The first time I walked through the stunningly beautiful Cloisters of Durham Cathedral I was being anything but studious, despite my surroundings. I wasn’t contemplating the meaning of life, debating Locke’s Political Theory with my fellow students or even reading Alexander Wells’ thriller on Structural Inorganic Chemistry. I was in a gown, waving a stick at other people and shouting in Latin.
It’s not because I had gone completely mad (although I’m almost there) but because of Harry Potter. Sections of the first two films were filmed in the Cloisters and other locations within the jaw-dropping Cathedral. According to the Dean of the Cathedral, the popularity of Harry Potter has made not only me and a few friends pretend to be in Hogwarts, but hundreds of students, who each year attempt to recreate the films.
My photograph illustrates why they must have chosen this location for the film because, even without CGI or Alan Rickman, it is still completely magical.
Beautiful image James, you’ve capture the essence of mystery and intrigue! Beautifully haunting. xxx
Haunting, I like that Vicki thanks! You should definitely start a blog when you go back to India so we can keep track of you! xxx
Oh, this is definitely going on my “must-visit list”. Besides the beauty and history of the place, both, my son and I, are mad Harry Potter fans. He will be absolutely tha-rilled to see this place. And so will I. So will I. We will have a grand time of it, dueling in the corridors. The sparks are gonna fly I tell you. *grin*
Thanks!!!
You should definitely go, Durham is such a beautiful place, I was so lucky to spend three years there. It has a castle, cobbled streets, amazing bridges its very magical! I urge you to go, tomorrow!
Tomorrow?! 😀 Oh, if wishes were horses…
But someday….definitely someday.
WOW. just jaw-droppingly wow. i can’t imagine how you felt when you were there. must have been some sort of a tug-of-war between fantasy and reality. magical. 🙂
i still wish that i can go to Hogwarts and become a witch…being a muggle and living in a muggle world is so lame in comparison sometimes!
You are in The movie secrets of a Cheltenham hotelDarryl and Jo owners of the hotel A hotel in Cheltenham has broken its three year silence to reveal that the adult stars of the second Harry Potter film stayed there whilst scenes for the movie were being shot at Gloucester Cathedral … More recently scenes from the second movie the Chamber of Secrets were shot in the historic Cloisters of Gloucester Cathedral.The Hotel on the Park in CheltenhamIts this link with the second movie that led to the adult stars of the film staying at a hotel in Cheltenham. The likes of Kenneth Branagh Lockhart Dame Maggie Smith McGonagall Warwick Davis Professor Flitwick Miriam Margolyes Professor Sprout Alan Rickman Snape and the late Richard Harris Dumbledore all had rooms at the Hotel on the Park during filming for the Chamber of Secrets.The owners Darryl and Jo Gregory say theyre talking now because its unlikely the Cathedral will be used again in future Potter films so they feel theyre breaking no confidences.At the time they had to keep it a top secret or they would have been overwhelmed with Potter fans and its only recently that theyve broken their silence about their famous guests.
Doesn’t everyone wish they attended Hogwarts! As your photo shows, perhaps you don’t need to hop on a plane for some escapism :).
your blog is awesome…….I find my two favorite things in your blog-Tajmahal and Harry potter.
Glad you like it, anything else you favour I’ll see if its on here too hehe
Reblogged this on i.smile @ life and commented:
I seriously want to visit this place someday. 😀
Thanks for the re-blog! You really should visit it sometime its an amazing place
it really is…. i loved the books and the films and this image, just this wants me to relive all of those moments…
Thank you so much. I’m a huge HP fan and this was a real treat:) Beautiful photograph:)
Glad you like it! It was such a lovely surprise that it was filmed where I was at university