1985: Frederick Pyne Pays Tribute To The Late Toke Townley

From the Yorkshire Evening Post supplement Emmerdale Farm 1,000! - 1985:

Frederick Pyne, Matt Skilbeck in Emmerdale Farm, paid tribute to Toke Townley, the much-loved Grandad Sam Pearson in the show, who died in 1984.

Unlike some members of the cast I had not known Toke Townley before we started work on "Emmerdale" in June 1972. "Grandad" and "Matt" in the story soon developed a relationship of friendship and mutual understanding with, I believe, only one quarrel which was quickly forgiven and forgotten.

I am happy to say that the same was true of Toke and myself in real life except that we never had even the one quarrel.

We were never extremely close friends because Toke was essentially a loner as, to some extent, I am too. But we shared mutual interests in music, opera and theatre.

I remember taking him to see Beethoven's "Fidelio" at Leeds Grand Theatre and Verdi's "Othello" at the Palace Theatre, in Manchester. He had seen neither before and he was as thrilled and enthusiastic as a young lad with a new train set.

His needs were usually very simple and his praise always most generous. I once gave him tea, bread and butter and boiled eggs at my house and he told everyone at work about it as though I had given him a three-course cordon bleu meal.

This was partly because he was totally impractical at such things, but mainly because of his wonderful generosity of spirit. He rarely criticised fellow actors and he would travel far and wide to see them.

If he saw something he didn't like he would say: "Well, you see, it's not my sort of play."

This generosity showed up in his gifts to charity. I have a reputation for scrounging money for charity but I was never afraid to ask Toke.

Many a time I did not need to ask - he was already opening his wallet and asking me what I was collecting for. Sometimes I was quite astonished at the amounts he would give.

Of course, Toke wasn't all goodness - none of us is. He could have his dislikes and he could have very tetchy moods but I was extremely lucky; I only witnessed those moods; I was never the subject of them.

I always admired his tremendous energy and his terrific sense of fun and the absurd. It was nothing for him to give us notes on our performances in mock Russian and he would, completely seriously, talk the most ridiculous rubbish all morning but always with that mischievous twinkle in his eye that was so uniquely his own.

Or he would pretend that "Emmerdale" was a ballet and give us new steps to perform. "I think it will come to life," he would say, "when we get the full orchestra."

During breaks in the rehearsals in the farm kitchen set I quite often deliberately sit in "grandad's" chair and just quietly think about him.

Is this a form of prayer for him? I don't really know. What I do believe is that he is truly at rest because, although he was restless (because of his boundless energy) in life, he lived his last years in happiness and contentment with his work, his friends and his love of music and the theatre.

There could be no more fitting memory of him than the furnishings for the Green Room at the new Leeds Playhouse bought with the money from his memorial fund.

We loved him, we miss him and we shall never forget him.

Back on this 'ere blog, I have been undertaking a little reseach into Mr Townley's background and have so far come up with the following:

Toke Anthony Townley was born on 6 November, 1912, in the Dunmow, Essex, area of Eastern England. He died in September 1984. Because of advance filming, his Emmerdale Farm character lived on until late November - the character died on the 27th of that month.

If anybody has any further memories of Mr Townley and/or Grandad Pearson to share, I would be delighted to hear them!

25 Years Ago - The Way Things Were - Gossip From Beckindale 1983 - Part 3

A cold, sunny morning in early 1983, and Mr Wilks arrived at the Woolpack at the same time as the postman with that day's post. He took it. Amos was busy behind the bar and would read his mail later.

Up at Emmerdale Farm, the postman gave a letter to Sam Pearson...

... who became very excited upon opening it. "Annie! Annie!"

In the farmhouse, Sam showed Annie and Pat the letter, which revealed that he had won a competition organised by Shepherd's Super Seeds - a cruise for two to the Canaries.

"I may not know much, but I know all about flowers! 'Supersede all other seeds,' as soon as Jack said that, I knew it couldn't be beat." He turned to Pat: "So, half of it's yours and half of it's Jack's and you must have a lovely holiday between you!"

