Fort Amherst is film set for TV porn series
A publishable scene
from the film shot at Fort Amherst
by Dan Bloom
One of Medway’s best-loved heritage sites has been used to film
a TV porn series.
Fort Amherst was offered £1,200 by the film crew behind the
programme, which is being shown on the pay-per-view station The
Adult Channel.
It follows the explicit antics of “America’s finest undercover
agent” Michael Tight, who flits between smashing the criminal
underworld and having sex.
But it has caused upset among some at the attraction in Dock
Road, Chatham, which is run by a charitable trust and whose
volunteers include mental health patients and young
offenders.
The scenes for ‘Tight Rider’ were shot in the fort’s historic
tunnels, which re-opened thanks to a £50,000 grant from the
Heritage Lottery Fund.
One volunteer, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: “I’m no
prude, but this is completely inappropriate for a place which gets
charity grants”.
It is believed the chairman of the Fort Amherst Heritage Trust
at the time, Martin Rogers, left his post after concerns were
raised. He declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding his
departure.
The usual scenes at
Fort Amherst
One trustee has also claimed a donation has been held back in
the wake of the filming.
Documents seen by our sister paper the Medway Messenger
confirm Playboy TV agreed to film for up to 10 hours inside the
fort’s 200-year-old labyrinth of tunnels.
It is understood a representative of the fort was informed the
filming would include adult scenes.
The crew used a closed set during the day on May 16, yards
from where fort volunteers normally work.
Tight Rider is a spoof of the 1980s detective hit Knight Rider
and stars Slovakian actress Natalli D’Angelo.
A trailer on YouTube shows Michael Tight tied to a chair by
criminals who are ready to kill him – but not before Miss D’Angelo
gets “a little piece of him before he dies”. The film was showing
on the Adult Channel this week.
The filming was slammed by trustee Matthew Hill, who is also
the chief executive of the Chatham Maritime Trust, which provides
funds for children’s “bug hunts” at the fort.
He said: “I think it’s absolutely appalling. There must be far
better ways of raising funds through filming rights and I do
support a full investigation which I have urged the new chairman to
carry out.”
Mr Hill warned it could sway future charity grants against the
fort, adding: “Different people have different views, but
personally I think if you want to film porn, do it in a warehouse
or wherever they do it. I would not allow porn to be filmed on
Chatham Maritime Trust’s land.
“I am aware of one private donor holding back as a result of
this.” He added: “I would like to stress that I only accepted the
post of trustee in the middle of August and only became aware of
this filming a few weeks ago.”
Several prominent figures sit on the Fort Amherst Heritage
Trust.
Trustees include former Medway Council legal officer Deborah
Upton and River ward councillor Andrew Mackness (Con).
Cllr Mackness said: “I can’t comment as a trustee but as a
ward councillor, I absolutely distance myself from both the process
that enabled the booking to occur, and register my distaste for the
actual filming.
“I support the trust’s investigation and I believe anyone who
was aware of that booking prior to it taking place should
resign.”
"I support the trust’s investigation and I believe anyone who was aware of that booking prior to it taking place should resign" – Cllr Andrew Mackness
Trust chairman
Edmund Gulvin said: “Fort Amherst confirms that a professional film
company in the adult entertainment industry filmed scenes at Fort
Amherst during May of this year.
“The contract was handled by a third party location company
employed by us and was a private hiring of the Fort.
“The filming was conducted under a closed set policy and there
was no public access to the set at any time during the
filming.”
“We are currently reviewing our procedures for filming as a result
of this booking.”
The fort was built from 1755 to protect Chatham Dockyard, but
never saw combat and was declared obsolete in 1820, although its
tunnels were used in the Second World War.
More recently, it has been a widely-loved tourist attraction,
described by English Heritage as the most complete Napoleonic
fortification in Britain and is a key part of Medway’s World
Heritage Site bid.
It is run by volunteers who stage re-enactments and are devoted
to retaining a crucial part of Chatham’s history.
However, accounts filed with the Charity Commission show the
trust’s income dropped from a peak of £150,000 in 2010-11 to
£114,000 last year.
Private hire fees were among the worst-hit: down from £58,000 in
2010-11 to just £9,000 last year.
To boost revenues the fort was signed up with a location scout
agency called The Collective, which acted as middle-man in the
contract with Playboy TV.
11/10/12
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