Welcome to British Isles Friday! British Isles Friday is a weekly event for sharing all things British and Irish - reviews, photos, opinions, trip reports, guides, links, resources, personal stories, interviews, and research posts. Join us each Friday to link your British and Irish themed content and to see what others have to share. The link list is at the bottom of this post. Pour a cup of tea or lift a pint and join our link party!
Last week, I reviewed the film A United Kingdom. Sim celebrated Beatrix Potter's 151st birthday with a revisit to the 2005 film, Miss Potter, and her father's 102nd birthday with a tribute in the form of a letter. Tina reviewed The Forgotten Garden, a book that covers generations and locations around the world. Jean reviewed The Durrells of Corfu, about pre-war ex-pat life, and Half a Crown, the final installment of a trilogy of mysteries. Becky reviewed How to Train Your Dragon for kids and Funeral in Blue for adults.
A favorite destination during our trip to England in 2014 was our day trip to the Black Country Living Museum. One reason that it was so memorable is that we keep seeing it! If you're making a TV show or film in the UK and need a location to stand in for a Victorian village or a 19th-century coal-smudged exterior, the Black Country Living Museum has the spaces and the appropriately-costumed extras to bring history to life.
Dancing on the Edge featured the village prominently - add a 1930s car and fashions and it worked just fine.
As I dream about a return trip (September 2018 is penciled on the calendar), I wondered what other filming locations we could see in the UK, to re-visit when we're watching British TV and movies.
It turns out, there's a tour company for that.
Brit Movie Tours offers everything from walking tours to coach trips to multi-day adventures. I'm having a hard time picking my favorite. Which of these would you choose?
Harry Potter Tour of England. One day in the English countryside with visits to Hogwarts' classrooms and Privet Drive, followed by a second day in Oxford and at the film studios.
Call the Midwife Tour. A walking tour of the Chatham Dockyard in Kent where many of the exterior scenes are filmed.
Rom-Com London Tour. A bus tour of London featuring locations from the Bridget Jones movies, Love Actually, and other British romantic comedies. Not to mention the opportunity to get a photograph of yourself in front of the blue door from Notting Hill.
About Joy Weese Moll
a librarian writing about books
