It was 140 years ago on Monday that Captain Matthew Webb set off for his first ever successful Channel swim.

The Shropshire born man was inspired to take up the challenge when he read about another swimmer’s failed attempt.

He left his job as a captain on a steam liner to train for it and on his second go, August 24, 1875, he set the record as the first person to swim the English Channel.

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On August 12, high winds foiled his first attempt but just 12 days later he did it in less than 22 hours.

He swam in zig zags which totalled 39 miles without any artificial aids.

It is understood that he was unable to reach the French shore for five hours because of the strong currents.

Reaching instant fame, he pursued a career as a professional swimmer.

To mark this milestone, a film following his journey was released on Friday, August 14.

The Greatest Living Englishman is a British blockbuster by Marathon Films and stars Steve Oram, Warren Brown and Georgia Maguire.

The team filmed at Sandwich Bay, St Margaret’s Bay and Northbourne Park School in Betteshanger for two weeks last summer.

The period drama with a comedy twist is written by Jemma Kennedy and directed by Justin Hardy, and follows the story of swimmer Captain Matthew Webb, played by the Hollyoaks star Warren Brown.

Co-producer Muireann Price said: “The thing that has worked in our favour is that it was so easy to replace Dover with somewhere else as no one quite knows what Dover looked like then, so we created a Victorian Dover at Sandwich Bay.”

She said: “We also filmed some of the interiors at Northbourne Park School, which was brilliant. They were really good, and its a shame we couldn’t film the exterior as well because it looked great.

'We wanted to make something that would really capture the Victorian madness' - Muireann Price

“As it’s a low-budget film, we didn’t have the money to make it a straight period drama, sowe wanted to make something that would really capture the Victorian madness, and in order to do this each character has different personality quirks and we got comedians to play the roles.”

Northbourne Park School was delighted to host the film crew over the summer holidays last year.

Head teacher Edward Balfour said: “The summer ended as successfully as it began, with Marathon Films hiring the school as a film set. Director Justin Hardy chose the school with its Victorian buildings as an ideal location for the Victorian era-based film.”

It can be seen in London at the Curzon Bloomsbury in The Brunswick, or at the Institution of Contemporary Arts in The Mall.

It is understood that it will be shown at the Silver Screen Cinema in Gaol Lane from September.