22 is something which 30 years later I'm now struggling with at times.
All the best
Andrew
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MikeR
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Just returned home from three days in Avengerland today after attending the 30th Dead Man’s Treasure event, which was based in Borehamwood/Elstree. On Friday, I met up with Jason Whiton, who had travelled all the way from San Francisco, plus Andy Shaw, Joseph Lloyd and Mark Gratton and we proceeded to tour Avengerland and look at several filming locations that had been used in The Avengers. The tour was as follows…
Friday: Unofficial Tour
01. Rosary Prior High School/Caldecote Towers/Immanuel College, Bushey: The Master Minds, They Keep Killing Steed.
02. Caldecote Lane, Bushey: Dead Man’s Treasure.
03. Hillfield Lane South, Bushey: Dead Man’s Treasure.
04. International University: The Avenue, Bushey: A Sense of History, Death’s Door, Return of the Cybernauts.
05. The Battleaxes pub, Elstree: Too Many Christmas Trees, Legacy of Death.
06. Dagger Lane, Elstree: Death at Bargain Prices, The Murder Market, The Master Minds, Dead Man’s Treasure, Have Guns – Will Haggle, Killer.
07. North Mymms Park (Houses adjacent to the Church): The Hidden Tiger, Something Nasty in the Nursery, Mission Highly Improbable.
08. North Mymms Park (House): The Hidden Tiger
09. North Mymms Park (Gateway): The Hidden Tiger, Never Never Say Die.
10. Trotters Bottom, Dancers Hill: The Girl from Auntie, The 13th Hole.
The Caldecott Lane location was one that I had never been to before and it was interesting to see that the adjoining garden wall and the house beside it (seen in the episode) have both been demolished since the sixties. The Hillfield Lane South location is another interesting one, because shortly after filming the southern extension to the M1 Motorway was built and split the road into two parts, hence the addition of South to the name. This road is now a dead end, although the electric box and two gateways still exist to pinpoint exactly where Steed almost lost control of his vintage Bentley, while avoiding the spiked blocks that Alex has thrown from the red E-Type Jaguar.
A trip to what I always call the International University followed, where in recent years the building have been converted into apartments and several new buildings have been constructed. Much to my surprise, this has become a gated community since my last visit and so we were unable to drive in like on previous occasions. However, the security guard was very understanding and allowed us in minus vehicles to look around and take photographs. Lunch was taken at The Battleaxes pub, which is situated on the junctions of Butterfly Lane, with Elstree and Aldenham Roads, before we ventured the short distance to Dagger Lane, which might not be too impressive to look at, but it has been used as a location in various episodes.
Driving across the Hertsmere District, we then arrived at the North Mymms Park estate, where we first looked at the two houses beside the church and marvelled at how the crew had managed to film material for Something Nasty in the Nursery, without getting any of the church or the surrounding churchyard in the shots. We then went up to main house and having not ventured here for over ten years I received another surprise as a security gate prevented us from getting close to the property. Previously you could approach the house from behind and get right up to it and previously I and various other people have done this. However, we encountered another security guard who was not as understanding as the one at the International University and he would not allow us access, although he was aware that The Avengers had been shot there in the past.
Retracing our wheel tracks, we returned to the locked gates of the main entrance to take a look at the place where Steed witnessed the various Mini Moke milk floats delivering milk in the episode The Hidden Tiger. Following Joseph Lloyd to the nearby bridge over the A1M Motorway, he pointed out the house that was the little known location Budgie’s Café in an episode of ITC’s Return of the Saint. After this we departed to our final location visit of the day and the disused back gateway to the Dyrham Park Golf Club, which although no longer used is easily identifiable as the place where Mrs Peel leaves an all night party at the beginning of The Girl from Auntie. Returning to the Ibis Hotel in Borehamwood, we later ventured out for a meal that evening at the local all you can eat Chinese Buffet together with Andy’s wife Amy who had joined us and Mark Gratton ate Chinese food for the first time and liked it!
