THREE LOCATIONS USED IN THE FILM NAPOLEON

 

Directed by Ridley Scott and starring the Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix, a collaboration earlier seen in the film Gladiator, the epic movie Napoleon promised to be a cinema classic.  Released in 2023, the film charts the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte and the troubled relationship with the Empress Josephine, played by Vanessa Kirby (of The Crown fame).  One would think that the majority of the locations used in the production would have been in France, but due to the rich array of 18th century properties here in the UK, the team did much of the filming in this country.

First up, the production team needed somewhere suitably Gallic looking to depict Napoleon’s Chateau, and in Boughton House they found the perfect candidate.   The house was selected from a host of 18th century piles visited by the team.  Boughton House lies in Boughton Park, Kettering, Northamptonshire and is open to visitors, who can book online.  There are tours of the house available, visiting some of the best preserved baroque state rooms in the country, with an array of fine art, furniture and tapestries on display.

Boughton House - geograph.org.uk - 4111875. Photo by Philip Halling, via Wikimedia Commons.

With its French-style interiors, Petworth House in West Sussex was chosen for some of the most pivotal scenes in the film, not least the scene depicting the Victim’s Ball, where Napoleon meets Josephine for the first time.  The National Trust, which manages the property, has a page devoted to the role of the house in the filming on its website, listing the Beauty Room, Marble Hall, Carved Room, Little Dining Room and Grand Staircase as the main parts of the house used in the ball scene.

Grand Staircase, Petworth House 2026-03-03 (2). Photo by Andy Li, via Wikimedia Commons.

For our third location, no film about Napoleon would be complete without a depiction of the Battle of Waterloo.  Once again, the team chose to film the battle scenes in a British location.  The location they chose was Churn Farm, Blewbury, Oxfordshire, which forms part of James Dyson’s countrywide Dyson Farming Estate.  Locals in the area were warned that cannons and gunfire would be used in the filming of the battle scene, and a footpath used by dog walkers had to be diverted for the duration.  For fans of the film wanting to soak up the surroundings of the battle scenes, the Estate offers a self-catering cottage for eight in the Blewbury part of the Dyson Farming Estate.

THREE LOCATIONS USED IN WUTHERING HEIGHTS 2026: YORKSHIRE

 In February of this year, a new version of Wuthering Heights hit the big screen.  Starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi as Cathy and Heathcliff, the film is not without its controversy.  The casting has come in for criticism due to the pale-skinned Elordi being selected as Heathcliff and Robbie being too old to play Cathy, albeit looking great for her age.  Eyebrows were also raised over the film playing fast and loose with the details of the story.  One thing that can’t be denied, though, is that the film portrays Yorkshire in all its bleak and beautiful majesty.

The village of Low Row was used for many of the village scenes, with the Old Gang Smelting Mill to the north of the village featuring heavily, forming part of the surroundings of Wuthering Heights.  The mill was built in the 19th century as a lead smelting mill.  Low Row is on the banks of the River Swale in Swaledale.

Old Gang Smelt Mill 002. Photo by Kreuzschnabel, via Wikimedia Commons.

The most northerly dale in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, Arkengarthdale made for an excellent choice in the filming of Wuthering Heights, with its bleak landscape and feeling of isolation.  Reeth, the nearest settlement of any note, was used as a base camp for the crews involved in the filming, with the local pubs enjoying the extra custom keeping the crews fed and watered.

Looking down Arkengarthdale - geograph.org.uk - 6088446. Photo by Russel Wills, via Wikimedia Commons.

The enticingly named Booze Moor near the village of Langthwaite served its purpose for the sweeping views of the windswept landscape, lending an atmospheric feel to the film.  Roadside viewing points above the village are the nearest one can get to the moor by car.  Visitors expecting to indulge in drunken debauchery will be disappointed: the moor is named after the hamlet of Booze, which derives from the Old English ‘boga’ (bow) and ‘hus’ (house) meaning ‘house by the curve’.

Map of the area.

AN INDUSTRIAL BACKDROP FOR A RISING STAR: PORT TALBOT/MR BURTON

On our westwards drives through South Wales, heading for the tourist hotspots of Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion, our thoughts full of the gorgeous coastlines we are about to enjoy, it is always a shock to be confronted with the steaming, industrial environs of the town of Port Talbot.  This is the scene that forms the opening of the BBC drama Mr Burton about the early life of the late Richard Burton and the teacher who saw his potential and took him under his wing.  

