THE LADY OF LINDISFARNE: VERA

ITV seems to have become the go-to channel for crime and drama series set or filmed in picturesque parts of the British Isles.  We have had Broadchurch set on the Dorset coast, The Bay set in Morecambe Bay, Deep Water set in The Lake District, Midsomer Murders filmed around the Thames and Chilterns area, and of course Morse and its spin-offs Endeavour and Lewis set and filmed in Oxford and surrounding areas.  These are just the ones that immediately spring to mind.



With the Vera crime series, starring Brenda Blethyn as the motherly but stern lady detective, we are transported to the north-east, with its beautiful coastal and inland scenery and its wonderful local accents.  Of the many locations used in the 9 series so far televised, the most frequently seen is Lindisfarne, otherwise known as Holy Island, which is where Vera’s house is (Snook Cottage in real life).  Getting to and from  Holy Island involves a drive along a causeway which is engulfed by the sea at high tide closing it to traffic for several hours twice a day, begging the question how is Vera able to rush to the latest crime scene if the tide is up?  Something which is never really explained in the series.

Causeway and refuge Holy Island - geograph.org.uk - 971516. Photo by Chris Gunns, via Wikimedia Commons.

Holy Island is a feature of the Northumberland coast which is unmistakeable to anyone heading north from Bamburgh, largely thanks to the castle perched at one end of it, looking like something out of a fairy tale.  A fort dating from the Tudor period, the castle sits so naturally on its cone of rock that it almost seems an extension of the rock itself.  The castle was built in 1550 and by the end of the 19^th century it was a ruin, then in 1902 Edwin Lutyens restored it, converting it into a private house.  The property is now run by the National Trust, while the other prominent historical landmark on the island, Lindisfarne Priory, dating from 1093, is run by English Heritage.  There is a little village on the island with a cluster of cottages, a  handful of shops and a couple of pubs.  For nature lovers, the mudflats, salt marshes and dunes around the island form part of a National Nature Reserve.

Lindisfarne Castle in summer. Photo by Robert Eyers, via Wikimedia Commons.

Map of the area.

FACING THE MUSIC IN BUCKINGHAMSHIRE: QUARTET

Quartet, released in 2012 and directed by Dustin Hoffman, is based around Beecham House, a home for retired musicians, where the residents celebrate the birthday of Giuseppe Verdi every year with a concert in his honour.  This year’s concert is disrupted by the arrival of the ex-wife of one of the residents, Jean, a diva in the true sense of the word.



Jean is played by national treasure Dame Maggie Smith (alongside such luminaries as Michael Gambon, Tom Courtenay, Billy Connolly and Pauline Collins).  Another national treasure plays the role of the residence in question: Hedsor House, Taplow, between Slough and Maidenhead, which was used for almost the entirety of the filming, along with Taplow’s St Nicholas’ Church.



Hedsor House, which stands in 85 acres of parkland overlooking the River Thames, forms part of an estate dating from 1166, when it was owned by the de Hedsor family.  During the 18^th century it was home to Princess Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales and mother of King George III.  The following century it was regularly visited by Queen Victoria.  Latterly, the house became the property of the Shephard family, being gifted to one of its number, Alexander Shephard, by his great grandparents as a wedding present.  The house was requisitioned during World War 2 for military use, then in 1952 the Americans moved in, using it as a secret communications base before it was returned to the Shephards in 2003.  The house has 100 rooms and features include a ballroom, a grand hall with a gallery and a sunken garden.



Alexander and his wife now live in a farmhouse on the estate.  The main house has become popular as a wedding venue, and for filming.  One of Alexander’s sons recalls walking into the kitchen in the farmhouse during the filming of Quartet to find Dustin Hoffman sitting there, having decamped to the farmhouse while a wedding was going on in the main house.  Hoffman apparently made the bride and groom’s day by posing for photos with them.  During the filming Hoffman had a summer-house built in the grounds, and he left this for the family as a gift.



Other films featuring Hedsor House include Legend (2015) about the Kray brothers, and The Golden Compass(2007), a fantasy adventure film starring Nicole Kidman.

Map of Hedsor House and environs.

Hedsor House, Hedsor Park, Taplow, Buckinghamshire-4879995433. Photo by Ami and Debo Mukherjee, via Wikimedia Commons.