I love the Southbank Centre and I love poetry, so the Poetry Tour was an obvious choice. I went along with some friends and we met inside the Poetry Library for 6pm.
The tour was led by Chris McCabe, librarian and poet. It began beside the sculpture of Dylan Thomas’ head, situated inside the library. It is the only sculpture made from life, by Oloff de Wet, and was discovered in the basement several years ago. It was unveiled on the 50th anniversary of the poet’s death in the Poetry Library as a natural home for it. Chris read out some of Thomas’ words about the South Bank as a fitting tribute.
We headed outside, gathering by the poetry stones that were laid in the pavement when this area was constructed. These include some words from Wordsworth, who didn’t particularly like the area, preferring his native Lake District.
We also heard about the Lion Brewery that used to occupy the site, and about the murder committed here by William Chester Minor. Minor was committed to Broadmoor, and became one of the most prolific contributors to the Oxford English Dictionary, responding to an advert asking for help – let’s face it, he had plenty of time on his hands. The creators of the dictionary had no idea that their helpful contributor was a notorious murderer.
Heading inland from the river, we heard about poet Arthur Rimbaud, who lived nearby (where the BFI Imax is now) in 1888. Stabbed by his lover Paul Verlaine after an argument, he left Camden and returned to France before coming back to London.
We were given audio headsets at this point, and listened to poet Tom Chivers as we explored the area south of the river. We walked by the Waterloo International section of the station, no longer in use, and passed under the station through a graffiti-strewn tunnel.
Along the way we stopped at the point where the former Necropolis Railway depot still stands. This station took coffins and mourners out to Brookwood Cemetery near Woking, with first and second class carriages for both the dead and the living.
A little further on and we were standing outside the location of William Blake’s former home in Lambeth, where he lived from 1790 to 1800. His time here was one of great personal happiness for Blake, though he was still deeply concerned about the state of the world: he created his Songs of Experience here. In a nearby tunnel are some utterly stunning mosaics, based on Blake’s poetry and illustrations. They are incredibly detailed and really show the range of his imagination.
A short walk and we were back to the river. We stopped by Westminster Bridge, because the lion statue from the Lion Brewery is now here. The brewery was bombed during the Second World War, but the lion somehow survived.
We continued on the south bank, stopping at the final poetry stone with a quote from TS Eliot, before returning to the Poetry Library.
I had an interesting experience yesterday evening: I took part in a tour of the Futuro House, located at Central Saint Martins near King’s Cross. The house, which is on loan to CSM for the summer, is located on a upper terrace of the Granary Building. We met at the ground floor reception and were taken upstairs to view the house; once inside, we were treated to a talk by the owner, Craig Barnes, who explained the story behind these houses, told us how he ended up with this one, and gave us a potted history of what has happened to it since he took it over.
The Futuro House was designed in the 1960s by Finnish architect Matti Suuronen. It was last seen in London sailing down the Thames on a ferry, as part of the houses’ launch at a FinnFocus trade exhibition. It was designed to be a skiing lodge or weekend retreat: personally, I feel that the oval windows that go all the way around the house make it ideal for making the most of stunning views, while the lack of curtains mean that it only really works when placed in a reasonably remote location.
Described as “the holiday home of the future”, the house was one of several prefabricated designs made in the 1950s and 60s. Unfortunately, despite the initial popularity of such designs, the Futuro was not a commercial success: possibly because of the growing price of oil, which made it much more expensive to produce.
Today, only around 65 Futuro Houses are known to exist. Craig Barnes found this one in South Africa: he used to love visiting the “spaceship house” as a child, and when he grew older managed to buy it, disassemble it and ship it back to the UK. Over the course of many months he worked on it, with the assistance of friends, family and colleagues, until it once again became a viable piece of architecture. He has tried as far as possible to restore the original design, but there is much still to do.
The house is on loan to CSM for the summer, and as well as public tours, which take place every month, it is freely bookable by CSM staff and students for meetings and other activities. Barnes is glad that it is being used and enjoyed, but admits there are no firm plans for the house beyond September – it may go back into storage, at least temporarily, but he hopes that it will have a future life (and so do I).
If you would like to visit this incredible house, you can book a tour on the first Wednesday of every month, which costs £5.
After visiting Hornsey Town Hall in Crouch End for a show last year, I became interested in this beautiful building, and was keen to explore it in more depth. I signed up for a tour, organised by Crouch End Walks, to learn more.
