Bid to save Uncle Monty’s cottage

Feb 6 2009 by Susan Taylor, The Journal

A FAN of the cult film Withnail And I is urging fellow devotees to save Uncle Monty’s cottage from yuppies and property developers.

Ben Webster has launched a campaign to buy the Cumbrian cottage, used in key scenes in the 1987 film. Known as Uncle Monty’s cottage, it provided the backdrop for a hilariously disastrous weekend in the countryside for the two unemployed actors after whom the film is named. The pair desert their grotty Camden flat and head to the cottage, owned by Withnail’s Uncle Monty, for a weekend of mayhem.

The cottage, Sleddale Hall near Shap, was mainly used for exterior shots. It is owned by United Utilities and is being sold at auction in 11 days with a guide price of £145,000. Mr Webster, a freelance copywriter, is one of a number of fans in the UK who have launched campaigns to buy the cottage.

His campaign team, which includes a solicitor and a web designer, have created the website www.saveunclemontys.org