Port Talbot, Town Scenery - geograph.org.uk - 5502269. Photo by Lewis Clarke, via Wikimedia Commons.

In the 1950s a famous photo appeared showing Richard Burton and his father walking across the Pontrhydyfen Viaduct  In the film there is a scene with Richard and his teacher Mr Burton crossing the same viaduct on their way to see Richard’s father to try and persuade him to give permission for Richard to take his teacher’s surname in order to facilitate his acceptance into professional acting, hence the change from Richard Jenkins to Richard Burton.  The viaduct, which is in Richard’s home village of the same name, a few miles to the northwest of Port Talbot, was built in 1898 by the Port Talbot Railway.

Several of the scenes in Mr Burton feature a beautiful sandy beach.  Wales has more than its fair share of these, but this is one of the lesser known ones.  The beach is Aberavon Beach, which stretches southeastwards from the mouth of the River Neath, very near Port Talbot.  Another popular hangout in the area is Margam Country Park, two miles southeast of Port Talbot on the southern slopes of Margam Mountain, known locally as Mynydd Margam.  The mountain appears in several of the film’s countryside scenes.  

The beach at Aberavon - geograph.org.uk - 3136704. Photo by Simon Mortimer, via Wikimedia Commons.

Map of the area.

AN ECCLESIASTICAL EDUCATION: FOUNTAINS ABBEY/THE HISTORY BOYS

The film adaptation of Alan Bennett’s play The History Boys, which tells the story of a group of schoolboys preparing for acceptance at Oxford University, was shot in a number of Yorkshire locations, as well as a couple of schools in Watford.  The most striking location used is Fountains Abbey, which is where the boys are taken on a history field trip. 

Fountains Abbey 02 2005-08-27. Photo by Klaus with K, via Wikimedia Commons.

The ruins of the Cistercian Fountains Abbey are run by the National Trust and lie in the Nidderdale National Landscape to the south-west of Ripon in North Yorkshire.  The National Trust site also includes the water gardens of Studley Royal.  The abbey was founded in 1132 and was one of the wealthiest in the country until Henry VIII did his worst in 1539.

Map of the area.

MURDER AT THE MANOR: WROTHAM PARK AND SYON HOUSE/GOSFORD PARK

A classic whodunnit in the style of Agatha Christie, Gosford Park sees a group of wealthy guests plus their servants gathering for a shooting weekend at Gosford Park, owned by Sir William McCordle (Michael Gambon).  During the course of the weekend, Sir William’s body is discovered slumped in his chair.  The rest is a familiar round of police questioning, with plenty of likely suspects.  

The gruesome event is offset by the sumptuous interiors of Sir William’s home, with most of the scenes filmed at Wrotham Park, Hertfordshire, for the downstairs and Syon House, West London, for the upstairs and bedrooms.  Near the start of the film we are shown the outside of the home of Lady Trentham, one of the guests.  This was filmed at Hall Barn, Buckinghamshire.

Wrotham Park 1820, courtesy of the British Library, via Wikimedia Commons.

Wrotham Park is to the south of Potters Bar in Hertfordshire.  The house dates from 1754 when it was designed for Admiral John Byng, and it is surrounded by a vast estate of 2,500 acres.  The house remains in the hands of the family to this day, and is not open to the public.  However, it is made available to film crews for filming, most recently being used for the ITV series Code of Silence.

Interior - Syon House - London, UK - DSC07437.  Photo by Daderot, via Wikimedia Commons.

Syon House, the London Home of the Duke of Northumberland, is near Hounslow in West London and is surrounded by Syon Park.  The house was built in the 16th century on a site originally occupied by Syon Abbey.  The house and park are open to visitors, who as well as the magnificent interior can marvel at the beauty of the Great Conservatory. Hall Barn is not normally open to the public, except for open-air theatre productions in the grounds.

A GRAND ABODE FOR A GRAND DECEPTION: THE SCAPEGOAT/KNEBWORTH HOUSE

The Scapegoat, a novel written by Daphne Du Maurier in 1957, concerns a man who one day by chance meets his double, an aristocrat beset with financial and family woes.  The aristocrat gets his new acquaintance drunk and persuades him to swap places, leading to an unfortunate chain of events as he meets the family and attempts to conceal the pretence.

