Shropshire is a popular location for film and TV programmes, owing to its historical links and unspoilt character. Here are a few suggestions of where to find location sites, allowing 2 days to visit our suggestions.
Day 1
Start your tour in Ludlow town centre (Unconditional Love, Blott on the Landscape), visiting the Castle - a location for Faintheart, Moll Flanders and Gone to Earth - allow 1 hour.
Leave Ludlow behind and head north for Acton Scott Historic Working Farm, setting for the very popular Victorian Farm and also Escape in Time, fronted by Ben Fogle. On the way take a short detour to The Lion at Leintwardine, used in The Green Green Grass. ( John Challis was a local resident!). There is lots to see at Acton Scott so allow at least 3 hours. Have lunch in the Old School House Café and plan the next step of your tour - PLEASE check opening times.
If the weather is good carry on to Church Stretton and The Long Mynd (The Feast of July) where a walk along the Carding Mill Valley will clear your head! From there head further into the Shropshire Hills to the Stiperstones (Gone to Earth).
If the weather is not so good head for Much Wenlock (Gone to Earth, Clockwise), a pretty little Market Town, claimed to be the birthplace of the Modern Olympics and visit the quirky museum.
Day 2
Drive to Cleobury Mortimer - John Betjeman described the High Street as ‘A long airy curving street of brick Georgian houses and shops interspersed with genuine half timber buildings, the Rea brook making a splash at the bottom of the hill’. Just outside you will find Mawley Hall (River Walks) (Straightheads, The Weather in the Streets). There are public footpaths around the Hall - allow 1 hour.
Carry on towards Bewdley and the Severn Valley Railway which meanders up the Severn Valley to Bridgnorth, frequently used for TV and film sequences evoking a bygone era of steam. Spend the rest of the day imagining you have the starring role in your own ‘Railway Children’ or ‘Brief Encounter’ and travel the line to Bridgnorth and back.
Other film gems in Shropshire are Stokesay Court (Atonement, The Green, Green Grass)) but a visit here needs to be pre-booked online so make sure you book before you plan your trip to Shropshire.
Walcot Hall is a location in Aap Ki Khatir - a Bollywood extravaganza. Check opening details before visiting!