We met in the building’s foyer at 2pm and our guide began the tour by taking us outside to observe the front of the building and its beautiful façade, which harks back to the area’s rural past. Inside, we admired the modernist style of the foyer, which still has the original ticket desks and glass panels designed for function rather than form. The building was designed by R. H. Uren, a New Zealand-born architect who was only twenty-seven at the time of the design in 1933. It was influenced by European modernist architecture and radically broke away from the traditional Victorian design of previous town halls.
We were taken through the building, starting with the ground floor space currently being used as a cafe, into the large hall which has been used for concerts, dances and shows. The Kinks were one of the bands who played here in their early days. Our guide told us of her own memories attending a pantomime here as a small child. Today, the hall is very cold and clearly needs work done to it, but it’s easy to see that with a bit of TLC it could be a lovely space once again.
The open staircase and foyer spaces of the building are lovely, being ornate but spacious, well lit and stylish. The Art Deco influence is particularly strong here. We were able to see inside the former Mayor’s parlour, a very comfortable-looking room indeed.
Along the corridor, we found ourselves in a large space with a fine view over the front of the town hall. This room can be divided into three, or left as one large space. We also got to see inside the council chamber, which still has the original (very comfortable) seats.
The future of the Hall is uncertain: it is currently used by a variety of arts organisations, but whether it continues to be used for performances and events or sold off to be converted into luxury flats, only time will tell. It would be a shame if it stopped being a public building, as it is beautiful and unique, a valuable community asset for the people of Crouch End and beyond.
I’m a librarian, and recently I went on a visit to the British Library organised by a group I’m a member of. The visit comprised a library tour, which really interested me because although I have visited the BL several times, it’s always been as a visitor to the exhibitions: I’m not a member and I’ve never been in the reading rooms or behind the scenes.
The British Library Piazza. Source: Jack1956 on Wikipedia
The British Library, which is a relatively new institution that only came into being during the second half of the twentieth century, is the national library of the UK and the largest library in the world in terms of items catalogued. The building holds around 170 million items from numerous countries and in every language in the world. Information is held in multiple formats: print books and ebooks, manuscripts, journals, newspapers, magazines, audiovisual recordings, playscripts, patents, databases, maps, prints and drawings. The collections include around 14 million books, and the Library holds ancient historical items dating back as far as 2000 BC.
British Library Foyer
Our tour, which was delivered by a very knowledgeable and entertaining guide, began in the foyer where we learned about the library’s beginnings. The BL originally started out at the British Museum: the famous Round Reading Room is where people including Marx used to study. The British Library Act of 1972 enabled the BL to be established in 1973, although materials were dispersed around London and around the country for several years. When deciding upon a location for the eventual library site, there wasn’t much choice available: it would have to be within walking distance of the British Museum in Bloomsbury, so that the rarest and most valuable books could be carried there by hand, as they were not permitted to be transported on vehicles. Eventually the site at Euston Road was decided upon: located next to St Pancras Station, it used to be a goods yard.
The Library is a Legal Deposit Library (the others are the Bodleian at Oxford, the University Library at Cambridge, the Trinity College Library in Dublin and the National Libraries of Scotland and Wales), meaning that it receives a copy of each book produced in the United Kingdom and Ireland, including several overseas books distributed in the UK.
The Library was designed by Colin St John Wilson, and the building has met with a mixed reception (apparently Prince Charles hates it, but the Queen is a fan). Looked at from the right angle, it resembles a ship. It was made a Grade I listed building earlier this year, so it is now recognised as a landmark of design: however it is not without its problems. Wilson spent so much of the Library budget on expensive marble, containing fossils, to be laid outside on the piazza (meaning that it is extremely slippery in the rain) that there wasn’t enough left for decent shelving, resulting in some collapses as the second-hand shelves couldn’t bear the huge weight of the books.
It is impressive, however, that most of the books are stored underground: the stacks run several storeys beneath the ground, stopped only by the tube that is even further down. The Fleet River also runs nearby, so that the lowest floor does flood on occasion.
From the foyer we were taken to the Members’ Area in which you can register to become a member of the Library. Anyone can register so long as they have the appropriate ID: you don’t have to be an academic. Near here, there is a book handling system which delivers books users have ordered to the surface by means of a conveyor belt. Staff collect book requests, remove them from the shelves and send them up to the Library.
