German Potterite Wolfgang Mletzko has just completed another Harry Potter UK tour. (We’ve lost track of the number of HPP trips he’s enjoyed over the years!) Today, he’s reporting about Abbotsbury Swannery: HPP Book Three, Site #33.
Although this is a Skip-It rated Potter Place, Wolfgang thoroughly enjoyed it.
“The Swannery is worth a visit, and the pretty ‘Merry old England’ style village of Abbotsbury, too! It’s a nice day trip from London. Allow a some extra time to walk around Abbotsbury and/or Weymouth.”
While there, Wolfgang spoke with a friendly Swannery staff member who happily shared some details about the Half-Blood Prince footage shot here:
- The October of 2007 location filming took place in a huge field of reeds approximately 700 meters west of the Swannery.
- About 150 people and a helicopter were involved, but no principle actors–only doubles.
- The original shoot lasted 3 weeks, with an additional week of filming accomplished sometime later.
- All the scenes with principle actors clearly visible in the reeds were shot in the studio.
- To create the studio set, filmmakers harvested a lot of reeds and moved them to Leavesden.
You can see Wolfgang’s map to the reed field film site and photos taken during his visit at:
http://www.HarryPotterPlaces.com/2013AbbotsburySwaneryWM.pdf
If you’ve never been to Wolfgang’s website, you should check it out!
Below is a link to his Harry Potter Film Locations map, which contains links to information about each of the UK Potter Places he’s visited.
http://www.bdyg.homepage.t-online.de/Harry_Potter/Film_Locations/film_locations.html
Thank you, Wolfgang!
And,
HAPPY POTTERING!