WHEN IS CORNWALL NOT CORNWALL? REBECCA 2020

 

I read Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca for the first time this year during lockdown.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I found it to be one of the most amazing stories ever written.  Inevitably, such a famous novel found its way to the big and small screen, most famously in 1940 with Laurence Olivier playing the tragic Mr de Winter and Joan Fontaine playing his socially awkward second wife, struggling to step into the footsteps of the first Mrs de Winter, the Rebecca of the title. Shortly after I read the novel I learned that a new version was to be released, with Armie Hammer playing opposite Lily James, and with Kristin Scott Thomas as the forbidding head housekeeper Danvers.

 

I rushed to watch this new version, in anticipation of seeing some familiar scenes from my native Cornwall,  However, it turns out that just about anywhere other than Cornwall was used for the locations (at least the film used UK locations, unlike the 1940 version, which was largely filmed in California). 

 

As in the original, the film kicks off in the South of France, but the hotel suite occupied by the dreadful Mrs Van Hopper and the “new Mrs de Winter-to-be” is not in France at all, but was filmed at Waddesdon Manor in Buckinghamshire, which has a suitably chateau-like appearance.  The Manor was built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild in 1877 as a summer bolt-hole for entertaining.

                                  Waddesdonterrace. Photo by Giano, via Wikimedia Commons.

The first glimpse of Manderley as the newly weds drive up to the property was filmed at Cranborne Manor, midway between Wimborne Minster and Salisbury.  The great entrance hall where the couple are greeted by the servants was filmed at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, which was also used for a pivotal point in the story when Mrs de Winter mark 2 is tricked into choosing an ill-advised costume for the summer ball she and Max are hosting at Manderley.  The painting which provides the inspiration for the outfit is in real life a portrait of Mrs Hugh Hammersley, which is to be found in Hatfield House.  The Persian rugs and wood panelled walls seen in the interior scenes were also from Hatfield.    

 

Cranborne Manor - geograph.org.uk - 1223951.  Photo by Mike Searle, via Wikimedia Commons.

As Mrs de Winter is seen exploring Manderley, there are many works of art in view.  Some of these are from the interior of Petworth House, West Sussex, which was used for some of the scenes.  Meanwhile, for Rebecca’s wing of Manderley, which has been kept as a shrine to her by Danvers, we are transported to Dorset, to Mapperton House, which is also where the accident with the precious porcelain was filmed.  The East Wing bedrooms, however, are from Loseley House near Guildford.

In the ‘downstairs’ part of Manderley, where the servants hang out, we see the basement kitchen and the corridors leading to and from it.  The kitchen area of Osterley House in the London Borough of Hounslow was used for these scenes, with some crockery and food items added in to complete the scene.  Osterley House also provided the stables for the scene in which Mrs de Winter was persuaded to try her hand at horse riding by Rebecca’s cousin, Jack Favell (Sam Riley). 

 

                                 Osterley Park 800. Photo by Sannse, via Wikimedia Commons.

For me, the biggest disappointment of the filming locations, given the gorgeousness of the Cornish coast, is that the coastal scenes were filmed outside the county, specifically at Hartland Quay, North Devon, recognisable from its unusual rock formations.

 

                Hartland Quay - panoramio (3). Photo by Matt Prosser, via Wikimedia Commons.

Waddesdon Manor is about five miles north-west of Aylesbury and is open to visitors, with advance booking only during the coronavirus pandemic.  The beautiful grounds include an aviary housing a range of exotic birds.  The house is a repository for an extensive collection of art, in particular 18^th century French pieces, this being a favourite period of the Rothschilds. 

Cranborne Manor, just outside the village of Cranborne, is notable for its gardens, originally from a design by John Tradescant in the 17^th century and rediscovered in the 19^th century, then replanted in the Arts and Crafts style a century later.  Visitors to the gardens also have access to a cafe and a shop.  Hatfield House, dating from 1611 and owned by the Cecil family for 400 years, has been used extensively in filming.  The house and gardens are open to visitors except for the winter season, when only the park and woodland walks, the cafe and shops are open. 

Petworth House is on the edge of the small town of Petworth, West Sussex.  This vast 17^th century house and its grounds are run by the National Trust.  Works of art on display in the state rooms include paintings by Van Dyck, Turner, Reynolds and Gainsborough.  Mapperton House is near Beaminster in Dorset and is the home of the Earl and Countess of Sandwich.  Both the house and gardens are open to visitors.  Loseley Park lies just beyond the southern edge of Guildford, Surrey.  The gardens are open to visitors in the summer, and the property is also available for weddings.  In normal, non-covid, times the house can be visited on guided tours.

Osterley Park and House, run by the National Trust, lies between the M4 and the Great West Road just a few miles east of Heathrow Airport.  The house is in the neo-classical style, designed by Robert Adam and is surrounded by landscaped parklands and gardens.  Hartland Quay is at the western extreme of the North Devon coast, known for its rough seas during the winter months, which have been responsible for many shipwrecks over the years.  The distinctive layered rocks seen in the film are sedimentary rocks deposited during the Carboniferous period.

ISLES OF INTRIGUE: VERA/THE FARNES

 

As I mentioned in a previous piece, the crime series Vera takes us on a tour of a variety of locations in the north-east of England.  In episode 1 of season 7 (Natural Selection) the action centres around Ternstone Island, a magnet for birdwatchers, with some of the rangers quizzed as potential suspects in the murder of one of their own.  The real-life location used for Ternstone Island was one of the Farne Islands, a bird sanctuary owned by the National Trust and accessible via boat trips from Seahouses on the Northumberland coast. 

 

                                  Farne Islands. Photo by MiloDenn, via Wikimedia Commons.