The book handling system
We went upstairs and were able to get a brilliant view of the King’s Library, made up of 65,000 printed volumes and numerous pamphlets, manuscripts and maps collected by George III between 1763 and 1820. The glass tower was inspired by a similar structure in the Beinecke Library in New Haven, Connecticut.
The King’s Library
From the old to the new: our next stop was the news room where readers can view newspapers and watch a live news feed. We explored the Library considerably, taking a look at the many busy – but extremely quiet – reading rooms.
Reading Room
Before leaving, we had a quick look at a Library video in one of the quietest corners of the building – left “unfinished” to show off the brickwork.I really loved my tour: I learned a great deal about the British Library that I hadn’t known before. Public tours are available and I do recommend signing up.
Somerset House is one of the most interesting buildings in London, but the history of the site itself is just as fascinating. The current building was completed in 1780, but the site has a long history before that. It’s possible to go on an Old Palaces Tour to learn about the history of the site before the current building existed.
The site was a prime spot from the early days of London, being located on the banks of the Thames in between the financial heart, the City, and the centre of Government, Westminster. When the Duke of Somerset became Lord Protector on the accession of the boy-king Edward VI in 1547, he decided to build himself a palace on this very spot, even though it meant demolishing several churches and chapels that already existed on the land. A few years later, Somerset Palace – architect unknown – was complete, but the Duke was executed for treason in 1552 and it passed into the hands of the Crown. Elizabeth used the Palace on occasion, both as a Princess and later as Queen, but it was more heavily used after her death in 1603.
From then until its demolition nearly 200 years later, the Palace was most notable for being the home of three Catholic queens: Anne of Denmark, Henrietta Maria and Catherine of Braganza. Anne, wife of James I of England and VI of Scotland, renamed the building Denmark House, hosted numerous lavish masques, and commissioned elaborate extensions to the palace. A similar policy was followed by Henrietta Maria, wife of Charles I, and her addition of a Catholic chapel did not help improve relations between the King and his Parliament. On the outbreak of the Civil War, Henrietta Maria fled to France, Charles of course was defeated and executed, and Denmark House became the headquarters of General Fairfax, commander of the Parliamentary Army. The contents of the house were inventoried and sold – to this date only one picture remains as a record of what the interior looked like – and Inigo Jones, responsible for much of the seventeenth century redesign of the building, was fined by the Parliamentarians who viewed his work for the royal family with suspicion. He died at Somerset House, his estate confiscated. However, on Oliver Cromwell’s death – his body lying in state at Somerset House – Charles II was restored to the throne and Henrietta Maria, now Queen Dowager, returned to Somerset House.
The final Roman Catholic queen to inhabit the house was Catherine of Braganza, who moved in after the death of her husband Charles II and remained there during the reign of William and Mary, a difficult situation as the monarchs were Protestant. After Catherine left in 1693, the Palace was used by various government departments before falling gradually into disrepair. George III agreed that the building should be demolished and replaced by a new building for the purpose of government offices, on the condition that Buckingham House, further to the west, should be given to the Crown.
We were taken round the existing Somerset House during the tour and the history of the old palace was explained to us: it was fascinating considering that hardly anything of the old palace still exists and we had to rely on our imaginations. Our guide was really knowledgeable and enthusiastic and really brought the old palace to life.
Overlooking the Thames, the main transport thoroughfare at the time of the old palace
After spending some time in the courtyard, we ventured downstairs to where the nineteenth-century embankment is visible as well as the level of the Thames waterline. Originally, boats could come right inside the palace, and these days one of the royal barges is installed behind a pane of glass (one of a pair, the other barge is at the National Maritime Museum).
The embankmentThe barge
Next we visited my favourite part of Somerset House – the Deadhouse, underneath the courtyard. When the old palace was demolished, the only bits saved from it were some of the graves from the Roman Catholic chapel, which have been installed here. They include the grave of a doctor, the wife of a gardener, and a diplomat.
Finally, we visited the Strand Lane Baths, which are located next to Somerset House. During the nineteenth century, it was widely thought that these dated back to Roman times, and there is a worn Victorian sign inside the building stating this. Indeed, the National Trust sign outside calls them the Roman Baths. However, it is now generally accepted that the baths date from no earlier than the beginning of the 17th century. An intriguing theory claims that the bath was originally the feeder cistern for a magnificent fountain in the grounds of the old Somerset House, built for James I’s queen, Anne of Denmark, in 1612. The Hidden London website has a very informative piece about this.
