Great to see someone mentioning Pasolini's Canterbury Tales again. I thought the folk song selections simply magical and astonishing when I first saw it in 1987. I had images of PPP and Morricone going round doing a Cecil Sharp-job with a tape recorder and some pidgin English. In fact - as I recently found out - all the music is lifted from the "Folk Songs of England" selection of 10 discs. I have managed to pick up about 9 of those now from ebay and they really are great. I always loved PPP's selection of music in his Italian B/W movies from the 60's too. I have been trying to work out the locations from that film too so if anyone has any tips please let me know. On my last visit to the South of England we visited Hastings Battle Abbey (the Merchant's Great Hall in the movie), Southwark (where the Perkin Reveller scenes were filmed by the Clink), Chipping Campden in Gloucs (the Pardoners' Tale rat-poison market in the old market place), St Osyth Priory Essex (the Merchant's Hall and Garden), Layer Marney Tower in Essex (stocks scene) and the medieval tithe barn just outside Colchester which they used for the Tabard Inn. Good fun visiting these wonderful sites. I have identified some of the other ones for a future trip: the "old Man" scene in the Pardoners Tale in what looks like a marsh is the famous church in Romney Marsh (as seen in the BBC's "Great Expectations" last Christmas); the house of Alison's husband the carpenter is an old pub called the George in Bradford-on-Avon or thereabouts (used in lots of movies - eg Joseph Andrews and Tom Jones); the topiary gardens in the Merchant's Tale are at some stately home near Warwick ; the other "Inn" scene looks like the tithe barn at Glastonbury and the scenes with Tom Baker showing his all are at Lavenham in Suffolk. Apparently some scenes were shot at Wells and some at Canterbury but I am not sure what - perhaps the burning of the moustacheiode (how do you spell that) gay punter caught in bed with that actor off Vera Drake/ the Bill/ WofBath's wedding. Sorry to drone on a bit - but if anyone else has any interesting info about the locations please let me know at stephen.mann@talktalk.net
Oh yes - I think the windmill of "Trumpington" was Rolvenden in Kent!