The novel was set in France, and in 1959 a film adaptation was made, also set in France.  In 2012 a second film, starring Matthew Rhys as the two doubles, switched the action to Britain, starring Knebworth House as the aristocrat’s family home.  

Knebworth House - geograph.org.uk - 6582377. Photo by Jim Osley, via Wikimedia Commons.

Knebworth House dates from the 15th century, when Sir Robert Lytton, a close confidant of King Henry VII, purchased the Manor of Knebworth, which was probably a Saxon settlement previously, and set about building the original house.  Successive generations of Lyttons inherited the property.  In 1843 Sir Edward Bulwer Lytton transformed the property into the Tudor Gothic style which was fashionable at the time.  In more recent times the estate has got a name for itself as a concert venue, with such rock greats as Pink Floyd and Genesis playing there.

Knebworth House, which is located to the south-west of Stevenage in Hertfordshire, is open to the public on selected dates from March to September.  As well as the house and gardens, there is a Dinosaur Trail for the kids, and exhibitions on the Lyttons, filming locations and the concerts held there.

Map of the area.

LITERARY PUBS: THE BELL INN, MORETON-IN-MARSH

One recurring feature of Tolkien’s Hobbit tales is the tavern called The Prancing Pony in the fictional town of Bree.  The tavern forms part of an important scene in the first of the trilogy of Lord of the Rings films, being where Frodo and his friends first encounter Aragorn, who is sitting there in a hooded coat smoking a pipe.

While living in Oxford, Tolkien used to frequent the Cotswolds town Moreton-in-Marsh to meet up with his London-based brother. The brothers got together at the Bell Inn, a honey-coloured stone pub in the town’s main street, and this is believed to be the inspiration for the Prancing Pony.  A local branch of the Tolkien Society has had a blue plaque placed by the entrance to commemorate the pub’s connection to Tolkien and his work. The inn was a popular stopover for horse-drawn coaches in the days before the arrival of the railway, and the arched entrance used by the coaches matches the arch in Tolkien’s description of the inn.

Bell Inn Moreton in Marsh back in time. Photo by Ian Alexander, via Wikimedia Commons.

Map of the area.

A CAMPSITE WITH A DIFFERENCE: MALHAM COVE/HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS

 In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, when Harry and Hermione find somewhere to set up camp while fleeing Lord Voldemort following the departure of Ron Weasley, they choose a rather curious place for it. They set up their tent, not on a nice soft grassy meadow, but on a cracked limestone ‘pavement’ on top of a cliff.  This is Malham Cove, a unique geological feature in the Yorkshire Dales.  

Malham C0ve 2021 (slight fog). Photo by Addshore, via Wikimedia Commons.

Malham Cove is a curved limestone cliff face 70 metres high which is formed along the line of the Middle Craven Fault.  The unique shape of the cliff arises from the action of water and ice over millions of years.  It is possible to walk up to the limestone pavement, but be aware that the walk takes in some steep climbs and rugged terrain.  Once at the top, care must be taken when negotiating the pavement due to its uneven, cracked surface.  A short distance from the top is a body of water called Malham Tarn, and the famous Gordale Scar is also nearby.  Back in Malham village there are a number of refreshment options and places to stay.

Map of the area.

THREE LOCATIONS USED IN THE 2018 FILM MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS

 There have been a number of films made over the years about the relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and her first cousin once removed Mary Stuart, better known as Mary Queen of Scots.  One of the more recent films stars Saoirse Ronan as Mary and Margot Robbie as Elizabeth.  Here are three of the locations used in the film.

The film opens with Mary’s return to Scotland from France, where she had briefly been Queen, but her reign ended with the death of her husband Francis.  The ship carrying Mary landed at Leith on the outskirts of Edinburgh in 1561.  The beach used in this scene in the film is Seacliff Beach, North Berwick, a pleasant seaside town in East Lothian, a bit further south.

After landing at Leith Mary makes her way to Holyrood House in Edinburgh.  The exterior of Holyrood in the film was shot at Blackness Castle near Linlithgow.  Situated on a promontory on the south bank of the River Forth, just upstream from the Forth Road Bridge, Blackness Castle is a 15^th century castle owned by Historic Environment Scotland and is open to visitors year round.  The castle was originally built as a residence for the Crichtons, one of Scotland’s most powerful families at the time. 

Blackness Castle - geograph.org.uk - 1238628. Photo by Mike Pennington, via Wikimedia Commons.