Looking down Strand LaneThe original National Trust sign which still says Roman BathsThe buildingThe bathsThe bathsVictorian sign
By the late eighteenth century, the baths were being used as a public bathing facility. Charles Dickens reportedly bathed here, and made his character David Copperfield take the plunge here as well. Whenever they date from, they are a fascinating little feature of the embankment. Apart from these tours, access is only possible on Open House Weekend or by making an appointment with Westminster Council.
I thoroughly enjoyed my Old Palaces Tour. Tours take place each Tuesday at 12.45 and 14.15. They are free, but are popular so don’t arrive too late. I turned up at a quarter to twelve and the first tour was full up, but I was the first person to register on the second. It’s definitely worth making the effort to go on this tour.
As part of Open House London 2015, I paid a visit to the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium for a Heritage and History Tour. After having visited so many cemeteries this year, I thought I might as well go for one more. I turned up on Sunday morning in time for the tour, having travelled right across London: despite the name, the Cemetery is actually located in the east, near Epping Forest. Manor Park is the nearest station.
Cemetery gates
The Cemetery was opened in 1856, as a burial place for residents of the City of London, who prior to this had been buried within their own parishes. The overcrowding issue which led to the establishment of the “Magnificent Seven” also led to the formation of this cemetery, laid out by William Haywood on land purchased from the second Duke of Wellington. The Cemetery is nearly at capacity for burials, although former plots are re-used (sensitively, and only in particular circumstances). The remains from over 30 London parish church yards were also relocated here. Today, the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium is a Grade I listed landscape, open for burial to anyone regardless of religious belief or connection to the City. There are two crematoriums, one built at the beginning of the 20th century and one constructed in 1971. There are Grade II listed chapels and catacombs, a Garden of Rest, and memorial gardens.
Into the Cemetery
Our tour began with a look at some of the documents from the Cemetery’s 150-year history, including fascinating burial and cremation registers. We were then taken on a long, thorough and fascinating tour of the site. Several notable personalities are buried in the Cemetery, including Catherine Eddowes and Mary Ann Nichols (victims of Jack the Ripper), Dame Anna Neagle, and Edith Thompson (one of the last women to be hanged in the UK). However, what I was fascinated by the most was simply the heritage of the place, the mix of time periods and the story behind the burials here.
Hindu shrineGraves lined upVictoria Cross holderBurial site of a London parish churchDame Anna NeagleA racing driver, killed in an accident, and his familyBurial place of French HuguenotsOld CrematoriumInside the Old CrematoriumMemorial plaque for Bobby MooreRose GardenMemorial plaque for Mary Ann Nichols, buried in a paupers’ gravePlaque for John Joseph Sims, holder of a Victoria CrossBeautiful grave of a piano-loving ladyCatacombsInside the Dissenters’ ChapelInside the Dissenters’ ChapelThe Dissenters’ ChapelThe Anglican ChapelInside the Anglican ChapelBeautiful tomb carved of solid marbleThe New Crematorium
After being taken round the Cemetery, we were offered the chance to go “behind the scenes” at the Crematorium, and find out what happens when someone is cremated. While this part of the tour was entirely optional, every single person on it opted to go ahead. We were taken through the process by which bodies are cremated, the measures taken to ensure that individuals are correctly identified, how remains are turned into ashes and – most fascinatingly – the bits and pieces left over once the ashes are retrieved. These include things like metal hip and knee replacements, jewellery and anything else that is not combustible. I was hugely impressed by how hard the staff work to make sure everything runs smoothly.
My visit to the City of London Cemetery and Crematorium was one of the most fascinating and enlightening tours I have ever done. I enjoyed the tour of the Cemetery but I feel particularly privileged to have had the tour of the Crematorium, which really helped to demystify the cremation process. Death can be a taboo subject, but I honestly feel it’s important to be prepared and understand how burial and cremation work. Even without a tour, this is a lovely place to visit for a quiet walk.
FACTS
Address: Aldersbrook Road, Manor Park, London, E12 5DQ
Founded: 1856
Size: 200 acres
Still in operation?: Yes
Official website: cityoflondon.gov.uk/things-to-do/green-spaces/cemetery-and-crematorium
Owners: City of London
Tours: Tours take place at selected weekends throughout the year.