The tiny harbour seen in this episode of Vera, however, is actually that of Craster, and the ruins of nearby Dunstanburgh Castle are glimpsed in a couple of the scenes.  In real life, there are no trips to the islands from Craster, and although an island is visible on the horizon in the filming, the footage must have been doctored, because there is no such island visible from Craster.  Meanwhile, some of the Farne Islands scenes, including those depicting the Visitor Centre, were filmed further south at Souter Lighthouse in Tyne and Wear. 

 

                             Craster (9815022296). Photo by Dave_S, via Wikimedia Commons.

There are numerous boat trips out to the Farnes from Seahouses, with different variations available, including a Sunset Cruise and an All Day Bird Watch Trip. Some trips run from April to October, while others have a more restricted timetable.  I personally found the month of June the best time to visit, not only for the puffins frequenting the island and flitting around offshore, but also for the thrill of dodging the arctic terns nesting on the island.  Remember your hats for protection when they swoop down on you from above!

 

Craster, a few miles down the coast from Seahouses, is a small harbourside village with a cosy pub, a fishmonger specialising in smoked fish and a wonderful coastal path leading up to the ruins of Dunstanburgh Castle.  Souter Lighthouse is run by the National Trust and is a short distance to the south of South Shields.  It is a classic red and white lighthouse, opened in 1871 and designed for the use of alternating electric current, a world first.  The other claim to fame of this lighthouse is that it is haunted, allegedly by the ghost of Grace Darling’s niece Isobella.

Map of Northumberland.

LADIES ON THE WARPATH IN LONDON: SUFFRAGETTE

 

In 1912 the women of Britain were in the throes of an awakening.  Thanks to the fearless and feisty efforts of Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughters, and of Millicent Fawcett, the ladies of London and beyond were starting to realise the extent of the discrimination against them, in particular with regard to the vote.

The 2015 film Suffragette tells the story of a young married woman, Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan) who finds herself drawn into the struggle, with Meryl Streep putting in an appearance as Emmeline Pankhurst.  Much of the action takes place in London, however, not all the scenes were filmed in London.

Maud works at a laundry in Bethnal Green, a grim working environment with a misogynistic boss who is not above seeking sexual favours from female employees, some of them very young.  The exterior of the laundry building was filmed at Chatham Historic Dockyard in Kent, while the interior scenes were built at an educational establishment called the Highfield Oval in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.  In those days it was common for factory workers to live in purpose-built housing, and the red-brick tenements where Maud’s family live are on the Boundary Estate, Shoreditch.

In one scene, Maud is seen venturing to London’s West End, where she witnesses an attack on the shop fronts.  The West End is generally regarded as the area in Central London where the main shopping and entertainment areas are, but in the film it is the area known as Cornhill, a few hundred metres to the east of St Paul’s Cathedral, which is used to represent the West End.  The district falls within the City of London, the oldest part of the city.  It developed into the city’s financial centre, and the Bank of England can still be found nearby, on Threadneedle Street, while the Royal Exchange, a trading centre first established in Elizabethan times, is now a shopping centre. The shop coming under attack in the West End scene is at Smythson, 7 Royal Exchange Buildings.

                            London Royal Exchange. Photo by ÁWá, via Wikimedia Commons.

The most recognisable part of London seen in the film is Westminster, with Big Ben appearing in the scene in which Maud heads to the Palace of Westminster to give testimony before a Parliamentary committee tasked with looking into the question of women’s suffrage.  The Central Lobby with its distinctive octagonal shape features in the interior scenes depicting the committee’s enquiries, with Committee Room 16 acting as the scene of the hearing. 

               London - The Parliament - 2773. Photo by Jorge Royan, via Wikimedia Commons.

As Maud finds herself being drawn into the world of the suffragettes, we see her arrest and imprisonment in Holloway Prison, and ultimately the break-up of her marriage and the loss of her son, who is placed with another more ‘suitable’ family.  The interior of the prison is filmed far away in Wales in Ruthin Gaol (now a museum), Denbighshire, while the cells are taken from the former Clerkenwell House of Detention back in London (now converted to apartments, though the cells remain in the basement, in a part of the building known as the Clerkenwell Catacombs).  The prison gates, seen in the scene where Maud gets a medal for her first arrest, were filmed at Lincoln’s Inn Gate, Newman’s Row, Lincoln’s Inn Fields.  Maud is arrested again after listening to Emmeline Pankhurst giving a speech to the suffragettes – this took place at 18 Myddelton Square in Islington.

                     Ruthin Gaol - courtyard. Photo by Arwel Parry, via Wikimedia Commons.

These are just some of the chapters of the story of Maud and her fellow suffragettes, but before we go there is one final location which was used in the explosive and tragic scene where Maud’s friend Emily Davison (Natalie Press) throws herself under a galloping racehorse, resulting in her death and martyrdom for the suffragette cause.  The real-life event took place at Epsom Racecourse, but  Royal Windsor Racecourse stood in for Epsom in the film.

Chatham Historic Dockyard is open to the public, and the attractions there include visits to historic ships and a Victorian Ropery.  The Boundary Estate is just to the east of the A10, adjacent to Hackney.  The Royal Exchange shopping centre has a range of upscale dining options as well as some big name high end boutiques.  The Palace of Westminster is open to visitors, who can take a tour or watch debates and committees. 

Ruthin Gaol is beside the River Clwyd in this historic Welsh town, and has received the Visit Wales Hidden Gem award three times.  Lincoln’s Inn Fields is in the Holborn area of Central London, near the Holborn Underground Station.  Myddelton Square lies just south of the A501, to the west of Sadler’s Wells Theatre.  Royal Windsor Racecourse lies by the side of the A308 at the western edge of Windsor, Berkshire.

Map of London.

