COPPERS OF CALDERDALE: HAPPY VALLEY

 

I was late to the party on this one.  Everyone seemed to be talking about Happy Valley, and I normally have a reaction against what I consider to be overhyped TV series or films.  However, I finally relented and watched the first episode to see what I had been missing, and it turned out to be rather good, so I am ploughing my way through the series via BBC iplayer.  The filming of the series mostly took place around Calderdale, West Yorkshire, most notably Halifax, Hebden Bridge, Sowerby Bridge and surrounding areas. 

The world of the main character, Catherine (Sarah Lancashire) revolves around her place of work and her home.  The exterior of the police station where she is stationed was filmed at the now closed Halifax Swimming Pool, while the interior shots were filmed at Dean Clough, a mill complex in Halifax.  Meanwhile, Catherine’s home was filmed in Hangingroyd Lane in the riverside and canalside town of Hebden Bridge.  Towards the end of series one Catherine reluctantly agrees to a birthday party.  The party scenes were filmed at Organic House, Market Street in Hebden Bridge.

Hebden Bridge (8714312985). Photo by Tim Green, via Wikimedia Commons.

One of the most notable features of Calderdale is its waterways, chiefly the River Calder and the Rochdale Canal.  The Canal, part of the Calder and Hebble Navigation, was the scene of the explosive ending to series 1 of Happy Valley, in which Catherine's nemesis Tommy Lee Royce (James Norton) holes up in a canal boat and tries to kill himself and take his son Ryan, Catherine’s grandson, with him.  The scene was filmed in the section between Sowerby Bridge and Luddenden Foot.  On higher ground, meanwhile, it’s all about the windswept moors, which also put in a regular appearance.  In the last episode of the series, Tommy makes an escape on a cycle, and is seen cycling over Ovenden Moor to Warley Moor Reservoir in Halifax.

Barge on the Rochdale Canal, Sowerby Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 1169800.  Photo by Humphrey Bolton, via Wikimedia Commons.

A number of businesses in the area played roles in the filming.  When Catherine first spots Tommy in series 1, he is peering through the window of a takeaway – this is the Happy Eating Chinese Takeaway in Tuel Lane, Sowerby Bridge, in real life (called the Curry House in the series).  The Nisa Local store in Crown Street, Hebden Bridge is where Neil Ackroyd from series 2 and 3 works.  In series 3, Catherine and her sister are seen in heated conversation in the Amico Cafe in Bolton, which lies a bit further to the south-west in Greater Manchester.  The local press reported Happy Valley fans queuing round the block to visit the cafe after its appearance in the series.  Sadly, the cafe has since closed. The intriguingly named Will o’Nats pub near Blackmoorfoot Reservoir near Meltham, to the south-west of Huddersfield, featured in series 2.

Will o'Nats, Meltham - geograph.org.uk - 493996. Photo by Humphrey Bolton, via Wikimedia Commons.

These are just some of the locations featured in the series.  For more information on the area and the series locations, see the Visit Calderdale website, which also lists the many other productions filmed in the area.  

Map of the area.

A VICTIM OF BEECHING REMEMBERED: ADLESTROP, GLOUCESTERSHIRE

 

1966 was a happening year for Britain.  England won the World Cup, The Beatles topped the charts with We Can Work It Out, and Carnaby Street was leading the way for the fashionistas of the Swinging Sixties.  Unfortunately, it was far from a happening year for the tiny village of Adlestrop in Gloucestershire, which lost its railway station as part of the brutal Beeching Cuts, part of a massive overhaul of the country’s railways.  However, this charming country station has been immortalised in the poem Adlestrop by Edward Thomas, written during a journey undertaken by the poet in June 1914.