 

Meanwhile, Elizabeth is based at Hampton Court Palace on the outskirts of London.  The exterior of the palace in the film was represented by the magnificent Hardwick Hall near Chesterfield in Derbyshire.  We see the tall facade of the building and the formal garden fronting it.  Hardwick Hall is owned by the National Trust, and among its treasures are some fine tapestries.  The cafe downstairs offers a range of tasty meals, coffees, teas and cakes. The property is fully open until the end of October, and partially open thereafter.

Hardwick Hall - geograph.org.uk - 3339472. Photo by Chris Heaton, via Wikimedia Commons.

MINCING WORDS: THE KING'S SPEECH

The King’s Speech is an unusual film about a late member of the Royal Family, in that it focuses on one particular aspect of the monarch’s persona.  King George VI, aka Bertie, (played by Colin Firth, who won the Oscar for Best Actor), father of the late Queen Elizabeth II, suffered from a stammer, which being the King was a problem with all the speeches he was expected to make.  An Australian speech therapist called Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) was engaged to help the King overcome this affliction, and this is the central theme of the film. Here are some of the locations used in three key scenes of the film.

The opening scene depicts the occasion of the closing ceremony of the Empire Exhibition at Wembley Stadium, which took place in 1925.  Bertie, still a Duke at this point, gives a speech which proves excruciating as he stammers his way through it, with his wife Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon (aka The Queen Mother, played by Helena Bonham Carter) looking on in distress for her husband.  I came across a lost recording of the actual 1925 speech, which, though not great, did not sound nearly as bad as Colin Firth’s version.  Anyhow, as to the location of the scene, it was filmed at Elland Road Stadium in Leeds, home of Leeds United football team, with some shots filmed at the Odsal Stadium, home of the Bradford Bulls rugby team.  The people of Leeds got an early look at the film when it featured in the 2010 Leeds International Film Festival.

Elland Road 2023 cropped. Photo by Arne Müseler, via Wikimedia Commons.

 

Following the death of his father, Bertie has to endure the occasion of his Coronation, which in real life took place in Westminster Abbey, but for the purposes of the film the Coronation scenes and the scenes of the preparation for the occasion were shot at Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire.  The cathedral has been used in a number of top films, including Elizabeth: The Golden Age, The Other Boleyn Girl and Macbeth, as well as the Netflix series The Crown.    

Ely Cathedral

 

With Bertie installed as King, war breaks out against Germany, and Bertie is faced with having to make a broadcast to the nation, and Lionel Logue is summoned to Buckingham Palace to prepare him for the broadcast.  The interior of Buckingham Palace was filmed at Lancaster House, a government-owned building in London, which was rented at a cost of £20,000 a day for the filming.

Lancaster House from St James's Park London. Photo by Ricardalovesmonuments, via Wikimedia Commons.

Elland Road Stadium lies to the south-west of Leeds, near the M621.  The venue offers behind-the-scenes tours and the opportunity to purchase club merchandise.  Odsal Stadium is to the south of Bradford, near the A6036.  As well as rugby matches, the stadium hosts live music events.  Ely is one of the country’s smallest cathedral cities, located in the Fenland district of Cambridgeshire, with a picturesque riverside on the banks of the River Great Ouse.  The cathedral dates back to the 11^th century.  Lancaster House is run by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.  It was formerly known as York House, having been commissioned by the Duke of York in 1825.  Its sumptuous interior includes a Long Gallery, State Drawing Room and the Green Room.

 

 

OIL MAN VERSUS BEACH MAN: LOCAL HERO: PENNAN, ABERDEENSHIRE

If you are looking for a feel-good film in these depressing times, I can recommend Local Hero, made in 1983 and directed by Bill Forsyth.  In the film a rich American oil magnate (played by Burt Lancaster) has his eye on a beautiful stretch of Scottish coastline which has potential as the site for an oil refinery, so he sends a company rep over to check it out.  The locals are keen, seeing the opportunity to make a lot of money, but an eccentric old man living on the beach is refusing to budge.  As well as being a heart-warming story with plenty of gentle humour, the scenery is stunning, helped along by a score written by Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits.

The village targeted by the oil company in the film is called Ferness, but in real life it is the village of Pennan, Aberdeenshire.  Nestling at the foot of cliffs, and consisting of a row of squat whitewashed buildings, the village looks vulnerable to the often angry seas off this coast.  Much of the action centres around the local pub, where the oil company’s rep is staying.  Although Pennan has a pub, this was not used in the film; an ordinary house was used for the exterior scenes instead.

