A PERFECT PAD TO LOAF ABOUT IN...
There are few TV ads that have sunk permanently into the nation’s fabric, but the 1973 one for Hovis – featuring a baker’s boy struggling up a hill with his bike to deliver his loaves – has achieved it.
Just the opening tune of Dvorak’s New World Symphony played by a brass band is enough to get Brits young and old dusting off their best faux country accents.
The advert once beat other iconic TV commercials in a poll of the nation’s most favourite, including famous ones for Ferrero Rocher, Milk Tray and Bisto.
The Hovis ad has been much parodied, including by The Two Ronnies in 1978 as well as more recently by Youtubers.
Despite its northern feel, the ad was filmed on Gold Hill, a steep street in the Dorset village of Shaftesbury, and was directed by a young talent who would go on to greater, more ‘alien’ projects – Ridley Scott. The area is a favourite with TV and film companies, and other famous visitors have included the cast of Only Fools and Horses and, during the 1980s, rock giants Big Country who filmed one of their music videos in a nearby field.
One of the houses featured in the Hovis advertisement is now for sale. Updown Cottage is a four-bedroom, oak-beamed property with two reception rooms, a separate snug and extraordinary views at the rear over the achingly beautiful Blackmore Vale.
It’s for sale at £600,000 with the Salisbury branch of Hamptons International (01722 480142).