Retuning to the Ibis, the attendees had begun to gather and there were plenty of familiar faces and several new ones. Later Chris Gabb arrived from one of the pubs in Borehamwood where he had been watching the European Championship and he was quick to inform us at every opportunity, “Wales have won!”
To be continued…
PS: We also visited the village of Letchmore Heath, but we returned there the following day and so I'll list which Avengers episodes had footage filmed there in my next posting.
Friday: Unofficial Tour
01. Rosary Prior High School/Caldecote Towers/Immanuel College, Bushey: The Master Minds, They Keep Killing Steed.
02. Caldecote Lane, Bushey: Dead Man’s Treasure.
03. Hillfield Lane South, Bushey: Dead Man’s Treasure.
04. International University: The Avenue, Bushey: A Sense of History, Death’s Door, Return of the Cybernauts.
05. The Battleaxes pub, Elstree: Too Many Christmas Trees, Legacy of Death.
06. Dagger Lane, Elstree: Death at Bargain Prices, The Murder Market, The Master Minds, Dead Man’s Treasure, Have Guns – Will Haggle, Killer.
07. North Mymms Park (Houses adjacent to the Church): The Hidden Tiger, Something Nasty in the Nursery, Mission Highly Improbable.
08. North Mymms Park (House): The Hidden Tiger
09. North Mymms Park (Gateway): The Hidden Tiger, Never Never Say Die.
10. Trotters Bottom, Dancers Hill: The Girl from Auntie, The 13th Hole.
The Caldecott Lane location was one that I had never been to before and it was interesting to see that the adjoining garden wall and the house beside it (seen in the episode) have both been demolished since the sixties. The Hillfield Lane South location is another interesting one, because shortly after filming the southern extension to the M1 Motorway was built and split the road into two parts, hence the addition of South to the name. This road is now a dead end, although the electric box and two gateways still exist to pinpoint exactly where Steed almost lost control of his vintage Bentley, while avoiding the spiked blocks that Alex has thrown from the red E-Type Jaguar.
A trip to what I always call the International University followed, where in recent years the building have been converted into apartments and several new buildings have been constructed. Much to my surprise, this has become a gated community since my last visit and so we were unable to drive in like on previous occasions. However, the security guard was very understanding and allowed us in minus vehicles to look around and take photographs. Lunch was taken at The Battleaxes pub, which is situated on the junctions of Butterfly Lane, with Elstree and Aldenham Roads, before we ventured the short distance to Dagger Lane, which might not be too impressive to look at, but it has been used as a location in various episodes.
Driving across the Hertsmere District, we then arrived at the North Mymms Park estate, where we first looked at the two houses beside the church and marvelled at how the crew had managed to film material for Something Nasty in the Nursery, without getting any of the church or the surrounding churchyard in the shots. We then went up to main house and having not ventured here for over ten years I received another surprise as a security gate prevented us from getting close to the property. Previously you could approach the house from behind and get right up to it and previously I and various other people have done this. However, we encountered another security guard who was not as understanding as the one at the International University and he would not allow us access, although he was aware that The Avengers had been shot there in the past.
Retracing our wheel tracks, we returned to the locked gates of the main entrance to take a look at the place where Steed witnessed the various Mini Moke milk floats delivering milk in the episode The Hidden Tiger. Following Joseph Lloyd to the nearby bridge over the A1M Motorway, he pointed out the house that was the little known location Budgie’s Café in an episode of ITC’s Return of the Saint. After this we departed to our final location visit of the day and the disused back gateway to the Dyrham Park Golf Club, which although no longer used is easily identifiable as the place where Mrs Peel leaves an all night party at the beginning of The Girl from Auntie. Returning to the Ibis Hotel in Borehamwood, we later ventured out for a meal that evening at the local all you can eat Chinese Buffet together with Andy’s wife Amy who had joined us and Mark Gratton ate Chinese food for the first time and liked it!
Retuning to the Ibis, the attendees had begun to gather and there were plenty of familiar faces and several new ones. Later Chris Gabb arrived from one of the pubs in Borehamwood where he had been watching the European Championship and he was quick to inform us at every opportunity, “Wales have won!”