Pennan - geograph.org.uk - 684955. Photo by John Allan, via Wikimedia Commons.

The film was made in the days before mobile phones rendered the old red British telephone boxes obsolete, and there are some comical scenes in which the company rep frantically tries to gather together enough coins to go out to the telephone box to call his boss back home.  The production team used a mockup for the film instead of the existing village phone box, but the original one is still there, and over the years has had many fans of the film turning up to have their picture taken next to it.

Phone Booth Pennan. Photo by Blik, via Wikimedia Commons.

The most striking location used in the film is the beautiful beach with a church which featured in an amusing scene in which the locals gather in the church to hold a meeting, while the oil men stand on the beach oblivious to the line of people filing into the church.  Anyone visiting Pennan on a Local Hero pilgrimage will be disappointed if they are hoping to see the beach, as the real one, Camusdarach Beach, is on the other side of Scotland between Morar and Arisaig on the west coast of the Highland region. The exterior of the church was a mockup covering a house, but the church was based on Our Lady of the Braes near Lochailort a few miles east of Arisaig, which was used for the interior scenes.  A few years ago it was reported that the church was to be converted into a family home.

Camusdarach Beach - geograph.org.uk - 60994. Photo by Lynne Kirton, via Wikimedia Commons.

Pennan lies on the north-facing part of the Aberdeenshire coast, around 10 miles west of Fraserburgh.  Arisaig and Lochailort both lie very close to the route of the Jacobite, or “Harry Potter train”, so film buffs can kill two birds with one stone by visiting the area.  The famous beach is near the Mallaig end of the route, which runs between there and Fort William.

Map of Pennan. 

Map of  Camusdarach Beach.

THE EXQUISITE WORLD OF ELIZABETH BENNET: PRIDE AND PREJUDICE 2005

Back in 2013, I did a piece about Lyme Park in Cheshire, which was where the famous ‘lake scene’ was filmed for the 1995 TV production of Pride and Prejudice, with Colin Firth as Mr Darcy emerging from the lake with diaphanous wet-through clothing.  This Christmas TV viewers have had the opportunity to see the 2005 film of this classic tale by Jane Austen, starring Keira Knightley as Elizabeth Bennet and Matthew Macfadyen as Mr Darcy.

The action kicks off with Elizabeth strolling towards the Bennet family home, Longbourn.  This scene was filmed at Groombridge Place, a moated manor house near Tunbridge Wells, Kent.  Inside the home, the family are discussing the new occupant of nearby Netherfield Park, Mr Bingley.  Later on the Bennets pay a visit to Netherfield, and as they depart we catch sight of its imposing exterior.  The real-life property standing in for Netherfield is Basildon Park, Berkshire. 

Basildon Park (4739480359). Photo by Jim Bowen, via Wikimedia Commons.

There are a number of scenes involving the local village of Meryton, including the one in which soldiers arriving in the area go marching down the street, to the delight of the  young women of the village.  These scenes were filmed in the picturesque market town of Stamford, Lincolnshire.  During the filming horses used as part of the marching scene were seen outside the Arts Centre, while the churchyard in the square was filled with sheep. .Near Stamford is another imposing property, Burghley House, which is used in the film for Rosings Park, home of the de Bourgh family.  Anne de Bourgh is expected to marry Darcy.

The clergyman Mr. Collins, a distant cousin of Mr. Bennett who has designs on Elizabeth, lives in a vicarage which in real life is in the village of Weekley in Northamptonshire.  Haddon Hall near Bakewell in Derbyshire also puts in an appearance, with the banqueting hall acting as the interior of the Inn at Lambton. 

Naturally, the most imposing property of all in the story is Pemberley, the home of Mr Darcy.  The Chatsworth estate in Derbyshire is used for Pemberley in the 2005 film.  This is not the first time Chatsworth has played the role of Pemberley.  The TV drama Death Comes To Pemberley  also made use of Chatsworth.  Meanwhile, Pemberley’s drawing room was filmed at Wilton House near Salisbury.

Chatsworth House, Derbyshire - geograph.org.uk - 2481560. Photo by Christine Matthews, via Wikimedia Commons.

