December 2020 – A Traveling Fool

When the bus to The Making of Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio Tour returned to the Victoria Bus Station, I walked along Buckingham Palace Road from there to Victoria Street to visit Westminster Cathedral. The only connection that Westminster Cathedral has to Westminster Abbey is that they are both located in the part of London called Westminster and are both essentially on Victoria Street (although it is called Broad Sanctuary by the time it reaches the Abbey).

Westminster Cathedral is a Catholic Cathedral, built in the 19^th century in the neo-Byzantine style, influenced by the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey. It was that influence that made me curious to see it. The exterior is striped with white stone and red brick. The interior is covered with mosaics. The Hagia Sophia influence was the mosaics. Otherwise the basic floor plan of the cathedral was a standard, western, crucifix with side chapels and one long nave.

There was a very interesting glass coffin containing Saint John Southworth, who was a Catholic martyr in the 17^th century. He was hanged, drawn & quartered. But his pieces were gathered up, sewn together and parboiled to preserve them. I do have to admit that I was glad there was a gold mask over his face.

I took a taxi back to the hotel. A friend of mine, who had never been to London before, was supposed to be flying in that day and was going to contact me so we could get together for dinner. I waited for quite a while to hear from him and even tried texting him at one point. Unbeknownst to me, he was having some issues with his phone.

At about 8:20pm I received a text asking me to meet him in the middle of Blackfriars Bridge at 8:30pm. The only way I was going to make it in time was to take another cab. Fortunately, since the hotel was right next door to Charing Cross Rail Station, a line of taxis was always there ready to take folks coming into the station to their destinations. I leapt into one, apologized to the driver for the strange request I was about to make and sat back as I was taken to the bridge, arriving just in time to see my friend walking towards me.

Actually the driver spotted him before I did. I lowered the window and called out to him. Then I paid the driver and hopped out of the cab.

From the bridge, we headed up towards Fleet Street, but I wanted to show him the Temple first. By this time of night, there was only one entrance open and that was the entrance nearest to where we were. Not being a resident of the area, I explained to the person manning the guard house why I wanted to come in for a short time. She was fine with it and let us in.

The Temple had once belonged to the Knights Templar. The only vestige of their prior ownership was the Temple Church. The rest of the area that belonged to the Templars from the 12^th through the 14^th centuries had been taken over by two of the Inns of Court – the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple from the 14^th century on.

Wat Tyler had sacked the Temple during the late 14^th century Peasant’s Revolt. One of the Jack the Ripper suspects lived on King’s Bench Walk in the Temple. The War of the Roses began at the Temple when each side picked a rose from the Temple rose garden to symbolize their cause.

I knew my way around when coming in through the entrance under Prince Henry’s Rooms on Fleet Street. But I had never entered the Temple from this particular entrance before and so was unable to navigate the maze satisfactorily to get to the Temple Church from there. I was able to point out the rose garden and King’s Bench Walk however, and called it a day.

I had planned that we would eat at the George Pub, which was a very old, very traditional, half-timbered Elizabethan pub at about the spot where Fleet Street became The Strand. So I wasn’t in any big hurry as we sauntered along Fleet Street. I pointed out St Dunstan’s Church which was reportedly where Sweeney Todd hid the remains of his victims in the crypt (until the stench started coming up into the church).

I told him about the Great Fire stopping just before Prince Henry’s Rooms (so they were authentic to their time) and that Prince Henry would have been king instead of Charles I had he lived. What a difference in history that might have been.

We walked by the Griffin marking the border of the official City of London from the rest of London (and where Fleet Street became The Strand) and gazed at the Royal Courts of Justice (where civil trials are heard) before turning our attention to the George Pub. Although it still looked the same outside, it had radically changed its menu since I was there last (and probably had changed ownership too). It had gone from being a traditional pub with traditional pub food to being a trendy restaurant with trendy, and expensive, food.

