Return to Skenfrith - Amy's Choice

The third and final part of our trip down to Cardiff saw us take a detour on the way home to one of my favourite previously visited Doctor Who spots, the little village of Skenfrith.

Skenfrith doubled as 'Upper Leadworth' in Series 5 Episode Amy's Choice. Both times I have visited this village the weather has almost mimicked that seen in the episode - murky, dull and grey. Plus, there really hasn't been anyone around - which always freaks me out slightly - cue scary old aged pensioners. But that isn't to say the place isn't special - in fact I would love to live in such a peaceful little village with its own history and its very own castle. It really is a beautiful place, even under the dullest of skies, a real gem to visit.

You can read my previous post here.

This visit saw me equipped with my trusty iPad with the episode downloaded and ready to try and take some more accurate shots of the place - prepared, eh?!

The central point the town is built around is the ruins of Skenfrith Castle, which is free of charge to wonder around and park next to as long as there are no events.

It's really worth having a good wonder around as the crew captured virtually the whole village on film, so every where you look you can picture a scene from the episode.

As you can see, there are only minor changes made to the village for the filming such as the white fence around the old peoples home, the park on the green area next to the castle and extra benches and plants dotted around. But you can definitely recognise every aspect of the village as what you see on screen.

Luckily no-one was creepily peering through the windows at myself and Luke! It would be good to know if the interior also doubled up as the old peoples home for the episode.

A lot of the village is used in the episode, so it is well worth going for a wonder around the area. You will recognise a lot of it as Upper Leadworth!

See more footage of the village in the video I captured here:-

Anyway, I hope you can gather a better picture from the village from these series of photos and film. Its so lovely to visit so I definitely recommend it even though it is slightly off the beaten track. Any questions about getting there let me know.

So this post has been a long time coming, and before I can even catch my breath its the Doctor Who Festival this weekend! Who's going?! I am heading there on the Saturday in the Cyberman stream. Let me know your plans. Right now I'm trying to figure out what to wear... I am very much looking forward to meeting Peter Capaldi for the first time and I managed to get my hands on Jenna Coleman photo opp tickets too so I shall be meeting her again which I am very excited about as it will be the last time to meet her as the Doctors companion. 

So what have I been up to...? Well I am still working in marketing which is pretty excellent, and I've just turned 25... which has made me feel super old. I mean, if I went for the X-factor I would be in the "overs" category... and that's kind of depressing. 

Its been lovely to write here again, blog to you again soon!

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"Amys Choice" and Amelia Ponds House Filming Locations

 It’s late on a Wednesday night now, and after doing my weekly Zumba fitness class and tackling my next assignment question, I’m finally getting round to blogging!

 In February this year, for Valentine’s weekend, me and my partner booked a lodge in South Wales near the Brecon Beacons (beautiful place), and it was the best weekend I’ve had in years!

 We planned our route well ahead of ourselves, in order to see all the locations from Doctor Who we wanted in one journey. I stayed up for hours a few nights before, searching through the Doctor Who Locations. The site is absolutely brilliant for fans like me, who love going to all the locations!

 So first we headed to Skenfrith, which was slightly difficult to find, the sat-nav was having a fit so we decided to ignore it most of the journey and make our own way there. And finally, many winding roads later we eventually found the small village!

 

 Skenfrith was used as ‘Upper Leadworth’ in the episode from Series 5 – Amys Choice, featuring the dream lord. Although the Pond’s house is not on site, the rest of the village was used for the majority of the episode including the castle and the old people’s home.

Many of the following images are stills from Doctor Who, courtesy of the BBC ... contrasted with my own photos...

The village itself was a bit creepy to be honest, beautiful, but creepy. Arthur Darvill himself was quoted saying how deserted the place was, and the day we visited was no exception. We spotted two people the whole time we were there, and those were the builders doing construction work on the church around the corner! Also – as you can tell from the images, the small park based to the one side of the castle ruins in the episode were brought in by the Doctor Who Production Company. The weather was the same as it was in the episode – gloomy and damp, which added to the excitement of being in the location!

   

 Next, off we popped to our next stop in Rhymney, to find Amy Pond’s house (from series 5). This location was slightly easier to find, as the Sat-Nav took us right to the front gate. It is located in the middle of a busy town, and does have someone currently living in it (I don’t know why I expected otherwise!) We noticed there was a car parked next to the house and smoke from the chimney, so we decided, out of respect, not to cross the garden to the front of house but to just take a photo from the gate, and from the end of the garden, through the trees. 

 I loved being at this location, there was something magical about the Series 5 opener which attracted me straight away, and to be where Matt Smith started as he crash landed into Amy’s garden was brilliant! Although I did come to realise that the Doctor Who Production company did provide a lot of the props to the house, the garden looked nothing like it did in the series, there was no shed, no shrubbery, and the house didn’t even have a blue front door!

 

Here’s a cool video from Youtube I found of someone visiting the location of Amy's house - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHrfcrRWJm8 

Here’s ‘The Eleventh Hour’ – Part 1 (Matt Smiths first episode as the Doctor) to refresh all our memories. This is where he first came crashing into my life: 

After all the excitement from the day, We then later arrived at our lodge, which was beautiful… and included a hot tub!! ... It also boasted a spare room, with bunk beds... 

"Bunk beds are cool, a bed, with a ladder"

So that was our journey to the lodge, I’ll be writing part 2 within the next few days from when we visited more locations such as Bad Wolf Bay, Dyffryn Gardens and Neath Abbey… Plus, sites from Torchwood and Gavin and Stacey!  

If you’re still reading this, thanks very much! I really appreciate everyone that takes time to look through my blog at my ramblings and who are interested in what I’ve got to say…!!

Could you recommend any Doctor Who locations?

Have you been to any of the sites?

Can’t wait to share the rest of my South Wales trip with you guys!

Thank you for reading, blog to you soon x

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