Finally, there are a couple of outside scenes of note.  The scene which has Elizabeth standing on a precipice was filmed at Stanage Edge in Derbyshire.  Meanwhile, way down to the south, the stunning gardens of Stourhead in Wiltshire feature in the scene in which, in pouring rain, Mr Darcy first proposes to Elizabeth and is sharply rebuffed.  This scene takes place at a folly in the grounds known as the Temple of Apollo.

Stourhead Gardens - geograph.org.uk - 32663. Photo by Nigel Freeman, via Wikimedia Commons.

Groombridge Place is currently closed for renovation so cannot be visited by the public.  Basildon Park, an 18th century estate near the River Thames between Reading and Goring, is run by the National Trust and is open to visitors year round.  Burghley House is currently closed for the winter, but is due to reopen in March 2024.  Haddon Hall is open daily during the main season, and on selected dates in November and December.  Chatsworth House and its park are open year round, and is especially appealilng in the run up to Christmas.  

Stanage Edge lies in the Peak District, a couple of miles north of Hathersage, and is a gritstone escarpment popular with climbers.  The Temple of Apollo in Stourhead Gardens is a fine example of classical buildings known as 'follies' which were erected in the estates of the landed gentry of times gone by.  The gardens are run by the National Trust and are open year round.

 

HALLOWEEN SPECIAL: THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES

 A story about a curse on a family involving a giant man-killing hound seems a perfect subject for a Halloween special.  The story is by Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes.  The family in question are the Baskervilles, and the curse dates from the days of the English Civil War, when Sir Hugo Baskerville kidnapped a farmer’s daughter.  Sir Hugo is killed by a spectral hound, a fate which befalls a number of subsequent Baskervilles. 

The story has been turned into film a number of times over the years, firstly in 1939, which was mostly studio-based, then in 1959, in a film starring horror stalwarts Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, with filming taking place in Surrey, at Frensham Ponds and Chobham Common.  More recently, a TV movie in 1988 starring Jeremy Brett as Holmes, was filmed in a number of locations in the Midlands and North (although the original story was based in Dartmoor).

In the 1988 film, The Heath House in Tean, Staffordshire doubled as Baskerville Hall, while Mobberley Old Hall near Knutsford, Cheshire, provided some of the interior shots.  Croxteth Hall on Merseyside leant one of its rooms to be used as a hotel room.  The hotel in the film was called The Northumberland Hotel.  The railway scenes were filmed at Pickering railway station, one of the terminii of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.  Just outside Harrogate lie Brimham Rocks.  This is the area used as the moors around Baskerville Hall, where Watson shoots the hound. 

The Heath House-geograph-4049368. Photo by Dennis Thorley, via Wikimedia Commons.

 

The Heath House is a Gothic Revival building, which in 2021 was featured in Country Life magazine, being up for sale for 6 and a quarter million pounds.  The estate was described as a ‘farm’, but the magazine commented that it was more Downton Abbey than dirty wellies.  Tean lies just off the A50, to the south-east of Cheadle.  Mobberley Old Hall dates from the 17^th century, and lies in the village of Mobberley in Cheshire, a short distance from Knutsford.  Croxteth Hall is just outside Liverpool and offers a function room and parkland open to visitors.  It was formerly the ancestral home of the Molyneux family, the Earls of Sefton.  Pickering railway station is the terminus of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, a magnificent line which wends its way down to the coast at Whitby.  Brimham Rocks, run by the National Trust, is a beauty spot to the north-west of Harrogate and south-west of Ripon featuring dramatic rock formations.

Brimham Rocks turtle and eagle. Photo by Geertivp, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Hound of the Baskervilles is currently available to view on ITVX.

A RAILWAY ROMANCE: BRIEF ENCOUNTER/CARNFORTH

 

Brief Encounter, a 1945 film directed by David Lean about two married strangers who meet by chance on a railway station, is highly evocative of a time when everyone travelling by train seemed to be dressed up to the nines and speak with cut-glass accents.  Just as evocative is the location of much of the film’s action, a train station full of period touches such as those which can be found on heritage railways up and down the land.

The opening scene takes place on a station platform with a steam train rushing past and a vintage round clock with Roman numerals hanging from the platform roof.  We are then shown a sign with a hand pointing to the ‘Refreshment Room’.  This was before the days of Costa and Starbucks, when everyone drank cups of tea served from giant tea urns.  Here we get our first glimpse of the star-crossed lovers of the ‘brief encounter’ in question, Laura Jesson (Celia Johnson) and Dr Alec Harvey (Trevor Howard).  Later, the film backtracks to the moment the pair first met, and during this scene a sign comes into view saying ‘Milford Junction’.  This is the name of the station in the film, but in real life it is Carnforth station. 

