Farewell, Glorious Ponds

*Warning- Spoilers on the Pond’s departure*

My third and final post from my South Wales trip back in October contains probably one of my favourite locations, from the Series 7 Part 1 finale, ‘The Angels Take Manhattan’, where we say goodbye to Amy Pond and Rory Williams.

The Tardis was located to the left of me in the top photo, when filming The Angels Take Manhattan.
Courtesy: BBC

Amy sits on the grave located bottom right on the top pic. Courtesy: BBC

When checking out the Doctor Who Locations website for filming spots near where we were staying, I really wanted to visit a site which had something to do with the Ponds’ departure. They have been my favourite companions, who I have grown to love dearly and I have to admit, it was very upsetting to see them leave.

So when I found out that the graveyard used in the final scenes were filmed not in New York where the episode is set, but in Llanelli, 40mins down the road and near the Toby Carvery we were heading to for Sunday lunch, there was no excuse not to go.

Amy and Rory before their emotional farewell.
Courtesy: BBC

The journey down to Llanelli was pretty straight forward, and the weather was lovely! Searching for the graveyard once we popped the postcode into the sat-nav was simple to, although we did drive past it straight away as we didn’t expect the cemetery to be so easy to find.

We parked up on a housing estate and walked through the huge steel gates, where we found vehicle access and parking - for those who wish to visit. 
Out of respect, we kept our visit short and sweet, as I did feel a bit odd walking around a graveyard, but there were quite a few people cutting through on the public footpath that circled the cemetery and a number of locals walking dogs! I’ve always seen graveyards as spooky places, so I tend not to visit with family when they go to lay flowers, but this one was extremely gothic, I can see why it was chosen for such a powerful episode.

I wasn’t sure where the scene was filmed; I’d taken some screen shots with me for help but wasn’t having any luck. Whilst my partner went off for a walk around I sat on the bench for a few minutes and streamed the behind the scenes Youtube video for the episode on my phone. I glanced around but couldn’t recognise anywhere, but then as I turned and looked directly behind me everything matched up to what I could see on the screen perfectly. We took a few pictures on the grassy area near where the Tardis had stood and left.
 

After going home and watching the episode, low and behold the bench I had been sat on was included within the episode! How weird? It was an odd feeling to be there, where we see the demise of two much loved characters, but I’m sure they will go on to bigger things and become huge stars in their own right.

The Angels Take Manhattan Series 7 Part 1. Bench circled.

Sorry for how long this post has taken to go live, I'm once again up to my neck in uni work, but with deadlines next week I will soon be able to enjoy the Christmas period! Oooh, and I'm doing my dissertation on Doctor Who, how exciting!

Hope you enjoy the post:-) blog to you all soon!

★