Domino - there weren't any passers by when the Crumb recruitment scene was happening....but filming was interupted when the cast and crew nearly got run down by a van! And no....no evidence of Being Human filming at all - it really is all about Gavin and Stacey in Barry!
I'm off on holiday tomorrow so there will be a pause in my account as I will only have my tablet with me. I'd really hoped to get it finished before I went, but, unfortunately, that isn't going to happen now (I haven't even packed yet, and we're supposed to be leaving as soon as I get home from work.....!)
I'll just drop this in here in the meantime, though...Hal and Tom outside the pawn shop just after the 'Man of God' speech. I can only hope that it didn't have so many takes when they filmed the original...
Hahaha!! Me and Shoepigeon channelling the spirit of Hal and Tom!!
Can't begin to explain just how much fun we all had doing all the re-enactments over the weekend!
As Hal would say - "Hilarious!"
@fifi - I'm absolutely loving your write-ups! They're fab! And with the photos too, it makes me feel as if I were there with you guys!
@Su - Love your blog and more great photos! So exciting to read! It's great to be able to recognise so clearly all the locations, whether they have changed slightly or not.
Also love the Hal puppets in some of the photos too! Fab!
May I sign up for the next BH fieldtrip please?! Whenever that may be?!
__________________
"You think I'm relaxing. This is me holding on by my fingernails"
domino - I know, right?! I've never even watched Gavin and Stacey!
I guess I really should get on and finish this now! Where was I?
Ah yes - Day 3.....
So we headed off to Barry Island, and lunch at John's cafe (apparently where we first met Tom and McNair in Being Human......and where I had a moment of total headf**kery by bumping into somebody I know!!). And just along the seafront is this familiar sight:
OK...so you didn't still expect to see the Barry Grand did you? (and I admit...the first photo was taken back in April! - it was rather busier in August!)
On the beach there was a spot of excersise, some retaghosting and a bit more filming....
....and I went for a paddle!
Next stop.....Neath Abbey, where the Hal/Lady Catherine/Emil scenes and the 1918 ritual were filmed. It's about 40 miles away from Barry....so we were all somewhat gutted when we arrived to discover that the bit that we wanted to get to has been fenced off as they are doing work to stabilize the ruins. But we could just see the door through the fence:
And so after many (oh...so many) goodbyes to the first two bloggers to leave our merry band, the rest of us headed back to Cardiff with heavy hearts, for a Chinese take-away (chicken 'char-min'!!) a little more alcohol and a s4 rewatch....we even made it to the end of ep7 before finally admitting defeat and retiring to our beds.
Not surprisingly, everyone was a little downhearted....not to mention knackered, or just plain ill! The plan was to spend the day in Cardiff, starting with the museum. It's the first time I've ever walked into a museum, and the conversation has gone 'ok...so - skulls, woolly mammoth....and stairs.' And that's pretty much what we did (after all, that was kind of the point!). I'd be interested to know
how many times people have been to the National Museum Cardiff, and spent most of their time posing on the stairs for pics - although there were a few 'mammoth tunnel' pics taken too......
not to mention the front steps:
We left the museum and walked past Cutler's office, and then, eventually, found our way to Park House (it's actually just around the corner, but we took a little detour!) - the restaurant where Cutler took Tom, Tom took Natasha, and where the DVD extra scene was filmed...
I would've gone and peered through the windows..but they were a bit high - Tom is obviously a lot taller than me! The restaurant is the six windows on the right.....
All that was left to do was go and have lunch (walking past Oceana on the way - so I did get to see it....from the outside) and then one by one we said our goodbyes (Su - you didn't look back before you turned the corner - and we were sooo waiting to give you a final wave!!) and returned normal life.
Huge thanks to Su once again for organising it all; thanks to Laura and Lisa for letting me use their photos here; thanks to Su, Shoe, Cat and Brookesey for entertaining us with their fantastic re-enactments; thanks to Su, Cat and Lou for being chauffeurs; thanks to Laura for being a wonderful roomie; and thanks to everyone for coming and making it such a fun and laughter filled four days......
And thanks to domino for giving me space for these self indulgent posts......!!!
