Scarborough Sewer Rebels will be coming into a feature film: Neptune's Sons

In the 1980s, when a group of middle-aged Scarborough swimmers became concerned about sewerage in the ocean, they began organizing strange stunts to highlight their cause and even take over the government. Now the story is being filmed.

"No one in Scarborough knows I've been arrested." Freddie Drabble was supposed to be a respected local attorney, but an attempt to steer a leaky boat with a giant toilet named Thatcherlo down the River Thames in front of the Houses of Parliament to tackle the waste disposal problem ended in disaster.

The boat capsized, fetched water, and was surrounded by river police. Freddie and another gang of canal rebels are taken to the Wapping Police Department.

Beside him sat the commander of the ill-fated ship, Captain Sidney Smith, who was in his 80s. 

"No need," he said, "he's sitting there."

Today, the other five members of this environmental protest group are in their 80s, but they are still as talkative as they were 30 years ago when they started provoking anger in their hometown with the long Canal War.

His exploits are now finding their way onto the silver screen. This is a well-known story about British eccentricities and struggles against the authorities and how generous idealism can affect people's lives in every way. Unfortunately, there are still people in North Yorkshire who cannot forgive them.

At first, they were just a bunch of enthusiastic and slightly quirky marine swimmers. But that all changed when Yorkshire Water unveiled a plan to 'improve' water quality by building a long drain pipe for marine sewage in Scarborough's North Bay.

"We had two fantastic bays, and then someone came and wanted to poison our waters," as Drabal put it.

It was Freddie who started the fight by writing letters to his friends, podiatrist and rocks 'n' roll historian Charles White (who wrote a biography of his best friend Little Richard), marketing manager Brian Dew, accountant Chris Fund and sent bookmaker Cecil Ridley. . Now they are called sons of Neptune, he said. 

"I don't know how I called him," he said.

When they started protesting about water quality near Scarborough, it sparked an angry reaction from the council and local holiday traders, who felt the group had unfairly damaged the city's reputation.