In Bradleys footsteps ...................... again
While you hunt Colin I follow in Bradleys footsteps....... again yeah !!!
This is all about -
1. Eye of The Phoenix - The Perilous Lands
2. Opening scene of series III
Mr P and I went to search the Trefil Quarry on the edge of the Brecon Beacons for location 1.
Friday
The weather was awful, windy with mist swirling around we could only able to see
yards in front of the car's bonnet.
As intrepid location hunters Mr P and I arrived at the open barrier to the road that leads to the quarry. In fact there are two quarries along the road - one active and the other disused.
I had read that the barrier gets closed sometimes because of people off roading and people dumping rubbish. But hey ho through we drove as though we didn't have a care in the world. The moorland on our left got wider and now and again we could make out the top of some hills. On our right was the boundary of the active quarry, that was until the road did a hair pin turn to our right leaving us with an unmade road and bleak moorland on either side.
We headed into the swirling mist along a ribbon of a road for about one mile towards the disused quarry. The road - not tarmacked was full of pot holes and quite muddy. We passed conifers coming in and out of the mist then as we rounded a broad corner there in front of us were high limestone cliffs towering either side of the road. I was ecstatic we'd found them in fact I let out a rather large squee of disbelief, I felt like a child going to their favourite place. This is where we thought they filmed but as I was driving I decided to venture to the end of the road - I knew I must do a full reccy of the area - mustn't miss anything. En route we passed a track going off to our left visible was a cliff on one side. Our road went on and on in the mist, I actually don't really know where we went because I couldn't see very far at all. Mr P seemed concerned and kept asking me if I knew my way back. 'Of course I do' was my reply, I was having too much fun to worry about anything. The idea we might breakdown and who would know we were there never entered my mind. I did keep thinking surely they wouldn't come this far to film. I did find my way back and we nearly stopped at the track with the cliff on one side but decided that it really didn't look like what we thought the location was. (hahahaha read later.)
We drove back to the first set of cliffs and tried to fit the screencaps into the locality. 'Maybe if the camera was here?' No it didn't work 'or here?' no still didn't work. So after a while we gave up (oh me - I gave up - ugh !!)
But on the way back I drove up the road to the active quarry just in case they filmed there but there was a barrier and I kinda knew this wasn't the area. As we went back down this road to the main road a van came out of the quarry and drove infront of me, then he stopped, so did I. I decided to chat to him, see what I could find out. Really nice guy. He confirmed Merlin was filmed in the quarry and he said Clash of The Titans 2 was going to be filmed there, in fact they'd taken a delivery of their large stones up to the studio for a set.
Secure with his information we went back to the first set of cliffs of the quarry. We pretended to be a director and tried to decide where the camera would've been. But it still didn't fit so I left Mr P in the car and I climbed up to get the view, alas no view as per Paul Cripps - too misty. It was very exhilarating on top but I daren't stand too close to the edge for fear of the wind blowing me over. (paper headlines: Merlin location hunter found dead at foot of cliff in disused quarry. Foul play not suspected only magic.) There was no track down the otherside as I'd thought there was going to be. So coming back down was mega dodgy as I'd been kinda stupid to go up without a walking stick.
Then we gave up !! Oh oh terrible how that hurt.
Mega find.
But on the way back towards the barrier Mr P yelled 'Stop.' And so I did. 'There,' he said and pointed towards a single rock on the wide moor a few yards from the road. 'That's where this screencap was taken from.' And he flapped a couple of screencaps at me. He'd found the location of the opening to Series III. Clever old Mr P
.
That evening tucked up in our hotel in Merthyr Tydfil Mr P decided that we had been looking in the wrong place for location 1 and we needed to investigate the second area we'd found the track with the single cliff the next morning.