To be continued…
PS: We also visited the village of Letchmore Heath, but we returned there the following day and so I'll list which Avengers episodes had footage filmed there in my next posting.
Last edited by MikeR on Tue Jul 05, 2016 5:56 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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MikeR
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IanIan Wegg wrote:I would like to echo Mr. Pixley's thanks.
Taking part in the treasure hunt was the fulfilment of a long held ambition for me and it was everything I'd hoped it would be and more. The attention to detail was incredible, surely the organisers must spend all year preparing it?
Here are a handful of my snaps from a lovely weekend...
Thanks to all involved and commiserations to the team who somehow managed to beat ~ww and I to last place.
~iw
I never realised that you were there.
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Alan
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Nor did I! A shame!
A great weekend. Hugely enjoyable - and I was delighted to finally get inside the grounds of Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School (seen in The Grave-Diggers and several other Avengers episodes) - it didn't disappoint.
It was also magical to approach Tyke's Water Bridge from the North West (from the school grounds) rather than the South East which I am much more familiar with. Another first.
A special mention also for our guest, the actress Caron Gardner, who made an Avengers appearance in Death Dispatch as a bikini girl, but who is better known as one of Pussy Galore's pilots. Entertaining and interesting speaker.
Many thanks to all involved in this event, which marked 30 years of Dead Man Treasure Hunt weekends in fine style. The efforts to which people like Chris, Annette, Geoff, Ian, Jackie and Andrew go to is hugely appreciated.
A great weekend. Hugely enjoyable - and I was delighted to finally get inside the grounds of Haberdashers' Aske's Boys' School (seen in The Grave-Diggers and several other Avengers episodes) - it didn't disappoint.
It was also magical to approach Tyke's Water Bridge from the North West (from the school grounds) rather than the South East which I am much more familiar with. Another first.
A special mention also for our guest, the actress Caron Gardner, who made an Avengers appearance in Death Dispatch as a bikini girl, but who is better known as one of Pussy Galore's pilots. Entertaining and interesting speaker.
Many thanks to all involved in this event, which marked 30 years of Dead Man Treasure Hunt weekends in fine style. The efforts to which people like Chris, Annette, Geoff, Ian, Jackie and Andrew go to is hugely appreciated.
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MikeR
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Saturday: Treasure Hunt
00. Shenley Hall, Shenley: The Bird Who Knew Too Much, Something Nasty in the Nursery, Dead Man’s Treasure, You’ll Catch Your Death.
01. Village of Ridge: Dead Man’s Treasure, Thingumajig.
02. Mill Hill Golf Club, Mill Hill: The 13th Hole.
03. Borehamwood: Various episodes.
04. Elstree Aerodrome: No Avengers episodes have footage filmed here, but most of the other TV series filmed at Elstree/Borehamwood in the sixties, such as The Champions and The Saint did.
05. Village of Letchmore Heath: Man-Eater of Surrey Green, A Sense of History, Death’s Door, Dead Man’s Treasure, Requiem.
06. Village of Aldenham: The Gravediggers, Split!
The actual Treasure Hunt began from the usual place, exactly where it started in the episode Dead Man’s Treasure, outside Shenley Hall. Reading the instructions we discovered what items were required to be found and photographed as the treasure, plus that we needed to locate nine small cards containing parts of various quotes, which we later found out, were the opening of three James Bond novels. Last year we all received different cards at the beginning of the treasure hunt and so we could swop with other teams, but this year everybody started out with same quotation on their card and after swopping it four times, I suddenly realised that we all had the same one. We departed to the village of Ridge, where as in previous years we were quickly checking the names found on gravestones in the churchyard there.
