Gordon Murray, creator of Trumpton, has passed away

For those of you not in the UK you will have to bear with me, but Gordon Murray’s Trumpton was a big part of my childhood. Mind you, Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley may have been shown on Nickelodeon. It is so sad to hear that Gordon has passed away at the grand old age of 95

The Trumptonshire Trilogy – Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley – were shown weekly by the BBC from 1966 for 20 years. Camberwick Green, which was made using stop-motion animation, was the first children’s show to be aired in colour on the BBC in 1966.

After leaving school, MUrray started working as a journalist and joined the Territorial Army. In 1939 he was enlisted in the London Scottish Regiment. Having been commissioned into the Royal Corps of Signals, Murray took part in the Normandy landings as a platoon commander, landing on Gold Beach.

After the war, he worked as an actor in repertory theatre, and appeared in Shakespeare plays and Peter Pan – where he met his wife, ballet dancer Enid Martin.

In the 1950s, Murray established a puppet company touring theatres in the UK, when he was scouted by BBC producer Freda Lingstrom. Murray had the opportunity to become the BBC’s head of children’s programmes, but chose instead to form his own production company – where he created the Trumptonshire trilogy. Camberwick Green, Trumpton and Chigley were created using stop motion animation and actual 3D scaled down models. The characters were eight inches tall, with heads made out of ping-pong balls and clothes out of foam latex.

In recent years he lived with his family near Stamford and is survived by his daughters Emma and Rose and his four grandchildren.

Pugh, Pugh, Barney McGrew, Cuthbert, Dibble, Grubb and all the other characters will be mourning his passing.

Source: BBC