A DAWDLE THROUGH THE DALES: WAINWRIGHT'S PENNINE JOURNEY

 

The late Alfred Wainwright is best known for his walks in the Lake District, and the wonderful series of guides that he wrote, complete with hand-drawn maps.  However, in 1938 he escaped the rising tensions in the country brought on by the threat of impending war by taking a holiday from work to go walking in the dales of Yorkshire, heading through into Teesdale and Weardale, reaching the climax of his walk on his arrival at Hadrian’s Wall before heading back down south, all on foot.  This was well before the days of the Internet and accommodation booking websites, so when he turned up at his chosen overnight destination, unless he was lucky enough to find a room at the inn, he would knock on a random door to enquire about rooms in the private homes of the area – unthinkable nowadays.  Wainwright documented his holiday in his book A Pennine Journey.

When we think of The Dales, it is the Yorkshire Dales which immediately spring to mind.  However, a bit further north is Teesdale in County Durham, which I visited for the first time a few years ago, and found quite charming.  Wainwright’s introduction to Teesdale is a descent “from heather to pastureland, and”...”further downhill amongst meadows and woodlands”.  He comes to Cotherstone with its village green and prosperous air, too posh to offer accommodation to the passing walker.  He therefore ends up spending the night in Romaldkirk, with two inns: the upmarket Rose and Crown and the much more modest and neglected Kirk Inn.  Wainwright opts for the latter, which he likens to a shy woman looking over her shoulder at a prospective lover (the Rose and Crown).  Wainwright is less taken with the larger Middleton with its “homes built in long, ugly rows”.  For present-day visitors, the Rose and Crown is still operating as a hotel and the Kirk Inn as a pub but with no accommodation. 

 

       Romaldkirk. - geograph.org.uk - 132432. Photo by Colin Smith, via Wikimedia Commons.

The highlight of Wainwright’s walk is Hadrian’s Wall, and he makes no bones about his excitement on approaching this great feature of the landscape of Northern England.  The first hint that he is approaching his much anticipated goal is when he comes to a village called Wall, around 5 miles north of Hexham.  His eagerness to reach the Wall is such that he breaks into a run on approaching it. 

When he joins the Wall he can’t see it as it is buried under tarmac at this point, but he presses on to Cilurnum – now known as Chesters Roman Fort and Museum, run by English Heritage.  In Wainwright’s day you just knocked up the caretaker and paid a fee. Now there is a proper visitor entrance, a shop, cafe and toilets.  He then heads west to Borcovicium, better known as Housesteads, where he encounters a single solitary car in the car park – a bit different to when we visited a few years ago.  Like Chesters Roman Fort, Housesteads has a cafe, shop and toilets for modern day visitors, and is also run by English Heritage.

 

               Chesters Roman fort gate. Photo by Steven Fruitsmaak, via Wikimedia Commons.

After exploring the Wall, Wainwright heads south again via Appleby-in-Westmorland, with the village of Dent in Dentdale as his last overnight stop.  He gives a vivid description of Dent, which is across the border in Cumbria, as being “like a fairy tale”, with narrow twisting streets paved with cobbles, “one block of jumbled masonry”.  Then homeward via Ingleton (famous for its waterfalls and dominated by the peak of Ingleborough) to Settle.  He arrives back home relieved that there is not going to be a war (for now – little does he know what is coming).  Anyone wanting to retrace this part of his journey but reluctant to do it on foot can take the Settle to Carlisle Railway, which has stops at Dent and Appleby. 

                          Main Street, Dent. Photo by Parrot of Doom, via Wikimedia Commons.

For A Pennine Journey Route Summary, follow this link.

A TRAGEDY RECREATED FOR THE CROWN: CWMAMAN AS ABERFAN

 

When I began watching series 3 of The Crown on Netflix, it took a while to adjust to Olivia Colman as The Queen, much as I admire her as an actress, mainly because I thought Claire Foy was magnificent as the young Queen.  However, in episode 3, which covered the tragic events in October 1966 when a school in the Welsh mining village of Aberfan was buried in rubble from from a colliery spoil tip, resulting in the deaths of 116 children and 28 adults, she proved her worth as an actress.  It couldn’t have been an easy role to play, with the Queen coming across as aloof and uncaring, then later caving in to pressure to make a personal visit to the scene of the tragedy, and finally shedding a tear while listening to a recording of a hymn which was played at one of the funerals.  I vividly remember that awful event and the horror I felt, as I was a schoolgirl myself at the time, and it was hard to imagine something so terrible happening while attending class.

The horrifying scene of the tragedy was actually recreated in Elstree Studios.  However, the focus of the drama was filmed back in Wales, including the use of local people as extras.  The people concerned were offered counselling, as they were still traumatised by the event, and it became apparent that they had never before been offered such help.

The village chosen to play the role of Aberfan was the nearby village of Cwmaman, which is another typical Welsh mining village. The village includes several streets which are among the steepest in the United Kingdom.  However, the village’s main claim to fame is the fact that the Welsh supergroup Stereophonics hail from Cwmaman.  In spite of their fame, the band are not above putting in appearances in unexpected places, and in 2007 they appeared in the local Working Men’s Club, where they first performed.

Map of the area. 

                                

                                  Cwmaman. Photo by Bev, via Wikimedia Commons.                                    

A GOODBYE TO GRANDAD IN GAIRLOCH: WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAY

 My husband and I did the North Coast 500 scenic road trip in Scotland for our holiday last year, and we were blown away by the scenery, especially on the west coast.  So when I recently saw that BBC4 were showing the film What We Did On Our Holiday, and that the filming locations included the coast around Gairloch I decided to watch it.  The film is about a warring couple (David Tennant and Rosamund Pike) travelling to Scotland with their children to visit Tennant’s dying father (Billy Connolly).  While there Connolly takes the kids to the beach, where the story takes an unexpected and shocking turn.

The magnificent coastline where the outdoor Scottish scenes were filmed is the area around Gairloch in Wester Ross, and the beach which is the scene of the film’s climax is Red Point Beach.  The beach, which lies a short distance round the coast to the south of Gairloch and just north of Loch Torridon, is a sandy beach backed by dunes with wonderful views across to the north of the Isle of Skye.