But Pat refused. She was worried about Sandie who, having broken the news of her pregnancy, had gone to stay with her father. Pat wanted to remain at home in case she was needed in any way.

"She seems to have taken Sandie's going harder than I thought, Annie," said Sam after Pat had left them.

"Give her time, Dad, it hasn't been easy," said Annie.

As for the cruise, Annie and Sam decided they would go together, if that was all right with the others.

"I've just thought of something - this is going to put a flea in Amos' ear - he went in for the competition too!" laughed Sam.

Annie was delighted to see her father in such good spirits. The news of Sandie's pregnancy had made Sam very unhappy - he was fond of the girl and very concerned for her. Annie was glad that something had put the spring back in his step.

Meanwhile, at the Woolpack, Amos had sat down to read his mail whilst Mr Wilks prepared them something on toast.

Suddenly, Amos became very excited: "I'm a winner, Mr Wilks, a winner!"

It turned out he'd won one of fifty tricycles as a runner-up in the Shepherd's Super Seeds competition. "That'll just suit me, with my balancing!"

Of course, Amos couldn't resist puffing himself up a little: "I just knew that little rhyme of mine would catch their eyes! You thought I couldn't find a rhyme for that, didn't you?"

"A rhyme for what?" asked Mr Wilks.

"Horticulture, Mr Wilks, horticulture - Shepherd's Super Seeds! 'Considering gardening at this juncture, you can't beat Shepherd's Super Seeds for horticulture'! I knew that was a winner as soon as I thought of it!"

Well, it certainly deserves summat," said Mr Wilks. He reminded Amos that he was only a runner-up, an "also ran", but Amos was not to be deterred - a winner was a winner!

Then another thought struck him: "Sam Pearson's going to take this hard - me being a prize winner! Well, he went in for the competition an' all!"

Annie was soon into listing what was "wanted on voyage", although as she said to Pat: "The more I try to shorten this, the longer it seems to get!"

Sam was very excited: "Annie, I've been looking in this book and it says the way to avoid sea sickness is not to keep your eyes fixed on owt - it's written by a globe trotter, a travel book."

"I'd have thought that meant he was a walker!" laughed Pat, who was doing some hand washing at the sink.

"Hmm," Sam decided to ignore that. "And it says you should only drink bottled or boiled water."

" Dad, this was written in 1870!" said Annie.

"That doesn't matter! The desert hasn't changed, has it? I mean, the Sahara's still there?"

"It's the Canaries, Dad, and we're going on a ship - a modern ship."

"Annie, it says a day in Casblanca. Now, that's in Africa, isn't it? And it's near the desert!"

"But they don't live in tents and drink river water, Mr Pearson," Pat laughed.

"I hope not!" said Sam

Meanwhile, Amos was thrilled with his tricycle. It had been expected in some quarters that he might be more than a little jealous of Sam's prize winning success, but not Amos - the tricycle had gripped his imagination, as things tended to do, and he was as pleased as could be.

"You make a fine sight on that!" said the vicar, the Reverend Donald Hinton, meeting Amos in the village one morning.

"Aye, it's the extra wheel, you see - lending not only balance, so you can't fall off it, but making it look right - like it's meant to have a body on it," explained Amos.

"I see," smiled Mr Hinton.

"And it's safe, you feel quite safe with this," Amos continued. "Not vulnerable and you can take a look around at things without wobbling."

"Yes, you did have a wobble on the other, I had noticed." said Mr Hinton.

"Aye, I always did have a wobble. I always used to say, 'Put me on a bike and you have a wobble'. Not with this, on this I never wobble!"

On the cruise departure day at Emmerdale Farm, Annie was serene and ready well in time...

... whilst her father flew around the house, seeking things already packed, and checking and rechecking his suitcase, until Jack loaded it in the car!

But finally the travellers were off, with Jack driving them to the airport.