So we walked a couple blocks further along The Strand and had our dinner at a café. We sat by the window and marveled about how we were hanging out in London instead of Minneapolis. Had I known that the George had changed, I would have taken him to the Olde Cock Tavern (16^th century) just a short distance before Prince Henry’s Rooms. I had wanted to show him a place with some real traditional English atmosphere. Oh well.

After dinner, we continued along The Strand, veering off to Trafalgar Square to take a look at it all lit up at night before getting a few groceries for him from the Sainsbury’s by my hotel and putting him into a cab at the Charing Cross rail station. He was staying in the part of town near Victoria Station.

Then I prepared for my flight home the following day. I thought it was a shame that we only had that one evening in common.

Next – some time spent at Appomattox Courthouse in Virginia where Confederate General Robert E Lee surrendered to Union General Ulysses S Grant to end the American Civil War.

Once upon a time when I was buying some DVDs, they had a special to buy so many and get so many free. So I picked up the first Harry Potter movie for free. I loved it. I went on to see them all.

When a day trip to The Making of Harry Potter Warner Brothers Studio Tour in London popped up when I was researching what I might want to do while in London on my 2017 trip, I signed up. I just needed to be at the pickup point at the Victoria Bus Station by a particular time, show the ticket I printed off once it was booked and climb onto a purple double-decked bus.

This was a tour of the actual sets, props, and costumes used in the Harry Potter films. In addition to being a fan of those films, I have always had a fascination regarding the making of movies and television in general. Therefore I had visited other studios in the US when I had been out in LA. I had also managed to be involved with filming a few movies when I worked in the recording industry in NYC fresh out of school. So I had been able to watch firsthand how some of it was done. Then there was my double major in Theatre & Radio/Television with a minor in music.

A few of the chess pieces from the very first film were arranged outside to greet us as we approached the building. Then we joined in the long and winding line to actually get in. This tour was a popular one. When booking, both the date and the time were booked ahead so they wouldn’t have everybody showing up at the same time on the same day.

The line did move relatively quickly. All around the top of the hall we were in were photos of all of the actors. Shortly before being able to get into the auditorium, we could see the cupboard under the stairs. This was where the Dursleys had kept Harry before he went to Hogwarts School.

We entered a very large auditorium where I could see that there were some seats open on the front row just right of center. I chose one of those, sat down, and the introductory film began.

When the film ended, the screen rose up into the ceiling and a couple of very large doors were visible. A woman said a few more things and then invited us into Hogwarts. That was when the giant doors opened and there was the set for the Great Hall – also immense.

I was one of the first people through the doors since I was in the front row and didn’t need to gather anything or anyone before getting up and going in. They had mannequins representing several of the characters and dressed in costumes that had been used in the movies.

I had plenty of time, so I took my time looking around and taking photos. Also, I had learned long ago that when you have a fair amount of people around you who are jumping and screaming and terribly excited, it is a good idea to let them get far away from you. Otherwise trying to take photos and even being able to see things can be difficult.

From the dining hall, an enormous sound stage was entered that had exhibits all over the place. They had it all arranged so that you could flow through fairly logically and there was plenty of room to be able to see everything without being crowded out or rushed along. There wasn’t a guide that needed to be followed. There was, however, plenty of staff who could be questioned.

Grouped together were the Yule Ball Ice Castle and the costumes from the dance (from the Goblet of Fire film), the staircase that swings around and the portraits with it, plus the Leaky Cauldron (the pub in London on Charing Cross Road from which one could enter Diagon Alley). Across from the Leaky Cauldron were the Gryffindor boys’ dorm and the Common Room. Then the off-kilter hallway that was also in the Leaky Cauldron.

A very large set was the Potions Lab with both Snape and Quirrell (who was in the first film). The Goblet of Fire itself, the egg that could only be opened underwater without it shreiking, and the Tri-Wizard Cup were logically grouped together, since they came from the same movie. Shelves crammed full of other props were next to these items. Another enormous set piece was the Hogwarts Pendulum Clock.