                               

Red Point Beach - geograph.org.uk - 1220306. Photo by Stuart Wilding, via Wikimedia Commons.

The village of Gairloch is the main tourist centre in the area, with a number of hotels and other accommodation along with a range of food outlets.  I can personally vouch for the Beachcomber fish and chips shop, and The Millcroft, where we stayed on our visit.  Near the Tourist Centre is the Gairloch Museum, which includes an exhibition space and displays on the life and natural history of the local area.

Map of Gairloch.

THE REAL MANDERLEY: MENABILLY, CORNWALL

I read Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca for the first time recently during lockdown.  It made such an impression that I went searching for the film version starring Sir Laurence Olivier (as husband Maxim de Winter) and Joan Fontaine (as the narrator known only as the new Mrs de Winter – her first name is never revealed) and watched that for good measure.  I must say I have never come across a story quite like it.  A story of marrying into money, trying to live up to the late former lady of the house (the Rebecca of the title) in the face of a hostile army of servants, the sheer oppressiveness of living in a big house with said servants lurking on every corner, dark secrets from the past and a tragic, explosive ending. 

The bulk of the story is concentrated in the house and grounds known as Manderley in the story, on the Cornish coast.  The inspiration for Manderley was a property called Menabilly about 2 miles west of Fowey on Cornwall’s south coast.  Du Maurier was born in London, but she spent much of her life in Cornwall, and she became fascinated with the Menabilly estate, which had belonged to an influential local family called the Rashleighs since the 16^th century. 

                                       

                                                                         Menabilly, c. 1820

By the time Daphne discovered the house, it had fallen into disrepair, and Daphne used to sneak into the grounds, dreaming of being able to live there and restore the property.  In fact in 1943, following the success of Rebecca the book and the film, she managed to persuade the Rashleighs to let her and her family live there as tenants.  They stayed for 26 years until the tenancy ended in 1969, during which time she worked hard at the restoration work.  She then moved to nearby Kilmarth in Tywardreath near Par, but the memory of Menabilly no doubt lingered on, just as it did for the heroine of Rebecca, evident from the unforgettable opening line of the story: “Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again”.

One place which features heavily in the story is a cove at the edge of the Manderley estate.  This is where Rebecca would retreat to a cottage on the beach, and where the new Mrs De Winter encounters a local simpleton called Ben.  It is also where a ship goes aground, leading to a grisly discovery revealing dark secrets from the past.  There is a cove on the coastline which forms part of the Menabilly estate called Polridmouth Cove, which was the inspiration for the cove in the story. 

                              

Approaching Polridmouth - geograph.org.uk - 1239664. Photo by Derek Harper, via Wikimedia Commons.

Fans of Rebecca who want to visit Menabilly will be disappointed, because the property is privately owned, still belonging to the Rashleigh family, and not open to visitors.  However, there are a couple of holiday lets on the wider estate.  Kilmarth is also privately owned.

Map of the area.

UNPRECEDENTED EVENTS IN A CATHEDRAL CITY: THE SALISBURY POISONINGS

'Unprecented' is a word we have been hearing a lot recently, with the unwelcome arrival of Covid-19 in all of our lives.  For the inhabitants of the charming Wiltshire cathedral town of Salisbury it must have come all too soon after a previous unprecedented event: the targeting of a Russian national living in the city with the nerve agent novichok, a news story which broke in March 2018 and was watched with horror by people all over the country and the wider world.  I remember feeling outraged at this unwarranted attack on not just one individual (and his daughter who happened to be visiting), but an entire English city, particularly when a perfectly innocent member of the public died after unwittingly coming into contact with the deadly substance, and a policeman ended up in intensive care. 

That sense of outrage was reignited recently with the showing of a 3-part drama reliving the events of 2018 called The Salisbury Poisonings, starring Rafe Spall as the policeman.  There were eerie parallels with the Covid-19 crisis, with talk of tracing individuals who may have come into contact with the nerve agent and shutting down businesses while a massive cleanup took place, so that what at the time seemed unreal and inconceivable now seems a fact of life.

Much of the filming of the drama took place in Salisbury itself, with some of the key locations of the real-life event making a prominent appearance.  The shopping area just off the city’s main square known as The Maltings was where the Russian victims Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found on that fateful Sunday.  Adjacent to the shops are a pub called Bishops Mill, and a branch of the Zizzi pizza restaurant chain.  These were visited by the Skripals before they were discovered incapacitated on a bench.  I have visited both of these establishments several times, and could hardly believe that they played a part in such a sinister episode.

The Maltings, Salisbury - geograph.org.uk - 1052564. Photo by Jonathan Billinger, via Wikimedia Commons.

One of Salisbury’s most attractive features, apart from its magnificent cathedral, is the expanse of open green spaces with the River Avon flowing through them, with an often astonishing number of swans in attendance.  This was where a dead swan was found near the Five Rivers Leisure Centre and was investigated in case it was yet another victim of the nerve agent.  The unfortunate swan, though dead, was given the all clear as far as novichok was concerned.

Salisbury Cathedral exterior 2. Photo by WASD, via Wikimedia Commons.

The decontamination effort, which caused untold disruption to the city’s businesses, and which saw the centre of this genteel cathedral city colonised by men in special hazmat suits looking like something out of a sci-fi movie, was finally completed nearly a year after the original discovery of the stricken Russians.  The bench at the centre of it all was removed, and there was talk of putting an art installation in its place.  One cannot help but feel for the city’s inhabitants, who came out of the novichok scare only to be confronted with covid-19 a year later.  Let’s hope the city can bounce back again this time.

Map of the city.

