“Louisa”
(A feature film)


A wonderful rare 1930's view of Lynmouth Harbour showing how the area was before the devastating 1952 floods swept away most buildings on the right. On the middle-left we can see a single black Austin 7 car parked by a white building which was the LOUISA lifeboat station. This is a very rare photograph kindly supplied by a relation of the lifeboat signalman Richard Moore who was one of the famous LOUISA crewmen who rescued the Forrest Hall ship in January 1899.

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Dave Reynolds (Flat-Broke Films UK) with International Screenplay writer Andy Horton (USA) and Richard Vizor (Guiding Star Films/UK) at the October 2009 Cheltenham Screenwriters Festival, talking about Flat-Broke Films/William G Homewood's "LOUISA" feature film screenplay in the Green Room.

For any enquiries about our "LOUISA" screenplay/film project, please email: overlandlaunch@fsmail.net





"LOUISA" being taken through Porlock Town where a house wall had to be demolished to get her through at 4am-the lady of the house was a bit surprised to see a lifeboat in the street.


This is a reconstructed version of "LOUISA" currently displayed at the East Lyn Waterfall Museum in Lynmouth. Quite a dramatic sight when you appreciate it was hauled up and over the "mountainside" to Porlock Weir.


Here are the Square-Sail ships tied up at Sharpness Docks enroute to Gloucester Docks-the ship in the foreground is of a similar type to the Forrest Hall, but over 100 feet shorter.


A square-sail ship in a modern part of Gloucester Docks.
www.square-sail.com

David Reynolds met up with 2 Square Sail ships as they entered Sharpness Docks on their way to the Tall Ships Festival in Gloucester Docks end of May '09. They had left their home port of Charlestown Harbour (St Austell, Cornwall) and travelled around Land's End first to Barry in South Wales; then moored off Porlock Weir, Somerset (Site of the famous 1899 lifeboat rescue of the Forrest Hall ship); and then they proceeded up the R Severn to Sharpness. With much involvement in many maritime films they have shown interest in Louisa, a feature film project.


A tranquil view from Porlock Weir harbour with Hurlstone Point headland in the background.
This is where the LOUISA lifeboat was launched in stormy conditions in order to rescue
the Forrest Hall sailing ship.

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WILLIAM (BILL) G. HOMEWOOD
Joins “Louisa” Project



Bill has linked up with David Reynolds and they are now co-developing a screenplay draft of the famous 1899 Louisa lifeboat story set in Devon and Somerset.


After several visits to Lynmouth back in 1979-80, Bill started making notes-meeting relatives of the Louisa lifeboat crew and commenced an outline screenplay – most of which was based on real events, but with fictionalised characters added to make the story more realistic. He then tried to find an agent to progress the project-but failed, and lost interest. Until earlier this year he started thinking about Louisa again. So checking out more info about the story Bill was shocked to see that David Reynolds was actively seeking to produce a screenplay, but was extending the story to include the plight of the Forrest Hall ship.


Bill contacted David in March ’09 and they are now working hard together to develop an exciting heroic screenplay in order to bring the famous story to the big silver screen. David has spoken to several producers who are interested in reading the completed draft feature film screenplay.


Bill was born in London in 1936 and later lived in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire (UK) where after his retirement his family moved out to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina, USA. He has a great love for sailing and filming, thus his interest in Overland Launch (More of his CV and a photos to follow).



The stunning view of Lynmouth Bay, Devon viewed over 1000 feet above from Countisbury Hill

  
Looking down Countisbury Hill towards Lynmouth Bay and (right) Porlock Bay with Hurlstone Point in the background. Just off the headland is where the Forrest Hall ship nearly ran aground onto the rocks, but was rescued by the heroic Louisa lifeboat crew from Lynmouth.


Forrest Hall (1909) off Ninety Mile Beach, North Island, New Zealand displayed with the kind permission of John Edmonds from Far North Photos Ltd. www.farnorth.co.nz from the Northwood Collection.

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Far North Regional Museum, Kaitaia, North Island, New Zealand

The Far North Regional Museum, located in the town of Kaitaia on the North Island of New Zealand, is currently holding a Special Centenary Year Exhibition commemorating the Forrest Hall British sailing ship running aground onto the famous Ninety Mile Beach in 1909. Flat-Broke Films has contributed material which is also being displayed which shows the ship's encounter with the "LOUISA" lifeboat in 1899 in Somerset, UK. For more information please go to www.farnorthmuseum.co.nz and if you are touring
New Zealand, please visit and support the Museum.

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At 7.52pm on 12th January 1899, a 1900 ton 3-masted iron hull clipper ship “Forrest Hall” carrying 13 crew and 5 apprentices. She was been taken from Bristol to Liverpool and was drifting near Porlock Bay in the Bristol Channel, due to a force 9 gale which had been blowing all day. The ship had been towed by a tugboat, but the tow line had broken because of the huge waves, and the ship was dragging her anchors and had lost her rudder and steering gear. The ship’s destruction was a distinct probability. Rockets were fired from the ship for “Louisa” (the Lynmouth lifeboat) to be launched to assist. However, because of the stormy weather, it was impossible for the lifeboat to be launched from Lynmouth Harbour. A decision was made to transport the lifeboat by road to Porlock Weir’s sheltered harbour – some 13 miles across the desolate Exmoor – and launch it from there.