-- Edited by fifi on Friday 6th of September 2013 04:15:33 PM
oh em geee just when I thought this topic could not get any more amazing! why your photos and story make me feel so emotional i have no idea - all these fabulous locations and you all were there, it must have been the best trip ever.
the bandstand (is that what it is?i have no idea!) is such a pleasing structure and despite the painful scene that occurred there, truly brings a smile...... and press ups on the beach! how many did you all manage? was it a Hal-like amount or more of a Crumb?
Neath Abbey would be in my top 3 if I had to pick just 3 series 5 locations to visit - probably already has a magical ambience .
series 4 locations too, amazing.
fifi this is probably an impossible question to answer - but of all the locations you visited, what would be your top 3?
ad all thanks to YOU for continuing to share this frankly magical trip with us all, so beautifully....the vicarious pleasure is all ours
What amazing write-ups and photographs. :') That without a doubt was an epic adventure. I LOVE all of the reenactment photos. Thank you so much for sharing! I just went on a mini-vacay. Hehe.
If anyone wants to add more pics, comments, or stories from the trip, I'd love to see them! Thanks for posting your link, su.
domino - the press-ups made Crumb look positively athletic - lol! (not that I attempted any!)
My favourite location - no hesitation - The Castle Hotel (the Ritz pub). I was really excited about going there back in April.....and it was still the place I most wanted to go to in August! The scenes which were filmed there are fantastic - and it just looks exactly the same in real life....you could kind of image Hal just walking in.... And it's a pub - what can I say? lol!
The whole of Barry/Barry island is wonderful. From the train station (where Adam left from in s4) to the funfair (although it was closed in April, and we just didn't have time in Aug...but we walked/drove past it) to HH, the pawn shop, the bandstand (I guess that's what it is!), the beach.....even the shelter where Mitchell and Annie arrived back from purgatory - you just keep suddenly recognising bits of it!
When we visited in April, we travelled by train, and walked from Barry Island station down to the sea-front. When we came round the corner and I saw the bandstand it really made me catch my breath......my reaction totally took me by surprise! But this time we drove past...and it was busy and it really didn't have the same impact.
HH is pretty cool, though. It's so iconic...so recognisable (even though there are subtle differences in RL) - it seems odd that it's real somehow.....in an actual, quiet residential road (someone was delivering a newspaper when we arrived - mental!!) I think that maybe it's my number 2.
Neath Abbey....yeah... I was really looking forward to going - I love ruins anyway..so ruins with a bit of BH interest should have been a dream. But the ambience was totally trashed by the metal fencing. I fully intend to go back sometime....and I reckon it will fully deserve to be my number 3
Sorry...I am so incapable of giving a succinct, to the point answer! I seem to have to ramble about everythng....and I would like to add the disclaimer that these opinions are subject to change, without notice...!
Without having seen any of them in real life they would be my top 3 too fifi! thank you for making the images in my head more three dimensional and real.
Both sets of Being Human housemates didn't rate Barry, but it has always appealed to me!
You should never apologize for rambling... this is not twitter, I'd love to see you try to hit the post word limit on the forum.
Right chaps, here comes Brookesey, only a month late, to try and bung up some pics of the jolly jaunts and japes which took place in Cardiff and Barry back in August! Firstly, I can't begin to describe just how much FUN this whole weekend was - surrounded by loads of friends, having good times, going to fantastic locations and totally being immersed in Being Human culture, quotes, re-enactments and Hal-dom! I haven't laughed so much for years! Right standby - it probably won't end well...
I have no idea why they're all coming out different sizes! sorry chaps! I have to say, that Laura and I actually prevented small children from getting onto the Lady Mary swings while we were taking pics of each other!! Hahaha!!
Ok, a few more
Laura took the last pic of me on the bar - hope it's ok to post it Laura?
Ok, Mikey took this - hope it's ok to post it Mikey - some Kirby dancing going on in Morrisons at Cardiff! The locals looked rather bemused - can't imagine why....
I do have loads more - obvs!! Hehehe
but these give peeps an idea of the daftness which went on.
the place where people seemed to get most excited, of all places, was Rook's alley in Cardiff! We just started shrieking and giggling and running up and down it!
Seeing HH for real, with my own little peepers, was a dream come true I think I did actually squeak as we got out of Lou's car! And in Tredegar House, where the dummies and the table are set up exactly as in the episode - there was a bit of hand waving and jumping going on then too
What an awesome time we had! it was "Totes Amazeballs" as the great Su Hemming would say
Fab! 
Thank you so much for sharing! I just went on a mini-vacay. Hehe.