A TOUR OF ENGLAND'S FINEST CATHEDRALS: ELIZABETH AND ELIZABETH:THE GOLDEN AGE

Any film about events in English history will inevitably be chock-full of some of the finest examples of English heritage.  In the films Elizabeth (1998) and its sequel Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007), both starring Cate Blanchett as Queen Elizabeth I, it is some of the country’s finest cathedrals that come to the fore among the locations used.

In Elizabeth, the coronation scene was filmed at York Minster, which proved a splendid substitute for Westminster Abbey, where the actual coronation took place on 15 January 1559.  The Minster lies in the centre of this historic city, and due to the flat terrain in the area surrounding it can be seen from miles around.  There has been a place of worship at this spot since the 7^th century, but it was not until 732 that the first Archbishop of York was recognised by the Pope.  The present building took a massive 250 years to complete, starting in 1220 and ending in 1472.  The Minster brought shocking images to our TV screens in 1984 when a fire which started in the south transept raged out of control, and firefighters were forced to deliberately collapse the roof to save the rest of the building.

York Minster from M&S. Photo by Matze Trier, via Wikimedia Commons.

The other cathedral which  makes an appearance in Elizabeth is Durham Cathedral.  The cathedral plays the part of the royal palace, and its distinctive pillars are seen in the scene where Elizabeth searches for Lord Robert after receiving a message.  Like York Minster, Durham Cathedral was preceded by a humbler place of worship known as the Saxon ‘White Church’.  The present-day building, which makes for a picturesque sight overlooking the River Wear, was built between 1093 and 1133, with further additions thereafter.

Durham Cathedral Nave. Photo by Michael D Beckwith, via Wikimedia  Commons.

In Elizabeth: The Golden Age we are taken further south, with Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire playing an important role as the Palace of Whitehall, which in those days was the main residence of the monarchs of the day.  It is seen in a number of scenes, such as the one where Elizabeth confronts the Spanish Ambassador, and when Sir Walter Raleigh arrives bearing gifts from the New World.  Ely Cathedral is unusual in that, unlike most cathedral cities, Ely is the size of a small town.  In fact, the cathedral came before the town, which grew up around it.  There is a slate in the cathedral marking the location of a former shrine to Ethelreda, daughter of the King of East Anglia, who founded an abbey at the location of what is now the cathedral.  The building dates from 1083, and was granted cathedral status in 1109.

Ely Cathedral Choir East View. Photo by Michael D Beckwith, via Wikimedia Commons.

The sequel covers the period leading up to, and including the country’s spat with Spain, and Westminster Cathedral transports us over the water to the court of King Philip II, as it was where the scenes were filmed featuring the ranting king, plotting his invasion of England following the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots.  As a Roman Catholic cathedral, Westminster Cathedral was a good choice.  The cathedral is much younger than the others used in the two films, with construction completed in 1903.  Its main distinguishing feature is the striped appearance of its exterior, fashioned from layers of brick and stone.

Westminster.cathedral.frontview.london.arp. Photo by Arpingstone, via Wikimedia Commons.

One of the most dramatic scenes in the sequel is the attempt on Queen Elizabeth’s life by Thomas Babington (Eddie Redmayne), an event which is pure fiction, since in reality this particular individual did not get anywhere near the Queen, although it is true that there was a plot to assassinate her.  The scene in question was filmed in Winchester Cathedral.  Originally founded in 642 and known as Old Minster, the present-day cathedral was started in 1079 at a site nearby, and the Old Minster was demolished in 1093.  The cathedral has the distinction of being one of the largest in Europe, and includes many notable features, such as the 17^th century choir screen designed by Inigo Jones.

Winchester Cathedral Nave 1, Hampshire, UK - Diliff. Photo by DAVID ILIFF, via  Wikimedia Commons.

Finally, for the main entrance to Whitehall Palace as seen in the sequel, the producers made use of Wells Cathedral, specifically the staircase linking the North Transept to Chapter House.  Like Ely, Wells is another unusually small cathedral city, nestling among the green fields of the Somerset countryside.  The cathedral was built to replace an earlier church which had occupied the site since 705, and construction spanned the period from 1176 to 1450.  One of the cathedral’s best known features is its astronomical clock dating from around 1325.

Wells cathedral chapter house brighter. Photo by Lamiai, via Wikimedia Commons.

THE REAL SOLDIER ISLAND: AGATHA CHRISTIE/BURGH ISLAND, DEVON

In January 2016 I blogged about an Agatha Christie special which aired between Christmas and New Year 2015.  It was a TV adaptation of And Then There Were None, a murder mystery based around an island called Soldier Island.  In the TV version an island off the south coast of Cornwall was used to depict Soldier Island, but Christie’s real inspiration for her crime story was Burgh Island off the south Devon coast.

Unlike the island of the story, Burgh Island is accessible at low tide from the beach at Bigbury-on-Sea.  There is a hotel on the island, and a pub, and visitors can get to the island via a strip of sand stretching from the mainland.  However, even at high tide a boat is not necessary, thanks to the ingenious “sea tractor”, a passenger vehicle which is high enough to stay above the surface of the water as it takes people across.

Burgh Island sea tractor. Photo by DeFacto, via Wikimedia Commons.

It is no surprise that Agatha Christie had Burgh Island in mind when writing her story, as she herself spent a lot of time at the island’s hotel, so much so in fact that a retreat was built for her.  The Beach House was built in the 1930s, and it was here that she wrote And Then There Were None.  The unit is now available as a luxury unit within the Burgh Island hotel complex.

The hotel has a star-studded history, having started life as a wooden house built by the music hall star George H Chirgwin for hosting weekend parties.  Its later incarnation as a more substantial Art Deco building was down to the film-maker Archibald Nettlefold, who bought it in 1927. 

