60 years of The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner: how the locations look today

Out of all of the directors to emerge from the British New Wave of the late 1950s and early 60s, the central figure was undoubtedly Royal Court protégé Tony Richardson. He directed four of the movement’s most important films: Look Back in Anger (1959), The Entertainer (1960), A Taste of Honey (1961) and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962). And out of these four, it’s the last, which premiered 60 years ago on 27 September 1962, that is the most visually inventive in its use of location filming.

Richardson’s film follows young tearaway Colin Smith (Tom Courtenay) as he enters life in a borstal. Throughout the film, we see flashbacks of Colin’s life, from his initial family troubles, including the death of his father (Peter Madden), to his early delinquency, before finally the robbery he committed that brought him to the institution. While there, his talent for running is spotted by the borstal’s governor (Michael Redgrave), who gives Colin increasing freedom to train ahead of an upcoming competition with the boys from a local private school. Will Colin be able to retain his spirited rebellion against the establishment while helping the governor improve the image of the borstal?

Considering Alan Sillitoe’s original novel is set in the distinctive industrial landscape of Nottingham, it’s surprising to find that all of Richardson’s location filming took place in London and the Home Counties. Unlike the more faithful location shoots of other British New Wave titles, the director found a strangely alluring equivalent in the dereliction of 1960s West London, as well as the more industrial side of Surrey.

Here are five locations from the film as they stand today.

In the film’s many flashbacks to Colin’s journey to borstal, we see various haunts from his past. Early on, we see him and his family living in some Nissen huts in what appears to be an industrial part of Nottingham. The huts were actually situated in Gospel Oak off Gordon House Road. The building next to the alleyway, now called The Courtyard, is still standing and makes the shots easy to map.

We see Colin and his friend Mike (James Bolam) emerge from the alleyway and back onto Gordon House Road. The road today is unchanged.

The alleyway itself is also intact at both ends. We see it variously throughout the film, including this shot where Colin tries to make his escape from the police in the pouring rain.

The actual Nissen huts were demolished and replaced with a housing development long ago. However, with the alleyway acting as a marker, the exact location of where the huts once were is also easy to spot. Today, the garden seen in front of the hut now leads down into a car park.

Bored and looking for a bit of fun, Colin and Mike go in search of a car to potentially nab for a day’s drive. Walking the streets, they find one with the keys left in and drive away. The road where they took the car from is Chase Road in Acton. Today, the road is inaccessible due to HS2 developments, but the location can be recognised due the back wall of Acton cemetery seen to the left of the shot.

Later in the film, after picking up two girls, Audrey (Topsy Jane) and Gladys (Julia Foster), the four drive to the country where they look down over industrial Nottingham. Moving out of London, Richardson actually filmed this in Whyteleafe in Surrey. The initial hill seen shows a bridge and tunnel leading to Maple Road.

The four sit down and relax looking out over the view, which shows the area’s gas tower and Riddlesdown Quarry. Today, the view is mostly blocked by two safety fences though the lower half of the tower has survived.
 

Before taking the girls to the hillside, Colin and Mike picked them up on a road not far from where they stole the car. They first spot the girls on Victoria Road in Acton. The shot looks south down the road. Today, it’s unrecognisable and the exact spot is difficult to pin-point due to developments.

We also see a shot of the road looking north. Again, with the huge changes undergoing the area due to HS2 and the dozens of new blocks of flats, trying figure out exactly where this shot is taken is difficult, but it is likely somewhere on the part nearer to Acton Central Station, whose wires could be partly seen in the previous shot.

One of the first buildings seen in the film is the ominous architecture of Ruxton Towers, the borstal where Colin is destined. The building is actually Ruxley Towers on Ruxley Ridge in Claygate, Surrey. Though seen initially through security fences, today the house is a luxury development surrounded by mansions.

Further shots of the building are taken from various high points so are difficult to recreate. However, the building’s distinctive architecture is easily recognisable. The house was famed for once being the home of former Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, which shows just how much times have changed since the days of Colin’s detention.

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The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is available on the BFI Blu-ray box set Woodfall: A Revolution in British Cinema.