A favorite of mine was Dumbledore’s office. The Griffin that guarded it came first. Then, at the entrance of the office was the Pensive with the bottles containing people’s memories that had been extracted. The office was quite cool, having multiple levels to it. The fact that it was the actual set used made it really intriguing.

Things often look so much larger on film than in reality. This was not the case when it came to most of the sets. There were only a couple, the interior of Hagrid’s Cottage, The Burrow (the Weasley Cottage), and parts of the Ministry of Magic that were quite small in reality.

A collection of broomsticks and the Quidditch equipment and uniforms were next. The Whomping Willow had a hold of the flying car, which was next to the door to the Chamber of Secrets with its snakes.

Barty Crouch Jr had imprisoned Mad-Eye Moody inside of the lowest level of a multi-level trunk in Goblet of Fire. The trunk was sitting fully open.

Between the Burrow and Malfoy Manor was a display of Horcruxes. A meeting of several of the Death Eaters (from one of the Deathly Hallows films) was taking place at Malfoy Manor, which included Snape, Lucius Malfoy, Beatrix Lestrange, and the snake Nagini.

Dolores Umbridge’s pink office and some of her costumes were on display. Then, through a creaky gate, was the entrance to the Forbidden Forest where we were able to encounter Buckbeak, Aragog (the giant spider), and the dog patronous.

The final exhibit in that part of the studios was Platform 9 ¾ from Kings Cross Station. They had the actual engine and the train cars used in the film. It was tough to get close enough to the engine since everyone was determined to get a selfie with it. Folks also wanted photos of themselves pushing the cart through the wall. There were several of those on the other side of the platform from the train. Oddly enough, not as many people were interested in taking a photo of Ron and Harry in the train car with Ron’s rat Scabbers (and tons of candy).

Before going outside to the sets there, I stopped for some lunch, including some butterbeer. I could keep the mug. So I cleaned it off best I could, wrapped it in several napkins and stuffed it into my camera bag.

Outside was the triple-decker purple Knight Bus. It was possible to get on it and look around. The Dursley Home (No. 4 Privet Drive) was there. It was possible to go inside and see the letters flying around from the first movie when Harry received his invitation to Hogwarts.

The long, covered bridge from Hogwarts and the Potter Cottage at Godric’s Hollow were also out there. I could walk on the bridge, but not enter the cottage. Several more chess pieces were standing just outside of the next building. They were so realistic I almost expected them to move as they had done in the first film.

The building had a lot of the animated pieces for the movies, such as Nearly Headless Nick’s head (played by John Cleese), the dragons (both large and mini), the elves, the goblins, the troll, the Dementors (who guarded Azkaban, the wizarding prison), the werewolf (Professor Lupin), the Thestrals (who drew the carriages to Hogwarts from the train station), the Grindelows (the mer-people in the lake at Hogwarts), and Dobby (everyone’s favorite house elf). Most of the magical menagerie creatures were there.

After seeing all of the creatures and special effects, it was time to take a stroll along Diagon Alley. All of the special shops were there – Eeylops Owl Emporium, Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlor, Flourish & Blotts bookseller, Gambol and Japes (a wizarding joke shop), Madame Malkin’s Robes for All Occasions, the Magical Menagerie, Ollivanders wand shop, Potage’s Cauldron Shop, Quality Quidditch Supplies, Slug and Jiggers Apothecary, Twilfitt and Tatting’s clothing, Wiseacre’s Wizarding Equipment, and Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes. Then there was Gringotts Wizarding Bank.

Beyond Diagon Alley was a room with loads of miniatures and models used in filming the series followed by a huge room with the full model of Hogwarts Castle. It was very detailed and fun to view.

Next time – a mysterious meeting on Blackfriar’s Bridge

Month: December 2020

The Mysterious Meeting on Blackfriars Bridge

Harry Potter London Studio Tour