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As a naive young 20-year-old, Roger Cole (right), from Crawley, enjoyed his job working in the film industry. He provided caravans for the actors to use while they were shooting scenes on location and generally attended to their needs. The filming of Women in Love around Derbyshire in the summer of 1968, however, involved seeing a little more of the stars than he had bargained for.

At the age of 20, the idea of working with my brother, providing caravans for actors to use while filming on location seemed like a great idea.

And it certainly proved an interesting way to way to earn a bit of money, as it involved travelling to various parts of the UK and meeting, in person, some of the better known actors of the day. For three years, I lived out of a suitcase, travelling wherever the work took me.

One of the most memorable and challenging projects I was involved with was the filming of the DH Lawrence’s classic novel, Women in Love, in 1968.

As the book was set in the East Midlands, the area in which author DH Lawrence was born, it was decided that much of the film would be shot in that region, with visits to Sheffield and Newcastle for some of the more industrial scenes.

After a few weeks of working in Sheffield, we moved into Derbyshire and located the caravans at Elvaston Castle, which was to be our main base throughout the summer while filming in the county.

The infamous nude wrestling scene between actors Oliver Reed and Alan Bates

I remember Elvaston Castle at that time being a very large and rundown country house. Apparently, it had not been lived in for a number of years.

I was working with Laurie Ayres and, on this film, we had six caravans to look after and tow around, using just two Land Rovers. There was one caravan to be used as a dressing room for each of the main stars, plus a couple of extra caravans for other stars to use. We parked the caravans in the courtyard in front of the old stables. I remember the courtyard had cobble stones which made it a little difficult to put the legs of the caravans down and secure them as it was a little uneven.

Most of the filming at Elvaston was done in the castle grounds but a few of the scenes were shot inside the house. We went home every weekend but we would more often than not arrive back at Elvaston early in the morning.

The security guards came to know us quite well and would often chat to us on a Monday morning before filming commenced. They told us that the house was haunted by a ghost called Charlie and claimed that no-one lived there any more because everyone who had, except the last person, had died due to an accident connected with horses.

They also said that the last descendant had sold the house to the National Trust and had moved to Ireland. From reading about the history of the house, it would seem that very little of what the security guards had told us was actually true but it made an entertaining tale.

A fairground was set up on the large lawns of the grounds for one of the scenes, just in front of the large lake, and the scene was shot with the cast and extras in period costume.

Glenda Jackson, left, in a scene from Women in Love

The lake at Elvaston was used several times in the movie, including the filming of the drowning scene, involving two of the characters played by Sharon Gurney and Christopher Gable. Unfortunately, it was October by the time the drowning scene was filmed and, although it was not too cold at the time, the water must have been freezing for Christopher and Sharon.

They filmed the drowning scene at the far side of the lake as the actors were in the nude and only essential people were allowed to be there.

As I was the only one with a four-wheel-drive vehicle, I was asked to tow a caravan round the lake and park through the woods so the actors had somewhere to get dry and keep warm. It was very tricky trying to get the caravan through the woods. I had to manoeuvre it very carefully between the numerous trees as the ground was very wet and muddy at the time.

Although both stars were in the lake together, they filmed the drowning scenes separately; Christopher’s scene was shot first and then Sharon’s. I was standing just behind the camera while they filmed the scenes. I was very embarrassed when Sharon had finished her scene and then emerged out of the water, completely naked. The wardrobe mistress was waiting at the side to wrap a large towel around her and help her to the caravan to get dried and dressed.

As soon as they were both dressed, I had to drive them back to their hotel so they could have a hot shower and warm up. I then had the task of returning to Elvaston Castle to retrieve the caravan from the woods and return it to the stable courtyard.

The scene where the two naked bodies were found was filmed at a weir somewhere else in Derbyshire, several miles from Elvaston where there were supposed to have drowned.

The infamous nude wrestling scene between Oliver Reed and Alan Bates was also shot at Elvaston, inside one of the rooms at the rear of the house. The scene was extremely risque for the time and, as a result, had to be carefully scrutinised by the censors to make sure there were no static, full frontal shots.

Although the sequence is well known now, during the shooting most of were unaware of its content so it was quite a shock to witness it.

Apparently, it was normal practice then, especially in action scenes, to have someone present with medical expertise on set, just in case someone got hurt. On this particular day, it was a female St John Ambulance person who was attending and I stood quite near her during the filming.

I happened to be watching her when the actors first appeared with no clothes on and particularly when they started to wrestle. Her facial expression was a picture. I’m sure she must have seen a naked man at sometime in her life but not, I suspect, wrestling with another man with all their bits bobbing about!

I still have very strong memories of certain parts of Elvaston Castle. I recall that, from the courtyard to the left of the main building, there was a room which was, I think, part of the kitchen. Above the door, just near the ceiling, was a box of bells and a light relating to different rooms in the house.

This was where the person upstairs would ring for the servant and the light and bell would indicate where their attendance was required. I am not sure when the house was last occupied but, in the room with the bell box, I noticed several old newspapers covering the counters which seemed to date back to the era just after the Second World War. I actually returned to Derbyshire and Elvaston Castle in recent years and it brought back many good memories of that summer, including one enjoyable afternoon when Oliver Reed invited me to have a drink with him.

I emerged two hours later much the worse for wear! He certainly enjoyed drink even then but he was great company and liked by everyone. I was a little intimidated when I first met him but he told me that he was a pussy cat and I soon realised that he was full of fun, had no airs and graces and treated everyone as an equal.

I was very touched when I came across him again, quite by chance, filming a scene on a London Street with Hayley Mills. I just happened to be walking by but he recognised me and came over to say hello.

I only worked in the film industry for three years before deciding that I wanted to have a less nomadic life, with a permanent home and a steady job, but it was certainly one of the most interesting jobs I have ever done. I met many well-known actors. Not all were friendly but I have very warm memories of the time I spent in Derbyshire, working on the Women in Love set. All the actors were extremely down to earth and I recall that Glenda Jackson always treated everyone well and with a great deal of respect.

I am now 61 and, looking back at my life, feel that I am lucky to have had the chance to meet some of these great actors and spend time with them off-screen, too.

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County:  Derbyshire

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