The intrepid travellers were only away for a few episodes, but life didn't stand still. In their absence, Jack and Jackie became closer and Pat deserted her disliked (and not terribly successful) duties at the Aga to help out on the farm - which rather took Jack aback.

When the travellers returned, they declared that they'd had a lovely time.

And one of the first things Sam did was to pop round to the Woolpack to show Amos his holiday snaps.

The Emmerdale Farm Book Of Country Lore

Browsing through the local newspaper archive on a work-related project yesterday afternoon, I came across this rather faded announcement from November 1988. Spot the flaws! Amos Brierley? A few incorrect spellings of our favourite landlord's surname have appeared in Emmerdale Farm-related publications over the years. And this Cambridge bookshop also goofs. The correct spelling, of course, is Brearly.

And Ronald Macgill? Of course it was Magill.

And what on earth was the Emmerdale Farm OF COUNTRY LORE? Had the ad's writer been on the sherry?!! Insert the word "Book" between "Farm" and "OF" and you get a much clearer idea!

Despite the errors, it's an interesting ad to have - I hadn't realised that Ronald Magill had helped to publicise James Ferguson's book. I'm sure Cambridge wasn't his only port of call. Did any readers of this blog buy a copy of the book signed by Mr Magill?

The Emmerdale Farm Book Of Country Lore was based on the premise that Sam Pearson, who had died in late November 1984, had left behind a book, an incomplete work, detailing the various doings and sayings of country folk. He left the book to his eldest grandson, Jack, who set about tying up the loose ends and getting it published.

A photograph of actor Toke Townley as Sam Pearson appeared on the back cover and the book served as a tribute to his memory and that of the character he played.

The book was split into sections covering various topics, and featured Jack, Joe and company reading through Grandad Pearson's work and seeking out and exchanging pearls of wisdom from many years ago. There was something of an emphasis on Yorkshire, naturally, but the book was written to sell countrywide, so items of interest to people living in other English counties - and elsewhere in the UK, were included.

A taste of the book - Matt and Jack on counting sheep!

Copies of this book sometimes appear on eBay and if you are interested in folklore and Emmerdale Farm in the late 1980s I highly recommend it. It's just the thing to take to bed with a nice mug of Horlicks on dark winter evenings!

The Emmerdale Farm Knitting Book, 1983

A nice item from 1983 which sometimes turns up on eBay. Good addition to any Emmerdale Farm/Emmerdale collection.

Some interesting facts about the (then) cast are included.

Did you know that Ian Sharrock appeared with Danny Kaye in ATV's production of Peter Pan?

Clive Hornby, the second actor to play Jack Sugden, joined the cast in 1980. He said in 1983: "I knew nothing about farming when I joined the series - but I've learned a lot and realised what a hard life it is."

Cuddlesome Seth Armstrong. Stan Richards had previously appeared briefly in soapland as a councillor colleague of Alf Roberts and Len Fairclough in Coronation Street.

Frederick Pyne helped to raise £25,000 for two hospitals for the disabled, much of it through personal appearances by himself and through arranging them with other members of the cast.

25 Years Ago - The Way Things Were - Gossip From Beckindale 1983 - Part 1...

When Grandad Pearson was presented with fish fingers for dinner, he was not impressed. "I never thought I'd ever see them served up in this house!"

"Now you have," said Annie, rather sternly. "So eat up and stop blethering!"

"To tell you the truth, Annie, I don't know how to start eating 'em," said Grandad.

Jackie stuck in his four penn'orth: "Oh, that's easy - you just pick 'em up and put 'em in your mouth."

Sam was most unhappy: "This is not the way the Lord made fish, lad - that's all I'm saying. I know how to eat fish."

Pat had bought the fish fingers because Sandie liked them, but Sam was adamant...

... fresh fish - and indeed fresh food in general - was best. "That's nowt like fresh food, is there, Annie, eh? It's got a kind of life to it."