If the wording of the poem is anything to go by, underuse of the station was a likely reason for the closure:

 

                                                 No one left and no one came

                                                On the bare platform.  What I saw

                                                Was Adlestrop – only the name

 

The poem goes on to describe the flora and fauna around the station, consisting of willows, willow-herb, grass and meadowsweet, and a singing blackbird, with the poet imagining it being joined by all the birds of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

Adlestrop village - geograph.org.uk - 2499726. Photo by Michael Dibb, via Wikimedia Commons.

 

Adlestrop lies at the eastern extreme of the Cotswolds, near the border with Oxfordshire.  The famous Daylesford Organic farm shop is just to the south, and Moreton-in-Marsh is a couple of miles north-north-west.  The station was opened in 1853 on what is now called the Cotswold Line (Moreton-in-Marsh is on the same line, and still retains its station) but was originally part of the Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway.  The parish church of St Mary Magdalene dates from the 13^th century, but was rebuilt around the mid-18^th century. 

The other notable building in the village is Adlestrop Park, a Grade II listed building built by the Leigh family in the 18^th century.  The house was used as a school for a time, but this closed in 1989.  Jane Austen was a regular guest at the Rectory in Adlestrop, and it is believed that Adlestrop Park was the inspiration for Mansfield Park.  The house is now privately owned.

Adlestrop House - geograph.org.uk - 2485976. Photo by Michael Dibb, via Wikimedia Commons.

Map of the area. 

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.

 

ATROCITIES IN ABERDEEN: GRANITE HARBOUR

Granite Harbour is a new police series featuring Davis Lindo (Romario Simpson), who arrives in Aberdeen as a trainee recruit to Police Scotland, having transferred from the Royal Military Police.  The first series has received mixed reviews, with one contributor on the IMDB website criticizing the acting.  However, for location spotters the series proves a fine showcase for the city of Aberdeen.

When Lindo first arrives in Aberdeen, he is shown near a striking granite building with an elaborate exterior.  This is the Marischal College in Marischal Square, originally built for the city’s University, but currently being used as the HQ of the Council.  Another notable part of the city which was used in filming is the Castlegate area, known for its Mercat Cross at the head of Union Street.  As its name suggests, Castlegate was named after the gates to the castle, which were destroyed in 1308.  A Salvation Army citadel stands on the site of the original castle.  We are also treated to aerial shots of the city’s waterfront and beaches.

Marischal College A.  Photo by me, via Wikimedia Commons.

No city-based crime series would be complete without the inclusion of a gritty pub, and in Granite Harbour the boozer in the story is The Bodach Stone where Lindo has a number of encounters with the barmaid.  The real-life pub is The Fittie Bar in Wellington Street, a traditional Scottish pub which has received great reviews for its food.

Aberdeen, known as the Granite City for its proliferation of granite buildings, hence the title of the series, is a fascinating mix of the old and the new.  From the late Middle Ages the city was an important political, ecclesiastical and cultural centre, and many of the old buildings in the part of the city known as Old Aberdeen form part of a conservation area.  The modern-day city is dominated by the North Sea Oil industry, and its harbour is also dedicated to fishing and fish-processing, as well as being a departure point for ferries to Shetland and the Orkneys.

Aberdeen-Harbour-Skyline. Photo by JimmyGuano, via Wikimedia Commons.

Map of the area.

MURDER ON THE MARSHES: A BIRD IN THE HAND, ANN CLEEVES/NORTH NORFOLK COAST

 Ann Cleeves has previously been known for her novels set in Shetland and in north east England (dramatised for TV in the Shetland and Vera series respectively).  For A Bird In The Hand we are transported to the county of Norfolk and the obsessive world of birdwatching.  The main action takes place in the fictional village of Rushy where a body is found in the marshes, although some of the characters venture further afield to the Scilly Isles and other birdwatching hotspots.  

I have tried in vain to find out whether there is a real-life place which forms the inspiration for Rushy, but having visited the Norfolk coast a few years ago I am convinced the most likely contender is Cley next the Sea where, like Rushy, there are extensive marshes and also a Visitor Centre focussing on the birdlife of the area.  Another giveaway is that there is a windmill in Cley used for accommodation; Rushy also has a windmill which is used as a cafe.

