Tuesday 17 April 2018

James Bond, Julie Walters and all that.....

North Wales, a place of stunning coastlines that are comparable to the south of France (when the sun shines!), dramatic, rugged mountain ranges and lush, green valleys. Paradise!
Its no wonder that so many film and TV show producers have chosen to use the beautiful north Wales landscape and unspoiled villages as backdrops to their stories and series.

Penbryn beach in Ceredigion served as a stand-in for a beach in North Korea in the 2010 James Bond Film 'Die Another Day'. I wonder if Kim Jong-in has ever watched it?



Who knew that the dramatic Dinorwic Slate Quarry was used to film parts of the 2010 film 'Clash of the Titans'?


More recently Hinterland on BBC 4 was filmed around the hauntingly beautiful landscape around Aberystwyth.





Even more recently the unspoiled small market town of  Dolgellau was chosen to represent the fictional village of Penllynith in the BBC TV series Requiem.


Everyone of course remembers that Portmeirion , just south of Porthmadog , was the setting for the 1960s cult TV series 'The Prisoner'. The Italianate- style village designed and built by Sir Clough Williams Ellis is now the venue for Festival No 6, so named after the main character in the series.


The final scenes of the 1980 film 'Highlander' were filmed in the Sychnant Pass near Conwy.


It's been common knowledge for years that The Watkin Path on Snowdon played a starring role in the 1968 film 'Carry on up the Khyber' , as it was deemed to look like the real Khyber Pass in Afghanistan. I'm sure the cast were more than happy to stay in Beddgelert rather than Afghanistan!



I wonder if Angelina Jolie enjoyed staying in Beddgelert when she was filming part of 'Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life'? Apparently a mock Chinese village was created at Llyn Gwynant , near Beddgelert in the creation of this film.


And of course we couldn't finish without including the wonderful Julie Walter's Coastal Journeys TV series. In Episode 4 she travelled from Aberystwyth to Liverpool, stopping along the way to enjoy a trip on the Talyllyn Railway and a walk round Llwyngwril to admire the amazing yarnbombing. Not a bad showcase for our village!










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