Somerset House is one of the most interesting buildings in London, with a long and rich history – in terms of the site itself, not just the existing building. It’s also been used as a film set on numerous occasions. I signed up to the Shot on Site tour to learn more about this aspect of the building’s history.
Our tour guide was enthusiastic and knowledgeable and I learned a great deal about the topic. Around 40 films have been captured here to a greater or lesser degree over the years, beginning with The Long Arm (1956) and The Day of the Jackal (1973), in which Somerset House effectively played itself, as the home of birth, marriage and death records that it then was.
Those films were unusual in that they used interior shots: this is rare as Somerset House, being designed as an office building, does not have particularly lavish interiors. For instance, the exterior stood in for the Devonshire residence in London in the film The Duchess (2008). In children’s movie Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010), Flyboys (2006) – about a group of American pilots – and even Sleepy Hollow (1999), with the aid of some green screen, aspects of the Somerset House courtyard stood in for various locations, including a London street and a French hospital.
Somerset House has appeared in two Bond films, Tomorrow Never Dies and Goldeneye, standing in for a St Petersburg car park in the latter. It has “played” Buckingham Palace three times – in TV series Spooks, comedy The Worst Week of My Life and in children’s sequel Agent Cody Banks: Destination London (2004). The site has appeared in X-Men: First Class (2011) and in the 19th century-set romantic comedy Hysteria (2011) with Maggie Gyllenhaal, who apparently took several takes to cycle away wearing cumbersome Victorian skirts!
For me, the most fascinating part of the tour was the visit to the Lightwells and Deadhouse in the basement. The Lightwells, narrow passages running around and underneath the courtyard, are gloomy and atmospheric and acted as a prison in the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes movie. In the Deadhouse, so named because it is the last remaining part of the palace that once stood on the site and still contains graves of palace staff, we were informed that it stood in for a bunker below the Ministry of Defence in the World War II thriller Glorious 39.
Finally, we were shown some glimpses of forthcoming movies which used Somerset House for filming, including the soon-to-be-released Suffragette. I really enjoyed the tour and if it comes back next year – which it may well do as part of the Film4 Summer Screen season – it’s definitely worth getting a ticket.
Sir John Soane’s Museum is a unique free museum near Holborn, the former home of the neo-classical architect responsible for the Bank of England. He established the house as a museum in 1833, and it contains numerous treasures from his collection.
I booked online for the rare chance to visit the Private Apartments at the top of the house. These were originally home to Soane and his wife, and later to curators of the museum. After refurbishment, they have been made available to visit as part of a guided tour.
I turned up with my ticket and was directed upstairs, where the group of us due to tour were gathered together and taken up a further flight of stairs, normally roped off. We were told that the house was bombed during the war and was refurbished afterwards; some lovely stained glass was pointed out to us that survived because it was removed from the house before bombing on the orders of the then live-in curator.
The first room we came to was Elizabeth (Eliza) Soane’s drawing room, where she would have taken tea, written letters and received guests. The room was decorated in her own style, with paintings of her children and family group as well as pictures that she liked. These included a beautiful representation of all the flowers in Shakespeare, and several sketches of Shakespearean characters. The next room was her bedroom, kept as it was for several years after her death by a heartbroken Soane, but eventually he turned it into a magnificent display room for his architectural models. The centrepiece was a very impressive model of a semi-excavated Pompeii, and surrounding this, on a beautiful wooden frame, were several models of notable classical buildings in both cork (for ruined buildings) and plaster of Paris (for models of buildings as-new). On the bottom of the stand were models of Soane’s own buildings, emphasising the inspiration Soane took from the classical world.
Following this we entered Soane’s bathroom, an elaborately decorated room with a grandfather clock (!) in the corner. The room contained an actual bath, and there were hot water pipes on the wall, but it is uncertain exactly how the system worked. After Soane’s death, the bath was sealed up at his request, and when it was opened after some years had passed it was found to contain a number of effects, such as pictures and documents, though none of these contained anything groundbreaking.
Next to the bathroom was Soane’s bedroom, although the bed there was not an original (that had been sold) but was one that had come from Pitzhanger Manor, his country house. Finally, we were led out of the apartments via a corridor decorated with lots of art and two mummified cats, which apparently were supposed to be lucky.
