A visit to Graystark Hall Orphanage

 Valentines weekend had been planned months in advance with a cheap and cheerful £12 hotel sale. However, the whole stay was pretty much weather-dependent and after the amount of snow, wind and rain the UK had been getting over the previous weeks, we really weren't sure whether we would ever make it down to Cardiff. 

 Thankfully, Saturday arrived alongside the sun beaming high in the sky so off I drove with Luke down to Wales, location stops in hand. 

Bottom Image: Courtesy of BBC

 Our first location was Troy House, Monmouth. We by-pass the town on the way to Cardiff so how we have missed the stop in the past is beyond belief. A cheeky 5 minute detour off the beaten-track later we arrived. 

Bottom Image: Courtesy of BBC

 Cast your minds back to Doctor Who Series 6, and the second of the two-parter Day of the Moon. Canton Delaware and Amy Pond head off to the children's orphanage in search for a missing girl. Here, Amy is later taken by the Silents once she finds the little girls room.  

 I would recommend that those who wish to stop at this location in the future take extra care, unless you have a flashy 4x4 car or are prepared to walk from the main road. My baby Clio unfortunately got battered and bruised through the dirt track leading to the mansion, which is surrounded by farmland and a fully operational working farm. Therefore, the route was full of potholes, pools of water and all sorts of gravel, stones and mud. My bad. I don't think I will be venturing along there again! 

 Anyway, following me totally mastering the slightly off-road driving experience we finally reached the gothic gates, hopped out of the car and landed right into the horrifying squelch of... mud - A lot of it -And in my best shoes. Yes, a top tip if you fancy heading to the spot: PACK THOSE WELLIES! A quick jump out of the car and a few snapshots later then amounted to two dogs hurtling towards the gates from the inside barking like crazy. I suppose it made a change from the eerie silence. We did consider ringing the bell and asking if we could have access to the inside of the grounds for some pictures, but the dogs really startled us so we headed off. 

Note - the amount of mud covering the ground behind me!

 We stopped at two further Doctor Who locations during our little weekend getaway. The next was Fields House from Blink and the final spot, a filming location from Fathers Day. I will try my best to put together posts on both of these as soon as possible! In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful week and are starting to get over them horrid Monday Blues!

If you fancy heading to Troy House, Monmouth:

• Drive carefully and watch out for uneven surfaces/potholes which could seriously damage your car.
• Park close to the main road and walk down to the house (takes approx 5-10 minutes).
• Wear wellies/boots.
• Be aware of the guard dogs. 

Note: The Clio is now all well and good, and since our trip has been cleaned inside and out. Sustained minor scratches to the front of the car - it was all worth it!

To find more about this historic building, you can head to the wikipedia site http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_House  *slaps her University Higher-Educated wrists*

With thanks to http://www.doctorwholocations.net/  :-)

Thanks for reading

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Doctor Who Experience Opening Day: Cardiff - Review and Pics!

Hello everyone, hope you’ve had a brilliant weekend. The weather has been on and off here, but I hope the weather is good wherever you are! Where is that so-called summer?!

So on Friday (20^th July) I attended the opening of The Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff. I had been looking forward to it since my brother managed to secure me and the boyfriend tickets whilst we were on holiday in June. We booked the 12 o’clock slot, which in actual fact was the time the Experience opened to the public anyway!

We headed from our hotel at 11am and reached the experience building about 5-10minutes later. It has a prime spot overlooking the Bay, you can’t miss it!

 As we got nearer, we noticed that the outside was already busy and full of fans, and not long after we arrived a Silent and Silurian were let out of the building to greet (and scare) the fans. I have to admit the Silent was particularly scary; it’s probably one of my most feared DW monsters! I kept trying to act confident, telling myself it was just a man in a suit, but the actor was really in character – the head, leg and arm movements were all choreographed to perfection! Below I’ve included some of my pictures of the Silent and Silurian, so you can see for yourself just how brilliant they were. There’s also a video I recorded whilst waiting in the queue, which I have uploaded to Youtube.

Joining them just before the Experience opened its doors was a Dalek and a Cyberman. Everyone had their cameras at the ready – I thought it was a brilliant way to get the crowd excited with what was to come.

The Experience

 Myself and my partner were part of the first group to head into the Experience. I must admit, I was slightly apprehensive with what was to come as I had no idea what I would be faced with, after never visiting the attraction when it was in London.

 From here, I was going to produce an in-depth review of the Experience itself within the blog post, but I don’t want it to contain any *spoilers* for those of you who are planning to head to the site in the future.

 So without giving too much away, I will preview some of my favourite moments-

• The first montage of the Experience gave me goosebumps.
• The special effects used within are extraordinary; in parts I really did feel like I was a million miles from home.
• The Doctor is as quick-witted as always.
• When the Doctor told me to run, I ran for my life. When he told me not to look back, I did just the opposite.
• Whatever you do, don’t blink.

 In my opinion, the Experience itself is perfect for any age. It captures your imagination, allows an escape from everyday life and plummets you into a journey where you feel as if you are running alongside the Doctor.

Exhibition

 After the Experience, we were walked into a large exhibition room which contained costumes, props and artefacts from the show, dating all the way back to when the show started in 1963.
Being the first group to enter, the room was empty, and we were lucky enough to explore each exhibit and take photos without waiting for others to do so.

Some of my favourite exhibits included the 9th and 10th doctors TARDIS (which had a clip of 10th's regeneration scene on the screen at the side), the looking glass from ‘The Girl Who Waited’, The Pandorica, River Song’s Diaries and the Silent ship, with an ACTUAL silent walking around, I just had to get a picture ;) The only downside (which was one of my own making) was that many of the exhibits were in the Prop Room at the Doctor Who Convention which I went to in March, so I had seen many of them before. However, it wasn’t at all a disappointment because I still want to go to the Experience for a second time and see them all again!! You can see my post from the Convention HERE.

I’ve included a few of my favourite pictures below to give you a little insight into the huge prop/exhibit room -

 

 In my opinion, the Exhibition part of the attraction is brilliant for any Doctor Who fan. It gives everyone a chance to stand next to their favourite props and take photos, engage with the exhibits and learn more about the programme through animated screens and displays. 

Overall

 All in all, I had a fantastic day at the Experience and would recommend it to anyone of any age. I am very grateful to have been given the chance to attend on the opening day. The atmosphere was all a buzz of excitement and curiosity which added to the day and being in the company of so many big fans of the show was just amazing. 

 To follow this post, I will blog about the day before I attended the convention, where me and my partner ventured to Caerphilly to visit the sites captured in many of the 'New Who' episodes. Along with our trip to 'Leadworth Hospital' from the Eleventh Hour. More to come ;-)

Thanks for Reading!

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