Shere is the sort of village that automatically comes to mind when people think of rural England. So it is no surprise that it has been used in films on several occasions. As well as Bridget Jones, The Edge of Reason and Four Weddings and a Funeral, Shere was one of several picturesque locations featured in the Christmas romantic comedy The Holiday, in which two women, one American (Cameron Diaz as Amanda) and one British (Kate Winslet as Iris) swap houses for the Christmas period to get over their respective broken hearts and find new love.
Shere lies in the Vale of Holmesdale between Guildford and Dorking in Surrey at the foot of the North Downs, and consists of an assortment of pretty cottages, two pubs, a church, a tearoom and a small museum. A stream running through it with ducks completes the idyllic picture. The cottage Iris lives in was built specially for the film on a hillside overlooking Shere, but it was inspired by a real one much further away. Of course, no Christmas romantic comedy would be complete without a covering of snow, so the village is seen in the film with its white winter coat on (disregarding the fact that southern England very rarely gets snow over Christmas).
 |
| Church Hill, Shere - geograph.org.uk - 535227. Photo by Colin Smith, via Wikimedia Commons |
As well as Shere, the nearby town of Godalming is seen in some of the village scenes plus the railway station scene. Church Street is seen adorned with Christmas decorations and snow as Amanda heads into town to do some shopping. Bigger than Shere, but almost as picturesque, Godalming lies to the south of the River Wey, four miles from Guildford.
 |
| Church Street, Godalming - geograph.org.uk - 1380443. Photo by Colin Smith, via Wikimedia Commons |
No comments:
Post a Comment