Changes have recently been announced to the Tours of the Private Apartments – the number of tours has been increased and you no longer need to book online, but can turn up on the day. The tours will continue to be free, as is entrance to the museum itself. It is definitely worth making the effort to go on a tour – it’s hugely interesting.
One of my birthday presents was a ticket to the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, which is all about the making of Harry Potter. I’d been wanting to go for ages, but I’m glad I waited, as it was only recently that the Hogwarts Express was installed at the attraction.
Shuttle bus at Watford Junction
The tour site is about 20 miles north of London, near Watford, and there is a shuttle bus from Watford Junction. My friend and I travelled from west London, catching the train at Euston, and were impressed to see references to the studio tour all over the place – it’s a popular attraction! Once there, it was VERY exciting to see the bus. It’s not free, but it’s very handy – taking you straight there and back – and there’s even a little Harry Potter video to watch while you’re travelling.
EntranceChess pieces
The entrance to the building is exciting in itself, with a number of props dotted around, including a number of the chessmen from the first film. Elisa and I took the opportunity to get a selfie in front of the attraction!
Harry Potter selfie!
The main lobby is huge, with a cafe, a gift shop and cloakroom (and toilets of course) – there are even some attractions here, like Ron’s car that was used in Chamber of Secrets. We had loads of time to kill before our tour, so we went for something to eat in the cafe.
Main lobby
Afterwards we checked out the gift shop, as you do. Everything was incredibly expensive. I did buy a little something later on, but I might have bought more if it hadn’t been so pricey.
When it was time for our tour, we got in the queue and were thrilled to notice Harry’s cupboard under the stairs as we were passing.
Harry’s cupboard
We were taken into a room and shown a video, with the main actors from the films – Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint – introducing the experience. Then it was into the Great Hall!
Entrance to the Great HallInside the HallThe fireplaceLaden tablesHourglasses showing House pointsTeachers’ costumesThe Hall
I loved the Great Hall. It was an amazing feeling to be in the space where so many things happened over the course of the eight films. There were tables laid out with food, and costumes from some of the characters, including the school uniform and the teachers’ robes. The Great Hall doesn’t have a ceiling, because it is meant to reflect the night sky, and CGI stars were added after filming.
The Gates of Hogwarts
Once out of the Great Hall, the rest of the building is full of amazing props from the Harry Potter series, complete with information boards explaining how particular tricks were done and how things worked on screen. There were so many things to see, from the Gryffindor common room to the Potions classroom, Dumbledore’s office and game props from Quidditch and the TriWizard Tournament.
TriWizard Ball costumesThe Mirror of ErisedGryffindor Common RoomDumbledore’s officeTriWizard CupQuidditch ballsThe Golden SnitchPotions classroomHogwarts paintingsEntrance to the Chamber of Secrets
I really liked the “green screen” section which explained how broomsticks, Hagrid’s bike and other objects were made to fly.
Quidditch outfitsMotorbike and sidecarBroomstick
Later in the exhibition, the displays focused on sets outside of Hogwarts.
Borgin and Burke’sThe Malfoy mansionUmbridge’s office
The next part was one that I was really excited about – the Hogwarts Express! You can see the train in all its glory, and even climb inside the carriages.
The Hogwarts ExpressLogo on the side of the trainThe stationCostumes from the final scene from the last movie (sob!)
Following this we arrived at a cafe, which was perfectly timed – we were pretty tired by this time, having spent a good couple of hours wandering around, and wanted a sit down. You can bring your own food for a picnic if you like, or you can purchase food here. We weren’t hungry, but we did fancy trying the Butterbeer. It was very sweet: Elisa hated it, but I quite liked it!
Sampling the Butterbeer
Luckily it was a fine day, as the next bit was outside. We got to see the Knight Bus (made from two genuine double decker buses), Privet Drive, the moving corridor at Hogwarts, the cottage at Godric’s Hollow, and Ron’s car.
The Knight BusBus signInside the busNo. 4 Privet DriveSignCorridorCottageInside the car
Back inside, there was a fascinating section on animatronics and how they were made and manipulated for the Harry Potter films. I was particularly interested in Dobby and in Hagrid’s huge head, not to mention Fawkes the phoenix.