Annie made a balancing comment - pointing out that the freezer did have its uses. But Sam was not convinced.

More About Toke Townley...

From the TV Times, 3-9 November 1984:

Toke Townley always regretted not becoming an actor earlier in his life. His parents apparently didn't approve of the stage, and he therefore spent many of his early years as an office clerk.

But when Townley died in September, aged 72, he had been acting for 40 years and had found a happy niche late in life as Sam Pearson of "Emmerdale Farm".

It was a role he had played right from the start of the serial, 12 years ago, and though he looked just right as Sam in his countryman's gear, Townley considered himself a "townie" with no special affection for Sam's rural life. He lived in London with no television or hi-fi, preferring the radio or playing one of his collection of flutes and oboes.

The "Emmerdale Farm" cast held Townley in great affection. He makes his last recorded appearance in two weeks' time. Both Townley and the character he created will be sadly missed.

The History Of Grandad Pearson...

Photograph by Harold Hanscomb

This young actor is Toke Townley - appearing as Willie the houseboy in the 1952 John Paddy Carstairs film comedy Treasure Hunt. The blurb on the back of the original print informs us that Toke was then a "newcomer to the screen". Toke played both the flute and the recorder, and his talents were sometimes made use of on-screen....

... as seen here in this early 1980s scene from Emmerdale Farm. Toke's role as Grandad Sam Pearson evolved, as is the way with most soap characters - the Sam Pearson who first appeared in 1972 was not of quite the same temperament as the Sam Pearson of a couple of years later.

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The opposite of confirmed son-of-the-soil Sam, Toke had no love for the country life, but his playing of the character was utterly convincing. Sometimes testy, sometimes downright grumpy, Sam was a strongly religious man who cared deeply for his family. The materialisatic and promiscuous ways of the modern world were beyond his understanding.

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In the early 1980s, the character was put to excellent use as Anne W Gibbons increased the regular cast and the household at Emmerdale Farm expanded, with the additions of Jack's new wife, Pat, and newly discovered son, Jackie, and Pat's daughter, Sandie.

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To see Sam confronting the modern ways the incomers brought with them - including one memorable scene featuring fish fingers - added further interest to the character. Grandad Pearson was never boring!

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Sam was deeply distressed when young Sandie became pregnant out of wedlock and was not backwards in speaking up, but he did not act out of unkindness, rather concern for Sandie and his fears about the way the world was going.

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Grandad Pearson entertains at the Beckindale Christmas Show, 1983.

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Sam remained an integral part of the Beckindale community until 1984 when Toke Townley died. His final appearance on screen was in November of that year. Sam's final storyline involved his pumpkin winning first prize in the village's annual show, so the character had an upbeat ending.

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In 1985, Richard Handford, the producer of Emmerdale Farm, paid tribute to Toke:

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"He was a very special member of the cast and we still miss him. On his own admission he was a loner. He spent most of his life living out of suitcases and he didn't really have a home; he preferred to live in a hotel. He was quite happy in his own company, yet he was a very sociable man. Toke was the one who knew the christian names of every commissionaire and canteen lady at Yorkshire Television.

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"And when I went to an expensive restaurant in Leeds recently, I discovered he'd been on first name terms with all the waiters and waitresses there as well.

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"Toke lived a simple life. He didn't drink or smoke and his main relaxation was music.

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"He was very good company and a true professional. There was no question of finding another actor to play Sam Pearson. Toke Townley was irreplaceable."

Toke Townley On Farming...

Toke Townley as Sam Pearson in a 1983 episode of "Emmerdale Farm".

Sunday Mirror, July 3, 1983: "I can't imagine anything more dreadful than being a farmer," said Toke Townley, who played one of my favourite Emmerdale Farm characters, Grandad Sam Pearson, from the start of the show in 1972 to the actor's death in 1984.

As he was so convincing in his portrayal of Sam, a character with a deep attachment to farming and the land, it came as something of a surprise way back then to learn that Toke held such a different view. What a great actor he was!