We live on hill made famous by iconic advert – but it's flooded by tourists playing theme tune… they think we're actors

The Sun

04-05-2025

RESIDENTS living on a hill made famous by an iconic advert have described how tourists have flooded the area, playing the ad's theme.
Locals living along the cobbled Gold Hill in Shaftesbury, Dorset, made famous in a beloved 1973 Hovis advert, say visitors even peer into their homes, thinking the residents are actors.
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The ad, which has been voted the nation's all-time favourite in the past, has lent its name to the street, which is sometimes still referred to as "Hovis Hill".
Thousands of tourists flock to the famous spot each year, but some locals have had to deal with peculiar interactions.
Visitors have been said to come up the hill whistling the theme tune from the advert, or even play it on their phones, with some pushing a bike too in order to recreate the ad.
Retired GP Nigel McKee, 67, has had his cottage on the street since 2013, saying he bought the property for its location.
While he says there's a "fantastic view" living on the hill, he admitted that tourists were "a bit annoying" at first, when he moved in.
He said: "At first people looking in the window was a bit annoying but you get used to it after a while.
"It is romantic - and everyday you hear somebody coming up the hill whistling the tune from the advert.
"People seem surprised that people do live here. There was a German tourist once who said 'do you live here?' and I said 'yes' and he said 'in Germany you'd get paid to live in a house in a tourist brochure'."
Tristan Greatrex and his partner Melanie Fontana moved to Gold Hill over five years ago after finding the setting "jaw-dropping".
He said that tourists don't believe they live there, adding: "They often ask if we have got gas and electricity - they must think we live in the dark ages, it is just amusing.
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"You see the tourists walking up the hill looking down the advert to Hovis on their phone and recreating it - it is nice that people do that."
Melanie, in her 60s, said that tourists must think that the houses are either "empty or staged".
The couple own two cottages, one being their home and the other a recently set up holiday house.
Despite the strange interactions with some visitors, the couple still enjoy living there.
Melanie explained how respectful tourists are at the site, adding that she wanted other people to have "the joy" of discovering Gold Hill.
Hovis' advert, which featured 13-year-old child actor Carl Barlow pushing a bread-laden bicycle up the hill, was recreated 44 years later in 2017 by the same actor.
The ad was voted the nation's favourite of all time, even being spoofed by The Two Ronnies five years later.
Director Ridley Scott oversaw the ad, which sees the bakery boy free-wheeling down the steep hill after making his delivery.
While some residents are annoyed by the tourists, many others have embraced the hill's rich history.
One local in the past even set up a bike outside his home for tourists to use as a photo prop, or to recreate the advert.
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