When watching the film for the first time recently, I heard Laura saying she had popped into Boots for a book, and then there is a scene with her getting her book and moving to another section of the premises where there are toothbrushes and so forth.  I thought I was hearing things, but on doing some research I discovered that up to 1966 Boots the Chemist did indeed have a library service.  The street scenes in the film were shot a long way from Carnforth, in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.  According to an online discussion about the location, the Boots of the film is now a Chinese restaurant.  A later scene involving a boating lake was filmed in Regent’s Park.  Another scene in the film whisks us off to the Lake District, where the little bridge seen in the film was filmed at Middle Fell Bridge. Langdale Beck. 

2018 at Carnforth station - the heritage centre. Photo by Geof Sheppard, via Wikimedia Commons.

 

Film enthusiasts will be pleased to know that Carnforth Station has preserved the famous tea room as the Brief Encounter Refreshment Room, looked after by the Carnforth Station Heritage Centre.

Map of Carnforth.

WINGS OVER THE SOUTH-EAST: BATTLE OF BRITAIN

 As I write this, it’s a Bank Holiday weekend, and predictably for such times there is a classic British war film on the TV: Battle of Britain (1969).  With a cast that reads like a Who’s Who of famous actors of the 60s – Sir Michael Caine, Sir Lawrence Olivier, Christopher Plummer, Kenneth More, Ian McShane, Suzannah York, the list goes on – the film does what it says on the tin, telling the story of the struggle for air superiority over the Germans during the Second World War, culminating in the battle of the title.  Not surprisingly, the filming locations which feature in the film are mostly former RAF air bases – and with a pub thrown in.  There are also aerial shots of the south coast, with the white cliffs putting in an appearance.

First up we have Duxford, a former RAF/RAAF airfield in Cambridgeshire.  Filming took place there in 1968, seven years after it ceased operations as a military airfield.  Construction of the buildings on the airfield started in 1918, carried out by German prisoners-of-war.  During the Second World War the airfield played a crucial role in repelling air attacks by the Germans in the real-life Battle of Britain.  During the filming of Battle of Britain, one of the original World War I hangars was blown up, apparently without the agreement of the Ministry of Defence.  Nowadays Duxford acts as an outpost of the Imperial War Museum, housing The Fighter Collection and the Historic Aircraft Collection.  It is also the location of the American Air Museum.

Duxford, Cambridgeshire - geograph.org.uk - 2603257. Photo by Brendan and Ruth McCartney, via Wikimedia Commons.

Moving across to Essex, we come to RAF Debden near Saffron Walden, opened in 1937, which housed an Operations Block for No. 11 Group during the Battle of Britain, when it came under attack several times.  Peter Townsend, one time beau of Princess Margaret, was commander of 85 Squadron during the Battle, and he wrote a book about it called “Duel of Eagles”.  Also in Essex is RAF North Weald, established in 1916 and an important fighter station during the Battle of Britain.  More recently, the airfield has been used as a base for the Air Ambulance and the National Police Air Service.  Like Duxford, the airfield has its own museum, telling the story of the people who worked there during the two world wars.

Leaving Essex, we head to Kent and RAF Hawkinge, another with its own museum, run by the Kent Battle of Britain Musem Trust.  The base had already been in existence for 20 years when the Battle of Britain began.  Hawkinge’s significance in the Battle lay in the fact that it was the nearest RAF station to occupied France, located just inland from Folkestone, just 6 minutes’ flying time from the French coast.  Another  base which put in an appearance in the film was Bovingdon, a former bomber airfield to the south-west of Hemel Hempstead.

Finally, we come to the pub.  There is a scene in the film involving Squadron Leader Colin Harvey (Christopher Plummer) and his wife Section Officer Maggie (Susannah York), in which they argue about Maggie’s relocating closer to Colin’s posting.  The scene takes place in The Jackdaw Inn in Denton, a few miles north of Folkestone, Kent.  The pub makes the most of its connection to the film with wartime RAF memorabilia and vintage posters such as the one declaring “Don’t Help the Enemy!  Careless Talk May Give Away Vital Secrets”, a poster which can be seen in the background in the film sequence.

Denton, The Jackdaw Inn (geograph 3228308). Photo by Helmut Zozmann, via Wikimedia Commons.