View of the island from Bigbury-on-Sea

During its heyday, Burgh Island was visited by many famous names.  Noel Coward came for a three-night stay, but this turned into three weeks.  Other luminaries who have paid a visit over the years  include the Beatles, who stayed there when playing a concert in Plymouth, and Josephine Baker.  The hotel was even graced by royalty, in the form of Edward Duke of Windsor and Wallis Simpson, and Lord Mountbatten, second cousin once removed of the Queen.  The hotel also hosted a meeting between Churchill and Eisenhower in the run-up to the D-Day landings.

Needless to say, a stay at Burgh Island does not come cheap, but if you are feeling a bit flush and are a fan of Art Deco, a stay at Burgh Island is a must, not only for its sumptuous period decor but also the sea views from the rooms.

Map of the area.

ANOTHER DOSE OF CYMRU NOIR: HIDDEN/NORTH WALES

Six years ago I blogged about a Welsh crime series called Hinterland, which was compared at the time to some of the ‘nordic noir’ series from Scandinavia such as The Killing, and was filmed mainly in the West Wales county of Ceredigion.  With Hidden we get another dose of ‘Cymru noir’.  This series, starring Sian Reese-Williams as DI Cadi John and Sion Alun Davies as DS Owen Vaughan, takes us a bit further north to Bangor and Snowdonia, which provides a suitably chilling backdrop to many of the scenes in the series.  For this piece I am concentrating on series 1, first shown in 2018.

The series kicks off, predictably, with the discovery of a woman’s body, but the locations used for this part are further south than Snowdonia.  The crime which led to this discovery is committed at the scene of the highest waterfall in Wales, Henrhyd Falls, which is further south than the fictional location in the series, in the Brecon Beacons.  The waterfall plunges into the Graig Llech Gorge at the southern edge of the Brecon Beacons National Park in the county of Powys.  The viaduct visible in the scene where the discovery of the body takes place is also further south.  The Pontsarn Viaduct near Merthyr Tydfil was built in the 1860s to carry the Brecon and Merthyr Railway over the Taf Fechan river.

Henrhyd Falls (9165). Photo by Nilfanion, via Wikimedia Commons.

Back in Snowdonia, one beautiful sight which appears again and again in the series is the wonderful Menai Strait with its two bridges.  The Menai Strait, which is 25 Km long, separates the Welsh mainland from the charming island of Anglesey.  The island is linked  to the mainland by two bridges, the Menai Suspension Bridge, opened in 1826, and the Britannia Bridge, opened in 1850.  The city of Bangor lies on the mainland side of the strait, and is the location of a university which was founded in 1884.  The university features heavily in the storyline of Hidden, as one of the main characters, the self-harming Megan Ruddock (Gwyneth Keyworth), is an undergraduate there.   

Interwoven with the crime story is the story of Cadi’s family with its trials and tribulations, including her worries about her terminally ill father.  The location of the house her father lives in is provided by Ynys Castell, a holiday home in real life on a tiny island in the Menai Strait.  For around four hours twice each day the island can only be reached by boat as it is cut off from the mainland.

Ynys Castell - geograph.org.uk - 586428. Photo by Eric Jones, via Wikimedia Commons.

North Wales, like most beautiful and touristy parts of Britain, is an area of haves and have-nots, and this comes across in the series with some of the characters living in poor, run-down looking villages and estates, albeit with the ever-present backdrop of Snowdonia. The Maes Padarn estate in Llanberis is a typical example which features heavily in the series.  The estate is on the outskirts of a touristy town with a number of attractions for visitors, such as the Llanberis Lake Railway and the Electric Mountain hydroelectric power station visitor centre.

However, the most depressing and menacing property seen in the series is the remote cottage surrounded by dark woodland occupied by suspect Dylan Harris (Rhodri Meilir) and his mother Iona (Gillian Elisa).  The house was actually purpose-built for the series and its location is a secret, however Dylan’s workplace was filmed at the Llechwedd Slate Caverns. The cafe where Dylan meets an almost-victim is Eric Jones Cafe and Campsite outside Tremadog in real life.

Llechwedd Slate Caverns 002. Photo by Matěj Baťha, via Wikimedia Commons.

A SLICE OF HEAVEN IN DEVON: SENSE AND SENSIBILITY

Whenever there is an adaptation of a Jane Austen novel on the big or small screen, one thing can be certain: the locations will inevitably feature some of Britain’s finest stately properties. 

The property which kicks off the story in the 1995 film adaptation of Sense and Sensibility, directed by Ang Lee, is the fictional Norland Park in Sussex, which is left by a dying father to his son, but due to the rules of inheritance the three daughters Elinor, Marianne and Margaret and their mother (Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet, Emilie Francois and Gemma Jones) are left with next to nothing.  Worse still, they are forced to move out of their lovely family home, while the son and his wife John and Fanny (James Fleet and Harriet Walter) move in.  The mother and daughters are offered accommodation by a cousin, but it is a bit of a come-down, being just a ‘cottage’ in the depths of Devon, albeit in a heavenly rural setting near the coast.

The real-life version of Norland Park is Saltram House near Plymouth, a Grade I listed George II era mansion, while the cottage, Barton Cottage in the story, is Efford House on the Flete Estate, which actually is in Devon in real life, again near Plymouth.  The waterside scenes set near the cottage were also filmed in Devon, at the mouth of the River Erme.  However, the exterior of Barton Park, the wider estate where the cottage is located, is actually further east in Wiltshire, where the scenes were shot at Trafalgar Park, between the city of Salisbury and the northern edge of the New Forest.

Efford House - geograph.org.uk - 292694. Photo by Derek Harper, via Wikimedia Commons.

Another striking property in Devon, which is seen at a distance as a large grey mass of architectural splendour surrounded by sloping green fields, is the Combe Magna estate, owned by love interest John Willoughby (Greg Wise).  In real life this is a fortified manor house called Compton Castle near the resorts of Torbay.  The manor house dates from the 1400s and was connected to Sir Walter Raleigh.  Still in Devon, the wedding scene at the end was filmed at St Mary’s Church in the village of Berry Pomeroy near Totnes.