Dave Reynolds props up the Porlock Hill Toll Road signpost after climbing the hill ... in his car!

The lifeboat plus its carriage weighed about 10 tons, and transporting it would not be easy. 20 horses and 100 men started by hauling the boat up the 1 in 4 Countisbury Hill out of Lynmouth around 8pm in torrential rain and high winds. Six of the men were sent ahead with picks and shovels to widen the muddy track where the highest point is 1423 feet above sea level. After crossing the 13 miles of wild Exmoor tracks, the dangerously steep and twisting Porlock Hill had to be descended with horses and drag boards to stall the descent. Even a house frontage in Porlock had to be demolished to allow the lifeboat to reach Porlock Weir.

At 6.30am the following morning “Louisa” was finally launched. Although cold, soaking wet, hungry and exhausted, the crew rowed for over an hour in treacherous seas to reach the stricken “Forrest Hall” which was in a very poor condition. Fortunately, the tired and sick ship’s crew had no casualties; but 4 of the horses used died of exhaustion. The “Forrest Hall” was eventually towed into Barry in South Wales by two tugboats accompanied by the tired crew of “Louisa”. Following a good nights rest, “Louisa” and the heroic, but tired crew returned triumphantly to Lynmouth, and were later presented with a silver watch and £5 each donated by a local businessman.

The whole purpose of our film project is to show this heroic rescue story to the Whole World and for all the lifeboat men to receive posthumous OBE’s or MBE’s or similar for their outstanding gallantry, beyond the call of duty, on behalf of the RNLI (Royal National Lifeboat Institute).

Ironically, after the amazing rescue of the “Forrest Hall”, in 1909, whilst transporting a hold full of coal from Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia to Chile in South America, the ship ran aground on Ninety Mile Beach, on the North Island of New Zealand in a calm sea and sunny day, onto a sandbank. (As shown on the photograph displayed above by kind permission of the State Library of South Australia). The ship’s captain, having been ill, had set an incorrect course whilst running down Ninety Mile Beach and she became wrecked breaking her back. She is still there!! Fortunately, all the crew survived and the Captain was later found guilty of negligence in a tribunal and was suspended from duty for a few years. However he donated the ship’s bell to a local NZ school as a “thank you” to the population in the area that helped look after his crew. We have photos of that bell and the ship as it is now being sent to us by the Far North Regional Museum in Kaitaia, New Zealand for which we are very grateful for their help with our film project research.

FEATURE FILM CONCEPT

William (Bill) G. Homewood (USA) and David S. Reynolds (UK) are co-writing an original screenplay based on true events of those times. To make the story more interesting fictitious characters and situations have been developed to make the story more realistic and entertaining, but all the facts are being extensively researched to make the story as historically accurate as possible. Mostly the names of real people will be used, subject to the approval of any known living relatives, however it is not our intention to blacken any persons names or reputations.  We only seek goodness to come from this film.

The famous novel by the late C. Walter Hodges (1909-1995), “The Overland Launch”, has already sold over 25 million copies World-wide, and it came to David’s notice on a visit to the 2007 Porlock International Literary Festival with his friend David Hall who was born in the lovely village. Porlock is located in North Somerset County and is nestled in a steep valley between Exmoor and the sea at Porlock Weir. The infamous A39 Porlock Hill with its 1:4 steep twisting road heads out of Porlock climbing up towards Exmoor’s rolling hills and then down another 1:4 steep hill (Countisbury) into Lynmouth – a challenge still for all modern vehicles.

Having read the book David wondered why it had not been filmed before as it reminded him of Ealing Film’s “Titfield Thunderbolt” and “Whiskey Galore” stories which have similar whimsical plotlines. In fact upon further investigations it was discovered that the BBC in 1970, through its “Jackanory” children’s TV programme, had created five 9 minute dramatisations of “The Overland Launch” featuring Freddie Jones as the narrator. Originally the BBC had intended filming at the actual locations, but then discovered that the coastal track was now a busy tarmac highway and filming would be logistically impossible. So they broadcasted drama-documentary style episodes which proved very popular. Also an audio cassette version of the Novel was released and has sold well.

In 1999 the event was recreated to mark the 100 years anniversary and thousands of people turned out to watch a lifeboat being hauled by horses and modern equipment.  The Novel was written with young children and teenagers in mind, but the undoubted courage shown by the lifeboat crew and townspeople of Lynton and Lynmouth in saving the Forrest Hall appeals to all ages!!

That’s what we intend to capture with an interesting and spirited screenplay to honour the lifeboat crew who declared on that stormy night, “It’s us or it’s nobody. And it can’t never be nobody; not in the lifeboat service. Go we must.”

We have been further encouraged as we have been approached by a London based film production company (May 2009) who want to read a final draft of completed screenplay which we hope will be ready during the summer of 2009. To see this famous story on the silver screen around the World is both Bill & David’s dream!!