FawkesA mandrake
Next we made our way into Diagon Alley, which was full of shops from the movies. I loved this section – I only wish it was really possible to go into the shops and buy wands and delicious sweets for real!
The next section was all about concept art and models for the sets, which was fascinating. Finally, we got to see the incredible model of Hogwarts which was used for overhead shots. The detail on this model is incredible and my picture really doesn’t do it justice.
Hogwarts
I had an incredible time at the studio tour and it is a must-see for any Harry Potter fan, or even anyone who is interested in how films are made. It’s pricey, but worth it in my opinion as there is so much to see.
Timed tours are in operation and you do need to book in advance. My friend and I didn’t book far enough in advance for a Saturday in July so we ended up having to choose a later timeslot. The attraction doesn’t close until late so this wasn’t a big problem for us, but I think the earlier in the day you can go the better, as there are likely to be fewer people.
The tour was definitely a highlight for me, as a huge Harry Potter fan, and I’m so glad I went.
Opening Hours: Times vary, but it is open 7 days a week, usually from 9 or 10am until 6-10pm with the last tours scheduled three hours before closing. You MUST book (well) in advance.
Prices: Adult £35, child £27; family tickets and studio tour packages are available
The original entrance to Ealing Studios, with blue plaque dedicated to Michael Balcon
On Friday I was lucky enough to be able to go on a tour of Ealing Studios as part of the Ealing Music & Film Festival. The studios are the oldest continuously working film studios in the world, and have played a huge part in the British film industry for over a century, encompassing silent film, the onset of the “talkies”, the upheaval of two world wars and technological developments such as motion capture.
The site was originally occupied by Will Barker Studios from 1902, later becoming Associated Talking Pictures Ltd. Ealing Studios was built in 1931 and in 1938 Michael Balcon (who gave his name to the local branch of Wetherspoon’s) from MGM took over, issuing films under the Ealing Studios name. Many memorable films were produced in the 1930s and 40s, including documentary war films, but the studio’s heyday was during the post-war 1940s and the 1950s when celebrated Ealing comedies, including Kind Hearts and Coronets and The Ladykillers, were produced.
The studios were purchased by the BBC in 1955, leading to nearly half a century of location filming for television dramas and serials. After a transitional period late in the century, the studios entered new ownership in 2001. The five original sound stages are present, and are now listed. As well as offices and bases for modern production and related companies, the studios produce films and television shows: recent films include The Importance of Being Earnest (2002) and St. Trinian’s (2007), as well as the hugely popular Downton Abbey. In addition, the Imaginarium, a performance capture studio set up by Andy Serkis and Jonathan Cavendish, is based in one of the sound stages: famously it was used to create Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
Inside the complex, looking towards reception
To reach the tour meeting point, which was the reception area, I had to go through the security point. There were several of us on the tour and we were taken to see the white building which was the original studio entrance in the 1950s. Famous figures including Michael Balcon and Alfred Hitchcock had offices here. It is looking slightly shabby these days but they are hoping to get the funds to restore it shortly. We were taken around the large complex and saw some of the modern companies, including a casting company and a hair and makeup studio, present on-site. One of the buildings, which includes the original sound stages, is listed but the newer building in front of it is due to be demolished and replaced with up-to-the-minute production facilities.
The original entrance, seen from the back
The most exciting part of the tour was being able to go on to the sound stages. On one, we saw a set being built, consisting of a theatre foyer and a staircase. This set is for a remake of the 1983 film The Dresser, and will star Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen. The top of the staircase leads to nowhere: a real theatre is being used for the auditorium (Hackney Empire). Thanks to a question from another person on the tour, I found out that this was the sound stage on which Scott of the Antarctic was shot. It was huge and still had some of the old safety notices on the walls.
Listed building containing sound stages
The second sound stage was even more exciting: crew members and carpenters were preparing for the filming of Downton Abbey. Much of this popular show is filmed at Highclere Castle, but a significant proportion is filmed at Ealing Studios. As they were busy creating the set, we couldn’t see much but I could see into Lady Mary’s bedroom – which was in the process of having wooden “fireplaces” fitted – and had a peek into the servants’ corridor. We also saw the large backdrops used behind the windows, to give the illusion that it is a real room in a real house with a view. I also had a very brief glance into the Dower House sitting room.
Plaque commemorating famous films made here
The tour was fairly short – it is a working studio after all – but very interesting. I was thrilled to have had the opportunity to visit.