Compton Castle in Devon enh. Photo by Smalljim, via Wikimedia Commons.

One of the most dramatic scenes in the film comes towards the end, when Marianne suffers a life-threatening illness, to the distress of Captain Colonel Brandon (Alan Rickman), who has developed a soft spot for her.  She falls ill while visiting the estate owned by a couple in the Dashwoods’ social circle called the Palmers (Imelda Staunton and Hugh Laurie).  This magnificent property is the real-life Montacute House near Yeovil in Somerset, a late Elizabethan mansion with manicured lawns and gardens.

                                                                      Montacute House. 

Mid-way through the film we are transported to London, where many well-to-do people in Jane Austen’s time had their “London base” in addition to their country properties.  The London abode of the dreadful Fanny Dashwood and her husband John is represented by a house in Adam Street, WC2, while Chandos House in Queen Anne Street is the home of the Palmers.  However, the Chelsea home of the ebullient Mrs Jennings (Elizabeth Spriggs) is not in London, but in Salisbury, in reality the 18^th century Mompesson House in the Cathedral Close.

Most of the properties featured in the film are open to visitors.  Saltram, Compton Castle, Montacute House and Mompesson House are run by the National Trust.  Trafalgar Park is privately owned, but can be used for events and weddings.  Meanwhile, for anyone wanting to immerse themselves fully in the Dashwoods’ idyllic life in Devon, Efford House is available as a holiday let.

THE HEAVENLY HAUNT OF A LINCOLNSHIRE LAD: GUNBY HALL

The poet Alfred Lord Tennyson was born in 1809 in the village of Somersby in Lincolnshire.  Many of the lines in his work were inspired by the local landscape, for example it was a small stream in the vicinity that formed the basis of The Babbling Brook.  He also made frequent references to the woods in the area – “The silent woody places”. 



Being a member of the aristocracy, Tennyson had friends in high places in the locality.  One of them was Algernon Massingberd, the son of a local squire residing at Gunby Hall, a few miles from Somersby.  Tennyson, who by all accounts had a sad family life as well as losing his closest friend at a young age, paid regular visits to the hall, and must have found great solace there.  The hall is now the property of the National Trust, and visitors to the hall may notice a small framed picture above the fireplace in  one of the rooms.  The picture includes a few short lines describing the hall, and it is signed by Tennyson.  

Gunby Hall from the west.  Photo by DeFacto, via Wikimedia Commons.

The line forms part of Tennyson’s poem “The Palace of Art”, in which he imagines an art collection in a palace and its gardens constructed by a man who converses with his soul.  One of the pieces in the collection is described thus:



                            And one, an English home – gray twilight pour’d

                            On dewy pastures, dewy trees,

                            Softer than sleep – all things in order stored,

                            A haunt of ancient Peace



This is the verse reproduced in the picture above the fireplace, and it is widely thought to have been inspired by Gunby Hall. 



Another of Tennyson’s most famous poems, Maud, in which Maud is urged to “come into the garden”, makes references to the “musk of the rose”.  This was also probably inspired by the gardens of Gunby Hall, and there are still musk roses growing there today.  Another poem which may well have been inspired by the gardens of Gunby Hall is “The Gardener’s Daughter”. 



The gardens have changed a bit since Tennyson frequented them, but some features remaining would have been there at that time, such as the pigeon house and the garden seat against the west wall.  As for the plants, there is a cedar of Lebanon which was planted in 1812 by Algernon’s father.

Cedar of Lebanon Gunby Hall gardens - geograph.org.uk - 1352099. Photo by Paul Gray, via Wikimedia Commons.

Gunby Hall is a few miles inland from Skegness, at the south-east edge of the Lincolnshire Wolds AONB.  In normal times (not currently, obviously), the hall, estate and gardens are open to visitors, who can visit three floors of rooms full of collections dating from 1700, as well as the eight acres of gardens.

Map of the area.

LONDON WITH A SCOTTISH ACCENT: BELGRAVIA

When Belgravia hit our screens recently, there were inevitable comparisons with Downton Abbey, both series being the work of Julian Fellowes and with the same team behind them.  There have been dark mutterings that Belgravia is “no Downton Abbey”, but in reality there is no reason why it should be.  Personally, I slightly prefer Belgravia,  as I think it has a more interesting storyline.  The one thing the two series do have in common is that they both make use of sumptuous period backdrops, both for the interior and exterior scenes.

Belgravia is a district of Central London where properties routinely sell for multi-million pound sums of money.  The area really began to move up in the world when George III moved into Buckingham House (better known as Buckingham Palace) and construction began of the elegant streets adjacent to the King’s gaff.  The series follows the story of the nouveau riche Trenchards (Philip Glenister and Tamsin Greig) and the upper class Brockenhursts (Harriet Walter and Tom Wilkinson), whose London base is in Belgravia.  The two families find they have something in common due to a secret from the past which has come to light.   

However, fans of the series who want to visit the location where the scenes depicting the streets of Belgravia were filmed will be disappointed if they head to London.  These scenes were in fact filmed in Edinburgh, in the New Town part of the city, in particular Moray Place.  The grand old houses of New Town make a good substitute for their London counterpart except that they are built from the kind of dull grey sandstone associated with this period in the Scottish capital.  The production team behind Belgravia overcame this discrepancy by the use of computer-generated imagery (CGI) to change the sandstone to the white exteriors seen in the real-life Belgravia.

Moray Place, Edinburgh 002. Photo by Brian McNeil, via Wikimedia Commons.

Some of the interior shots featuring the homes of the Trenchards and the Brockenhursts were also filmed north of the border, making use of Manderston House near Duns in the Borders area of Scotland.  This elegant Edwardian country house, built on the site of an earlier house dating from the late 18^th century, is now used as a wedding venue, and is open to groups of visitors by appointment.

