1974: The Story of the LITTLE BRIDGE HOUSE | Nationwide | Weird and Wonderful | BBC Archive

Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin.
Martin Young reports - in his best 'Listen With Mother' voice - from Ambleside, Westmorland, on the story of an unusual little house built on top of a bridge above a stream. Legend has it that the house was built on the bridge so that it would not be liable for rates.
Originally broadcast, 8 April, 1974.
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[@jonathan2950]

I was just in Ambleside last week. This is still there, but the surrounding area looks very different with shops and pubs, and it is much busier with lots of tourists.

[@iamzombie4106]

Thanks for Answering the question before I asked it👍

[@carlosnavarro1091]

Isn't it a tourist attraction?

[@jonathan2950]

@@carlosnavarro1091 it’s only open on a Thursday (I think). But I was talking about the surrounding area, in this video the place looks empty. When I went last week there are people everywhere!

[@tomhickson8313]

I was in Ambleside earlier this yr the house on the bridge was Looking good only glad that tosser wasn’t still there 👍👍👍👍

[@Mistydazzle]

Oh, boy - we "little children" are really ancient, now! What a splendid cottage!

[@diamondjoe100]

I thought he was gonna take the window of its hinges when he slammed it shut 🤣

[@pr9062]

Really good discount retailer for walking gear round the corner 😂

[@Greenpoloboy3]

This short clip left me all warm and cozy feeling. :) TV today wouldnt do that

[@davedogge2280]

Never underestimate what lengths a Scotsman will go to save money on council tax, even if it means building a home not on land but on mid-air !

[@davidlittle7182]

yeah, that's the point of the made-up story; to perpetuate a tired stereotype

[@fc4660]

Super tiresome

[@jintsfan]

The wealth of Britain is built on, not mid air, but the backs and the sweat of the Scotsman. Never forget that.

[@davidlittle7182]

@Mikey Modelle what a clever joke you made

[@magdahearne497]

😂 Classic cookie BBC reporter of bygone days, loving the nod to Watch/Listen With Mother in his reporting style.

[@benjaminclasper9355]

And I like looking at this cottage a lot each time I go to Ambleside and I really like the river running through.

[@davidlittle7182]

haggis reference and miserliness reference: comedy genius

[@onlyme219]

How did he get away with starting to build the house in the first place, it didn't appear over night?

[@markbeale7390]

Yeah exactly?????

[@philelliott5327]

Mate, just go with it. Never let facts get in the way of a good story.😅

[@damianharris2167]

He waited until the whole village went away on the annual two week holiday and built it as soon as their backs were turned 😂

[@Azureecosse]

Used to visit this house back in the 80s with my Mum when we were on Holiday it was a little postcard shop, then we went into the bakery next door and bought a cream cake, not sure if either are still there as never been back to the Lake District but happy memories.

[@richardhoffmann179]

It's still there

[@AECEntertainment]

R.I.P Martin Young. He was great in this

[@catherine59226]

What a lovely story! ❤️👍🏻

[@tugatomskanimation6370]

"A small house for small people." I guess that's where the garden gnomes live, then.

[@KiyokaMakibi]

Take a shot every time he says children. 😆

[@heinkle1]

This guy really channelling his inner Child Catcher persona

[@hoilst265]

Did Operation Yewtree come for this guy yet?

[@stephenchappell7512]

​​@@hoilst265 well it certainly hasn't come for Andy put it that way

[@Tmuk2]

So irritating, I couldn't finish the video

[@fidelcatsro6948]

is this structure still present today?? looks like yes it is! ... 1, Rydal Rd 🐱👍🏿

[@Albert_O_Balsam]

I'd stake my life on that house now being an Air BnB.

[@animillsi3592]

Sorry to disappoint. It's owned by the national trust and a protected property. You can visit on Thursdays in the peak season.

[@Albert_O_Balsam]

@@animillsi3592 on the contrary, I'm very pleased to hear that it's not an Air BnB property.

[@oxouk]

Look up Ted Bundy and tell me this is not his twin brother.

[@syncopatedsteve]

Fair play 👏

[@twinshorts4088]

My god 😂😂

[@Thunderpuddle]

Who approved this guy's script!?!?

[@anthonytube]

Hard to believe this was almost half a century ago. Crazy. I was -4 then! :-)

[@adamdrummer1991]

I just bought a liliput lane model of this bridge house. It’s quaint

[@williamscott2703]

More,please Don't,leave,them,buried,,in,dusty,shelves Never,too,be,seen,for,generations

[@davedogge2280]

The presenter was ahead of his time, he was the first true troll, trolling viewers on a Bridge with the toll being the license fee.

[@whitevanadventures4116]

Oh my god calm down

[@davedogge2280]

@@whitevanadventures4116 calm down dear it's only a commercial.

[@James-hc4jd]

Lil bros got dad humour

[@tjmarx]

2:30 Watch from here in half speed. You can thank me below

[@macronencer]

Thank you. ...I think.

[@benjaminclasper9355]

The music at the beginning I recognised it from wii photo channel music.

[@1969Kismet]

Hey, Tim Holt! This one's for you 😉

[@benjaminclasper9355]

I can’t take him too seriously.

[@CHALCEDON-edu]

He's not meant to be taken seriously. To all commentators here who have no sense of humour - it's a report for a current affairs programme for adults. It has been written as if it's a story for children, and the reporter is delivering it as a mockery of the condescending way in which children's programmes were made in the early days of television.

[@benjaminclasper9355]

No sense of humour. Paah.

[@benjaminclasper9355]

Look who’s talking.

[@KarmasAbutch]

Remember Dads, you can always up yer kid friendly persona by acting camp 😂

[@clairefitzpatrick7183]

If this man approaches your children with free WiFi, tell them to run!