After exhausting all possibilities in Ridge, we went to Borehamwood and then southbound on the A1 to the Mill Hill Golf Club as seen in The 13th Hole, which is a location that has hardly changed since the swinging sixties. Most teams contained four people, but I was joined only by Andrew Pixley and Julie Rogers and although we were not mega competitive we proceeded at a steady pace. We needed to take a photograph of an orange coloured sock and the guy in the golf shop thought he was getting a sale when we asked him if he stocked such items, but he then attempted to sell us some yellow ones, stating, “Well it’s almost orange.”
Continuing to Borehamwood, I parked the car in Sainsbury’s’ car park and we searched the surrounding area to answer the cryptic questions devised by hunt organiser Chris Bentley, but failed to locate the director’s chair sign that we could all remember seeing somewhere around Elstree Studios. Driving along Shenley Road, we planned to park in the Railway Station car park, but recent permit parking rules prevented that and improvising I simply drove around the block for 15 minutes while Andrew and Julie went and found the answers to more cryptic questions. However, I failed to consider that mileage was an equation in the results and this actually put us a mile over and caused us a deduction in points during the final marking.
Feeling we had done all we could, we departed to Elstree Aerodrome and began searching for a whole new selection of teasers, although we did come across the obvious flying pigs. One of the questions asked what the fine was for entering the taxiing and plane parking areas, which was easily seen… £5000.00 no less. How times have changed, I can remember visiting the aerodrome many years ago and freely walking around various groups of aircraft complete with a camera when I was tracking down locations for various TV series and although many people saw me, not one asked who I was or what I was doing there. All I can say is don’t try this today!
From here we travelled to an old favourite location, the village of Letchmore Heath, where for once we were not required to count the horseshoes on The Three Horseshoes pub there. The final location was the nearby village of Aldenham, where we were in for shock as there was a major event being held at the Cricket Club, but we arrived just in time to get a parking place, as the road that runs through this small community was solid with cars parked on both sides of the road. This caused problems for people arriving by car to the event and eventually the local bus arrived and could get through, which resulted in things getting very heated before a uniformed police officer showed up to resolve the situation. Doing a three-point turn I departed Aldenham the same way we had entered and then proceeded to The Three Compasses pub in Patchetts Green, where we handed in our paperwork to the organisers for marking. However, during this process we actually forgot to give them the notepad back, which they then requested, but I don’t know if this meant we were deducted further points, but whatever their decision we still managed to finish in a respectable fifth place.
The evening event saw us returning to the Mill Hill Golf Club to indulge in several games and a quiz, which the team I was with actually managed to win. Actress/extra Caron Gardner, who had appeared in the videotaped episode Death Dispatch, appeared as a guest and she talked about working with such luminaries as Patrick Macnee, Patrick McGoohan, Roger Moore, Peter Wyngarde and Peter Sellers. Proceedings concluded around midnight and I then returned to where most of us were staying, the Ibis Hotel in Borehamwood.
To be continued…
00. Shenley Hall, Shenley: The Bird Who Knew Too Much, Something Nasty in the Nursery, Dead Man’s Treasure, You’ll Catch Your Death.
01. Village of Ridge: Dead Man’s Treasure, Thingumajig.
02. Mill Hill Golf Club, Mill Hill: The 13th Hole.
03. Borehamwood: Various episodes.
04. Elstree Aerodrome: No Avengers episodes have footage filmed here, but most of the other TV series filmed at Elstree/Borehamwood in the sixties, such as The Champions and The Saint did.
05. Village of Letchmore Heath: Man-Eater of Surrey Green, A Sense of History, Death’s Door, Dead Man’s Treasure, Requiem.
06. Village of Aldenham: The Gravediggers, Split!
The actual Treasure Hunt began from the usual place, exactly where it started in the episode Dead Man’s Treasure, outside Shenley Hall. Reading the instructions we discovered what items were required to be found and photographed as the treasure, plus that we needed to locate nine small cards containing parts of various quotes, which we later found out, were the opening of three James Bond novels. Last year we all received different cards at the beginning of the treasure hunt and so we could swop with other teams, but this year everybody started out with same quotation on their card and after swopping it four times, I suddenly realised that we all had the same one. We departed to the village of Ridge, where as in previous years we were quickly checking the names found on gravestones in the churchyard there.