Meanwhile, heading back down south, one property which particularly stands out is the one used as Lymington Park, Lady Brockenhurst’s country estate, where she and the Earl of Brockenhurst host weekend parties.  The real-life estate is another wedding venue, Wrotham Park, Hertfordshire.  The estate, to the north of Barnet, is a Palladian Mansion built in the 18^th century by Admiral John Byng, and features a long, sweeping lawn leading from an ornamental lake to a light grey facade with a grand pillared entrance.

Wrotham Park, Middlesex by Brayley (1820).  Via Wikimedia Commons.

These are just some of the locations for fans of the series to seek out, demonstrating that there is much more to Belgravia than Belgravia.

LOVELY SETTINGS FOR A LOVELESS MARRIAGE: THE DUCHESS

Lady Georgiana Spencer, an ancestor of Princess Diana, was born in Althorp, where the Princess is buried.  At the age of 17 she was married off to William Cavendish, 5^th Duke of Devonshire, whereupon she became the Duchess of Devonshire.  On paper it sounds like a fairy tale for the young Georgiana, but unfortunately the Duke turned out to be a philanderer who was only interested in gaining a male heir.  Georgiana’s first two children, as sod’s law would have it, were female, but she finally managed a son the third time round.  Meanwhile, Georgiana became friendly with Lady Elizabeth Foster from Suffolk while on a visit to Bath.  Predictably, Elizabeth caught the roving eye of the Duke and she ended up in a ‘menage a trois’ with the pair of them, bearing two illegitimate children by him and finally becoming his wife three years after Georgiana’s death in 1806, only for the Duke to die two years later.  This saga is the subject of the 2008 film The Duchess, starring Keira Knightley as Georgiana and Ralph Fiennes as William. 

The scenes depicting Georgiana’s time at Althorp did not make use of the real-life Spencer family seat, but were filmed at Kedleston Hall in Derbyshire.   One twist to this whole sorry tale is that Georgiana fell madly in love with Charles Grey (played by Dominic Cooper), a Whig Party member who would later become Prime Minister, but in spite of William’s own infidelities he would not allow her to continue the liaison (which resulted in an illegitimate daughter).  In the film she is seen flirting with Charles, a scene filmed at the South Front of Kedleston Hall.  The scene in which her mother (Charlotte Rampling) is filmed meeting with William to persuade him of her daughter’s charms was filmed in the Library.  Another scene in which Georgiana’s hair catches fire was also filmed here, this time in the Marble Hall. 

Kedleston Hall 04. Photo by Glen Bowman, via Wikimedia Commons.

The country estate of the Dukes of Devonshire is Chatsworth House, one of Britain’s best-known stately homes.  Chatsworth played itself in the film when the wedding scenes were filmed there.  However, the Dukes had another base in London called Devonshire House in London’s Piccadilly.  The scenes depicting Devonshire House made use of a number of locations for the interior and exterior shots.  The original building was demolished in 1924, so the film-makers had to find an alternative for the exterior, and Somerset House in The Strand proved the perfect choice.  The interior scenes were all over the place, making further use of Kedleston for some scenes, plus Clandon Hall, Guildford, with Holkham Hall in Norfolk used to depict the dining room. The streets of London, in which the newly-weds are filmed trundling along in their carriage being cheered by crowds of people, are actually the grounds of the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich.

Chatsworth Bridge. Photo by Rob Bendall, via Wikimedia Commons.

In the scenes in which Georgiana goes to Bath to take the waters, this beautiful city gets to play itself, as the graceful Royal Crescent comes into view.  Another famous Bath landmark is the Assembly Rooms in Bennett Street.  The tea room forms the backdrop to the scene where Georgiana is presented to the throng and where she first meets Elizabeth.  However, the river scenes seen in this part of the film were not filmed in Bath, but back at Kedleston.

Royal Crescent, Bath 2014 04. Photo by Mike Peel, via Wikimedia Commons.

Kedleston Hall, to the north-west of Derby, is an 18^th century neo-classical house designed by Robert Adam and surrounded by sumptuous parkland.  The property is owned by the National Trust.  Chatsworth House, on the banks of the River Derwent near Bakewell, Derbyshire, is privately owned but open to visitors complete with retail and refreshment points.  The house was initially completed in 1708, with later additions the following century.  The extensive grounds include many interesting features, including fountains, a temple and a rectangular lake known as the Canal Pond.

Somerset House is a neo-classical building on the south side of The Strand in London.  It is been used for many purposes over the years, but its current role is principally as an arts centre.  The Old Royal Naval College dominates the banks of the River Thames in Greenwich.  A naval college since 1873, it forms part of the Maritime Greenwich UNESCO World Heritage Site.  The College has been used extensively in filming, proving useful to film-makers as a quieter alternative to Central London for street scenes, Clandon Park, to the north-east of Guildford, Surrey,  is owned by the National Trust, but unfortunately Clandon Hall itself was destroyed by a catastrophic fire in 2015 and still stands as a ruin today.  Holkham Hall is in Holkham in North Norfolk, famous for its vast sandy beach.  An 18^th century house in the Palladian style surrounded by extensive parkland, it is privately owned but open to visitors.

The Royal Crescent in Bath was started in 1767 and consists of 30 Grade I listed terrace  houses.  For those wanting to immerse themselves in the Georgian spa town experience, part of the crescent has been given over to Bath’s poshest hotel, the Royal Crescent Hotel and Spa.  The Assembly Rooms, another National Trust property and designed in 1769, were the focal point of Georgian Bath’s social scene.  The building is used for functions and conferences, and can be visited when not in use.  There is also a Fashion Museum on the premises.  Both the Royal Crescent and The Assembly Rooms were designed by the architect John Wood, the Younger.