Waxwing

Waxwing
"To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour."

From "Auguries of Innocence"

by William Blake

Wednesday 25 September 2013

A Glimpse into the World of Harry Potter - Part 2

Returning to the World of Harry Potter. Following the first part of the Tour you emerge into The Backlot - during film production this area was used as home to some of the exterior shots.

The Backlot

The Riddle Family Gravestone


The Potter's Cottage - Godric Hollow


The Knight Bus



Hogwart's Bridge



Privet Drive


The Chess Pieces




No tour would be complete without a glass of "Butterbeer"! Emily paid the highest price and got to keep the mug! It was very refreshing with a taste of honey.



The Tour then returned indoors to the Creature's Shop

Fawkes




Mandrake


Aragog



Diagon Alley - for me this was the best part of the Tour














The Tour ends with a superb model of Hogwart's which has an incredible amount of detail. Its hard to get an idea of scale from the photos but its fairly large! The model was made for the first film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.













Nearby it appeared another film was being made as you could just see the tips of what looked like pirate ships - well hidden away from view by embankments and fencing!




Despite being quite expensive it was a great family day out and a wonderful place for children of all ages who have read the books and seen the films. It took us about 4 hours to walk round the Tour but you could easily spend a lot longer as there is so much to see and take in. Despite timed tickets there was still a wait (of about 35 minutes) before you started the Tour and even though it was a Friday in term-time it was packed with people. Having said that I would certainly go again!

Next post - back to Moths!



8 comments:

Rohrerbot said...

Major epic fun!!! Those are such cool pics! And that bus is massive.....I want to do that tour:) It looks amazing. You must have had so much fun:)

Anonymous said...

Have really enjoyed these two posts and will definitely try and find some time to go and see it- it looks fantastic and we all love the books here (apart from L). CT :-)

Wendy said...

From your wonderful photos - I think I'd like the buildings best, too, especially Diagon Alley. The Riddle Family Gravestone looks suitably creepy, even with the blue sky (would you ever see it in the dark?)

Ragged Robin said...

Chris Rohrer - Thanks so much Chris - so glad you enjoyed. Yes you would love it there :) Really fun day out :)

Countryside Tales - Thanks - so pleased you enjoyed. Well worth a visit - but you can't buy tickets "at the door" I don't think. Check out website as I think you have to book online. Hope you manage to go :)

Wendy - Many thanks :) Parts were really "creepy"!!! as you say like the Riddle Family Gravestone and no I definitely wouldn't want to see it in the dark!! The attention to detail in everything we saw was just amazing :)

SeagullSuzie said...

I'm glad you got to try the Butterbeer. Diagon Alley does look great, the creatures and Aragog especially are a little scary!

Ragged Robin said...

SeagullSuzie - David and Emily (26 and 22)!!!!! had been on about Butterbeer ever since the tickets were first booked!!! :)

Lou Mary said...

Looks a brilliant place! Made me remember how much I love HP!! I must re-read all the books! I remember reading the 7th book in about 2 days. Fair to say my parents didn't get much conversation from me then!

Thanks for sharing your fab day trip with us!

Ragged Robin said...

Lou Mary - Thank you - so glad you enjoyed. My son and daughter were the same when new books came out and I had to wait until one of them had finished so I could read too :) I seem to remember at least one was released at midnight and I had to go out to WHS to collect pre-ordered copies!!!