Saturday
Back to the barrier and I stopped. This time as it was not a weekday we were rather worried that it would be closed and maybe we would be stuck on the road - quarry side. Mr P love him said he would stay by the barrier to make sure I could get back. He got out muffled up against the weather - he hates the wind and boy it was windy again. As I drove away all I could see of him were his eyes showing . Boy I had such fun driving this road/track again, and then I got worried that if anything happened to me how would I let him know? No mobile signal.
I parked by the track and as I got out loads of sheep came towards me baaaing - a thought went through my mind - do sheep bite? They accompanied me to the track and part of the way along. The mist was all around I was getting very wet but I didn't mind - my skin's waterproof. With screencaps in hand (they were in a polythene folder) I searched but I didn't recognise it as the location but I carried on up along this track. After I'd passed into the cutting something, and I cannot explain what it was, made me climb up the small bank on my left. I was searching for a cliff with a crack in it with a sort of path on its left. In my screencap Bradley was climbing up on the right. Well there was a cliff with a crack, so click click loads of photos taken just incase it was the right place but in honesty I didn't hold any hope as there wasn't a path on the left. Thoughts of Mr P cold and shivering in the wind seeped into my mind and I knew I couldn't stay any longer so I turned and started back. As I turned I saw a cleft in the cliff, it matched a cleft in one of the screencaps we'd called the cleft - The Keyhole. I think the sheep must've wondered what was going on as I let out a whoop of joy as my fists punched the air with a resounding FOUND IT!! Bradley had walked along here (Colin and Gwaine had as well.) But still hadn't found where they climbed up, never mind got to get back to Mr P. Again I enjoyed driving along the track and came to a rather wet Mr P who asked why I was back so soon. Damm I could've spent more time along there and taken more photos, but satisfied I had to be.
We drove and went to a cafe very close by. I was drenched and now I wonder what people thought as I walked in. I started to show Mr P the photos saying how sad I was that I didn't find the cliff with a crack and the path. He was sitting opposite me so he saw the photos upside down. Then, then he said 'Well look there's the path.' He was pointing to the cliff with a crack in it; he carried on 'they flipped the shot.' And sure enough on closer inspection it was the same place. At least we had failed to find the location but we needed to do a more thorough investigation. We couldn't go back now but next week our son was coming to stay for a few days, so a little plan was hatching in my mind. Thursday, Thursday we could come back for the day.
Thursday (the following week.)
I had rung the real quarry and asked about the opening/closing of the barrier I wasn't going to get caught this trip. The gentleman I spoke to assured me that during a working day it would be open, but added there was a sign with an emergency number at the barrier, oooppps we'd failed to see that previously.
I drove up to South Wales (I always do the driving to Merlin locs so that I can turn off at a moment's notice) then via Abergaveny (ah, what sweet memories) then onto the Quarry. This time I was armed with a movie camera I'd bought the day before, how to use it was another problem well actually turning it off was the problem, but I sussed it out and it worked okay.
Slowly I walked up the track with Mr P and our son. I showed them The Keyhole. Our son grunted, Mr P was calm but I was jumping all over the place.
We walked up the bank, found the pool that is at the foot of Bradley's climb. Then we identified where Bradley climbed up. This is the scene they flipped; I suppose it was so that he continued walking left to right. Once home and a few weeks later I was slo-moing the scene and noticed Bradley had his sword in his left hand for this scene another confirmation they'd flipped it.
We took photo's of the cliff with the crack in it where Bradley (and others) reached the top and momentarily stood there. Mr P and I wandered around on top and then looked down towards the beginning of the track and there before us was the Perilous Lands where Bradley wanders towards The Dark Tower. My thought is that it was possibly enlarged a bit by CGI. Back on the track many photos were taken imitating where the camera had stood.
Son did get a bit bored but Mr P and I couldn't leave the place. Basically we didn't really want to drive all of this way again for just for a photo we may have missed. So we had to make sure we got everything. The mist cleared for a moment and there in our view was Paul Cripps photo he called Welsh Cliffs, confirmation indeed.
It was a very good location hunt, horrid weather outweighed by loads of success