The Moon and the Sledgehammer

Philip Trevelyan

Born in London in 1943. Son of Julian Trevelyan, painter. Home in Newhaven, Sussex.

“In 1970 I approached Jimmy Vaughan with plans for The Moon And The Sledgehammer.  I knew him already as the distributor of my previous film along with a personal choice of under-ground and experimental films.  It was thanks to his initiative as a financier and producer that The Moon And The Sledge-hammer was able to go into production."

The film took over a year to complete, and was subject not only to the strains and stresses of an emerging production company, but to considerable differences of opinion between Vaughan and myself.

It may still be possible, thanks to the calm engineering of the editor Barrie Vince, to find in this film some evidence of two minds and two talents working together.”

Ideas for future productions in England are slowly emerging.

1960-62 Dept Fine Art, Kings College, Newcastle.

1963-66 Dept Film & TV, the Royal College of Art.

1967 Granada Television; Documentary Team

1968 BBC Television: Documentary Team

Film titles and career:

1964        Lambing 16mm B. & W. 20 mins
National Nature Film Festival 1^st prize. Broadcast on BBC TV.
Director / editor while at Royal College of Art.

1966        The Ship Hotel, Tyne Maine   16mm  B&W  35 mins.  Director/editor.
Won silver medal at Royal College of Art. Broadcast on Tyne Tees TV.
Shown at Krakow Film Festival.

1966        Margins of the Mind Producer’s assistant. 16mm colour.  30 mins each Granada TV series.

1968        The Farmer’s Hunt   16mm colour  40 mins.  Director.
BBC film of stag hunting on Exmoor

1970        The Moon & the Sledgehammer for Vaughan Films.  16mm colour 65 mins. Director.
Shown in Berlin & London Film Festivals.

1971         Big Ware:  16mm colour 40 mins.  Director / Producer.
Traditional country potter.
Shown on BBC Omnibus and won a prize in Canada.

1972/4      Portraits of Places.  16mm colour 30 – 40 mins.   TV series for Granada, with Ray Gosling writing and appearing.
Director of seven titles, which included:
Trafford Park, (Manchester).
Sleepy Hollow (Goole),
Bath in Spring
Caravan Strip (Rhyl),
Aldershot (on Armistice Day),
Hookey (a village for Christmas)
Liverpool Lunchtime. 

1975      Started farming at Hill Top Farm, in North Yorkshire.

1976        Hired as director for a dramatised film about the Mongols and the building of Isfahan. David Frost Productions. Project ended with deposition of Shah.

1979        Part-directed (and entirely edited / re-constructed), a film about the poet Basil Bunting. 
Made for the Arts Council.  Shown at London and Cannes.  16mm colour 40 mins

1979        K.491  An exploration of the famous Mozart Piano Concerto in C minor.  No words.  16mm colour 60 mins
Commissioned by Channel Four Television.  (Director / editor)

1985        Surrealism in Liverpool  16mm colour.  Granada TV film celebrating Surrealism and the arrival of an international exhibition as the new Tate of the North.  Commentary by George Melly.       

1986-2007 Organic farmer (beef, sheep, cereals).

Founded the Lazy Dog Tool Co. (designing & making specialist hand tools) www.lazydogtoolco.co.uk

Founded Yorkshire Organic Millers (a specialist grain milling project).  (website under construction)