[@benjaminclasper9355]

And why’s the presenter talking to the viewers like they’re preschoolers? I’m getting that vibe.

[@dobythedog]

He was ahead of his time. Now all presenters do this.

[@LindaTCornwall]

Lol. It’s so patronising, born in 68 so the 70’s was my childhood, but didn’t realise just how patronising some of the made for kids shows were! 😂🤣

[@agemoth]

I figured it out as a 70s kid when I realised that the Batman TV show was deliberately taking the piss out of kids in the script and the hammy acting.

[@greenvelvet]

Is this guy okay??

[@michaelturner4457]

So it escaped the luftwaffe.

[@benjaminclasper9355]

He must be the child catcher’s brother.

[@Charlotte66666]

Is this Ted Bundy moonlighting?😮

[@BigOompaLoompa]

Full time daddy....lol

[@markbeale7390]

Scotsman name Mcbridgestone

[@Jay-ql4gp]

That was interesting. But the presenter was just a bit creepy if I'm honest.

[@marcse7en]

But surely the tight-arsed Scotsman WILL have to pay Council Tax on the land which supports the bridge which supports his house? ... Because the tight-arsed Scotsman's house DOESN'T actually float freely in the air? 🤣 EDIT: I suggest that Ambleside Council STOP emptying the tight-arsed Scotsman's bins! ... He won't be so clever then, will he? 🤣

[@shonamacdonald1054]

Why am I getting child catcher vibes from this presenter...... 😅

[@bobdillon1138]

Obviously you don't get earthquakes.

[@The.Last.Guitar.Hero.]

I'm sure someone somewhere would be offended by this now with reference to Daddy, Scotsman and little people 🙄

[@joshuataylor3550]

Are you offended that people get offended?

[@robbflynn4325]

Guy looks like Ted Bundy.😮

[@volvos60bloke]

now we have got are brexit did we should all visit their instead of orther corntree's.

[@JungleJeffarnold]

It's in Forza Horizon 4 😂

[@fc4660]

Fake news, young Martin. Lay off the Scots. It was built by the local (English) Braithwaite family who owned the estate and Apple orchards.

[@POCLEE]

So basically it's a tax evasion.

[@benjaminclasper9355]

Or whether this section was meant for young children.

[@andrewemery4272]

Scots never change

[@auldreekie7768]

Neither do bigots

[@CHALCEDON-edu]

The Queen Mother was Scottish and spent money - other people's money - as if it was going out of fashion.

[@Shane-ln5zz]

The way he says children and the bbc connection really makes me hope he was never left alone with children

[@mikeb2575]

Who do all kids presenters start by saying "Are you sitting comfortably" ? Of course they are, they wouldn't be sitting there with their leg wrapped over the head and their hand pressed against a cheese grater would they?

[@KarmasAbutch]

Exactly. Unlike now where something bloody hurts no matter how I sit … which is why you never ask old folks this haha

[@petergivenbless900]

It's a ploy to calm restlessness; at storytime the kids would all gather to sit on the mat before the teacher, but a lot would be squirming and fidgeting and talking amoungst themselves so the teacher would suspend the reading until all were sitting quietly by asking "Are you all sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin... ", this drew the kids attention to their own attentiveness, with the reward of being read to, conditional upon their compliance.

[@FISHINGMINTY]

“Not enough room to swing a haggis” - that creepy presenter would definitely be cancelled now 😆

[@saraprva4172]

Came here for comments about viewers childhood memories - Reality - 80% about the presenter being a nonce

[@jackcutler9096]

That little guy is intolerable

[@hypercomms2001]

Being the BBC... this man is very weird....

[@Jayfive276]

He’s doing a bit you weirdo.

[@matthewtrow5698]

All complete cobblers in this video, look up the real story. Possibly the entire report was meant in jest - but it's accuracy is terrible for that.

[@AllMy78s]

God this presenter is cringy... Originally built as an Apple store by the Brathwaite Family, avoiding land tax, they were big guns in the village, running everything... Later it was turned into a house... I go to Ambleside every year and have been for the last 16 years and rarely see it open to the public... If you go and get depressed that it is closed, carry on down the street towards the center about 50 yards to the bakery and cheer yourself up with an Ambleside Bath bun... ;)

[@Wildmutationblu]

This is so unfunny and creepy. Typical of the BBC.

[@joshuataylor3550]

You're a mindless follower.

[@krakowski-ruch-katolikow]

I'm pretty sure I've heard that piece before, can't really remember what it might be. Schumann? Mendelssohn perhaps?

[@nickp1548]

Isn't it the old BBC 'Listen With Mother' music?

[@krakowski-ruch-katolikow]

@@nickp1548 Yes, it is! I did a quick search for it and it turns out it's Faure's Dolly Suite Opus 56.

[@Dunelmsoprano]

Fauré's Dolly Suite

[@stephen9453]

Why is it okay for the BBC to feature this kind of stereotypical and racist nonsense, "swing a haggis" when it's the Scots on the receiving end? Would you feature episodes of Till Death Do us Part? I doubt it. This house was an apple store, built by the family that owned the bridge.

[@danyoutube7491]

I think it's a harmless stereotype, the equivalent of associating English people with cups of tea or bowler hats.

[@joshuataylor3550]

Steve Jobs owned the bridge?

[@krakowski-ruch-katolikow]

I'm a Polish person from the city of Krakow. Krakovians are at times referred to as "centusie" (penny hoarders). I don't find that particularly offensive. Nor has the short video changed my overall positive attitude towards the people of Scotland. God bless from Krakow!

[@markbeale7390]

Didn't they want anybody else use the bridge?????

[@moaningpheromones]

@@danyoutube7491 or football rioting. yeah, why not?