After exhausting all possibilities in Ridge, we went to Borehamwood and then southbound on the A1 to the Mill Hill Golf Club as seen in The 13th Hole, which is a location that has hardly changed since the swinging sixties. Most teams contained four people, but I was joined only by Andrew Pixley and Julie Rogers and although we were not mega competitive we proceeded at a steady pace. We needed to take a photograph of an orange coloured sock and the guy in the golf shop thought he was getting a sale when we asked him if he stocked such items, but he then attempted to sell us some yellow ones, stating, “Well it’s almost orange.”
Continuing to Borehamwood, I parked the car in Sainsbury’s’ car park and we searched the surrounding area to answer the cryptic questions devised by hunt organiser Chris Bentley, but failed to locate the director’s chair sign that we could all remember seeing somewhere around Elstree Studios. Driving along Shenley Road, we planned to park in the Railway Station car park, but recent permit parking rules prevented that and improvising I simply drove around the block for 15 minutes while Andrew and Julie went and found the answers to more cryptic questions. However, I failed to consider that mileage was an equation in the results and this actually put us a mile over and caused us a deduction in points during the final marking.
Feeling we had done all we could, we departed to Elstree Aerodrome and began searching for a whole new selection of teasers, although we did come across the obvious flying pigs. One of the questions asked what the fine was for entering the taxiing and plane parking areas, which was easily seen… £5000.00 no less. How times have changed, I can remember visiting the aerodrome many years ago and freely walking around various groups of aircraft complete with a camera when I was tracking down locations for various TV series and although many people saw me, not one asked who I was or what I was doing there. All I can say is don’t try this today!
From here we travelled to an old favourite location, the village of Letchmore Heath, where for once we were not required to count the horseshoes on The Three Horseshoes pub there. The final location was the nearby village of Aldenham, where we were in for shock as there was a major event being held at the Cricket Club, but we arrived just in time to get a parking place, as the road that runs through this small community was solid with cars parked on both sides of the road. This caused problems for people arriving by car to the event and eventually the local bus arrived and could get through, which resulted in things getting very heated before a uniformed police officer showed up to resolve the situation. Doing a three-point turn I departed Aldenham the same way we had entered and then proceeded to The Three Compasses pub in Patchetts Green, where we handed in our paperwork to the organisers for marking. However, during this process we actually forgot to give them the notepad back, which they then requested, but I don’t know if this meant we were deducted further points, but whatever their decision we still managed to finish in a respectable fifth place.
The evening event saw us returning to the Mill Hill Golf Club to indulge in several games and a quiz, which the team I was with actually managed to win. Actress/extra Caron Gardner, who had appeared in the videotaped episode Death Dispatch, appeared as a guest and she talked about working with such luminaries as Patrick Macnee, Patrick McGoohan, Roger Moore, Peter Wyngarde and Peter Sellers. Proceedings concluded around midnight and I then returned to where most of us were staying, the Ibis Hotel in Borehamwood.
To be continued…
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Ian Wegg
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It occurred to me when we returned home (yes I was there really!) that as the treasure hunt material had to be handed back I had no record of the actual day. So thanks very much Mike for the comprehensive write-up, it's much appreciated. I will print off a copy and keep it with my other mementos.
I also realised that during the hunt I had concentrated on taking picture evidence for the clues and taken very few "general" shots of the people and places. So, for instance, my only photographic record of Elstree aerodrome are a flying pig logo, a Piper Cherokee and an orange wind-sock!
I did get the director's chair, though, outside Elstree station...
Looking forward to the continued report for Sunday.
~iw
I also realised that during the hunt I had concentrated on taking picture evidence for the clues and taken very few "general" shots of the people and places. So, for instance, my only photographic record of Elstree aerodrome are a flying pig logo, a Piper Cherokee and an orange wind-sock!
I did get the director's chair, though, outside Elstree station...
Looking forward to the continued report for Sunday.
~iw
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anti-clockwise
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