DALLIANCES IN DORSET: EMMA (1996)

 

One thing is guaranteed when it comes to film adaptations of Jane Austen novels: that they will be a feast for the eyes.  Not only for the dashing young men with their flowing locks and sexy boots, and the English roses with heaving bosoms vying for their attention, but also for the idyllic English town and country scenes, which invariably include a range of stately homes.  The 1996 film Emma, starring Gwyneth Paltrow as compulsive matchmaker Emma and Toni Collette as friend Harriet Smith, is no exception, with a variety of charming locations mainly in Dorset.

The first big property to feature in the film is Hartfield, home of Emma Woodhouse and her family, where Emma is seen discussing a wedding with her father.  The location used as the exterior of Hartfield is mostly Came House in the village of Winterbourne Came, Dorset.  However, some of the interior scenes were filmed entirely elsewhere.  The dinner party scene in which Emma introduces Mr Elton (Alan Cumming) to Harriet was filmed at Stratfield Saye House in Hampshire, while Hartfield’s book-lined gallery was filmed in the Long Gallery of Syon House, west London.

Came House (2) - geograph.org.uk - 855736. Photo by Mike Searle, via Wikimedia Commons.

 

Another imposing property in Dorset used in the filming of Emma is Crichel House near the village of Moor Crichel, to the north of Wimborne.  In the film the property plays the part of Donwell Abbey, home of a local landowner called George Knightley.  A lake on the estate features in a lakeside archery scene.  Meanwhile, another property, Claydon House in Middle Claydon near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, lends its elaborate North Hall for the filming of the grand dance, in which Harriet is snubbed but subsequently rescued by Knightley.  Another local man made good, Mr Weston, who married Emma’s former governess (played by Greta Scacchi) occupies a grand property called Randalls.  This honey-coloured property in real life is Mapperton, home of the Earl and Duchess of Sandwich, which is located a short distance to the east of Beaminster, Dorset.

Mapperton House - geograph.org.uk - 517671. Photo by Chris Downer, via Wikimedia Commons.

 

Aside from the sumptuous residences seen in the film, there are picturesque street scenes depicting the local village Highbury (Surrey), where Mr Elton is the vicar.  The street scenes used in the film were filmed in the Dorset village of Evershot, about 7 miles south of Yeovil.  The Old Manor House in the village is used as the schoolhouse, while the post office building is used for the haberdashery store.  In order to make the street scenes more authentic for the period, the main street, Fore Street,  was festooned with sheep pens and straw for the filming.  The filming is transferred to the neighbouring county of Somerset for the scene in which Emma visits a sick lady, Mrs Clark.  The venue for this scene is the Helyar Almshouses in the village of East Coker about 3 miles south of Yeovil.

Evershot, Tess Cottage and the church - geograph.org.uk - 447131. Photo by Chris Downer, via Wikimedia Commons.

 

Came House was built for John Damer in 1754 from a handsome light-coloured stone.  Lying about a mile south-east of Dorchester, nowadays the house is, appropriately enough, used as a wedding venue.  Stratfield Saye House in Hampshire, about 5 miles south of Reading, has been home to the Dukes of Wellington since 1817 and is open for pre-booked tours only.  Syon House, across the River Thames from Kew Gardens, has been used extensively in filming.  Forming part of Syon Park, the house has been the home of the Dukes of Northumberland for over 400 years.  The house and gardens are open to the public, with a mix of guided and self-guided tours of the house.

Crichel House is a Classical Revival country house built for the Napier family.  The property and grounds are not open to the public apart from specific events.  Claydon House is a National Trust property and is open to the public from April.  The North Hall is a riot of rococo in yellow and white.  Mapperton House originates from the 11^th century, but a Tudor manor house was built on the site by Robert Morgan in the 1540s, and rebuilt the following century by Richard Brodrepp.  The property is now the  home of the Earl and Duchess of Sandwich. The Gardens and cafe are open from March, and the house from April.

Evershot is the second highest village in Dorset and the source of the River Frome.  The village featured heavily in Thomas Hardy’s works, most notably Tess of the D’Urbervilles.  East Coker lies over the county border in Somerset, and has a history stretching back to Roman times: a Roman villa was discovered there in the 18^th century.  The Helyar Almshouses were built in the mid-17^th century by the Archdeacon of Barnstaple.  The construction took twenty years due to an enforced interruption brought about by the Great Plague.