The Skirts, Cley Marshes Nature Reserve - geograph.org.uk - 3010226. Photo by Oliver Dixon, via Wikimedia Commons.

Cley next the Sea has swapped its role as a medieval trading port for that of a mecca for nature lovers, particularly birdwatchers.  Cley Marshes, run by the Norfolk Wildlife Trust, is a nature reserve with six hides for birdwatchers to lurk in as they watch out for their feathered friends, which include wintering and migrating wildfowl and waders.  There is a Visitor Centre owned by the Trust on the way into the village from the east with marsh views and a cafe.  The 18^th century windmill now serves as a bed and breakfast and wedding venue, offering stunning views of the marshes and surrounding countryside.

Cley Windmill 1. Photo by Martin Pettitt, via Wikimedia Commons.

Map of the area.

CRACKING THE CODES: THE IMITATION GAME/BUCKINGHAMSHIRE/SHERBORNE/LONDON

 

Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire started out as a mansion in 1711, later to be pulled down.  The house which was subsequently built on the site was bought by MI6 in 1938 for use by intelligence personnel in the event of war, which turned out to be a wise investment as the centre proved to be a key factor in the country’s victory over Germany in World War Two.  During the War a young Cambridge graduate, Alan Turing, arrived at Bletchley Park and was put in charge of Hut 8, which dealt with German naval cryptanalysis.  While there, he became engaged to Joan Clarke, a fellow cryptanalyst, but they never married as Turing later came out as a homosexual. 

Bletchley Park Mansion. Photo by DeFacto, via Wikimedia Commons.

This story is played out in the film The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Turing and Keira Knightley as Joan, and Bletchley Park appears as itself in the interior shots.  For the exteriors Joyce Grove in Nettlebed, Oxfordshire, was used in the filming.   For the town of Bletchley itself, scenes were shot in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, where one of the buildings stood in as Joan’s lodgings.  The town was also used as the scene of a meeting with a possible Soviet spy, and a pillar box was erected opposite 68 Church Street for the scene. 

Church Street, Chesham - geograph.org.uk - 111011. Photo by Cathy Cox, via Wikimedia Commons.

During the film there are flashbacks to Turing’s schooldays, much of which were spent at Sherborne School.  The real-life school in this attractive small Dorset town was used for the school scenes in the film, with its lovely honey-hued stone buildings and arched cloisters much in evidence.

Naturally, any film about the intelligence services will have scenes shot in London.  The evacuation scenes were filmed at King’s Cross Station, while the interior of the MI6 Headquarters was filmed in the Lethaby Building on Southampton Row, seen in the scene where Joan turns up as the only female answering an advertisement for crossword solvers.  In one scene, Turing is seen cycling through a bombed out part of the city; heaps of rubble were dumped in Carey Street, Chancery Lane, for the filming of the scene.  In another throwback to the Blitz, the disused Aldwych Tube Station serves as an underground refuge for the populace. 

Bletchley Park, near Milton Keynes, has been turned into a museum commemorating its time as a code-breaking centre.  Guided tours are available, and the museum is open 6 days a week.  Joyce Grove, a country house built in the Jacobean style, is owned by the Sue Ryder charity.  Sherborne is a pleasant small town in north west Dorset, with its Abbey, founded in 705, as the focal point of the town.  Chesham is a market town 11 miles south east from Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.

Sherborn Abbey.

Map of Bletchley Park and surrounding area.

Map of Sherborne. 

REGENCY WRONGDOINGS: MCDONALD AND DODDS/BATH

Some of the best crime series on TV are those filmed in scenic parts of the country: Vera (ITV) showcases the windswept landscapes of Northumberland and the gritty streets of Newcastle; Inspector Morse and its spinoffs Endeavour and Lewis (ITV) take us on a tour of the venerable streets and colleges of Oxford; and Shetland (BBC) speaks for itself. These are just three examples among many.  In McDonald and Dodds, screened on ITV over three seasons, we are transported to the regency elegance of Bath and surrounding areas, as we follow the intricate caseloads of  “down from London” DCI Lauren McDonald (Tala Gouveia) and her new sidekick the drearily old-fashioned (but brilliant) DS Dodds (Jason Watkins).

 

We are shown some lovely aerial shots of the city, with two of the most famous landmarks standing out: the Royal Crescent and Pulteney Bridge.  Parade Gardens, near the weir below Pulteney Bridge, is where Dodds has a chat with Max Crockett (Robert Lindsay) in The Fall of the House of Crockett (season 1, episode 1), and also features in The War of Rose (season 2, episode 3), in which McDonald and Dodds are seen discussing the case of a murdered vlogger in the gardens, with Bath Abbey looming majestically in the background.   In A Wilderness of Mirrors (season 1, episode 2),  featuring an addiction treatment retreat, we are given a brief glimpse of the interior of a Bath institution, The Bell Inn on Walcote Street, a watering hole famous for its live music.  Queen Square makes several appearances in the series showing people playing boules. 

Pulteney Bridge

 

The countryside around Bath is studded with stunning properties, and some of these were used as locations in the series.  The Crockett household in The Fall of the House of Crockett is Crowe Hall in real life, a grade II listed Georgian mansion in Widcombe, to the east of the city centre heading out towards the University.  Eastwood Park  near Wotton-under-Edge in nearby Gloucestershire was used as the Mara Retreat in The Wilderness of Mirrors.  Other landmarks near the city used in the series include the Box Tunnel, where a murder takes place in We Need To Talk About Doreen (season 2, episode 2), and Dundas Aqueduct where the dramatic final scene of Clouds Across the Moon (last episode of series 3) was filmed.  In some scenes from Clouds Across the Moon we are taken further afield to the mystical town of Glastonbury and its famous Tor. 

Eastwood Park, Falfield - geograph.org.uk - 379225. Photo by Peter Wasp, via Wikimedia Commons.

 

The Royal Crescent in Bath was started in 1767 and consists of 30 Grade I listed terrace  houses, including the city’s most luxurious hotel.  The construction of Pulteney Bridge, designed by Robert Adam in the Palladian style, began in 1769, intended as a link between the city and land owned by the Pulteney family.  There is a small charge to enter Parade Gardens, which provide a pleasant riverside oasis within the city.  There is no charge to enter Bath Abbey, but donations are encouraged.  Queen Square, surrounded by elegant Georgian houses, was opened in 1728.  As in the series, in real life the square is used for playing boules, and is the venue for the annual Bath Boules tournament held in July. 

 

The gardens of Crowe Hall are open to the public several times a year for a small entrance charge.  Eastwood Park, near the M5 to the north of Bristol, is a conference and wedding venue.  The Park consists of a large Victorian house surrounded by 200 acres of countryside.  The Box Tunnel, opened in 1841, cuts through Box Hill on the railway line between Bath and Chippenham.  At the time of building the tunnel was claimed to be the longest railway tunnel ever built.  The Dundas Aqueduct, which opened in 1805, carries the Kennet and Avon Canal over the River Avon and the railway line between Bath and Westbury.  The town of Glastonbury has a unique atmosphere due to the many “new age” style shops and attendant eccentrics such as self-styled wizards and other spiritual types.  It is reputed to be the burial place of King Arthur, and to have been a site of Pre-Christian worship.  The tor, topped by St Michaels Tower, commands splendid views over the surrounding Somerset Levels.  The tor can often be glimpsed in shots of the Glastonbury Festival, which takes place near the village of Pilton, some distance away.

Glastonbury Tor from north east showing terraces 2. Photo by Rodw, via Wikimedia Commons.

Map of Bath.