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Hello All,In response to Bill's question regarding locations.I was never aware of Liverpool being used for any Onedin filming, I don't
believe any period warehousing or quaysides were left undeveloped by
the 70's but also the Mersey is a muddy & fast flowing river when the
tide turns with a large tidal range, most if not all the docks were accessible
only by lock gates which wouldn't have made it suitable for economical location
filming.I remember the crew of the 'Soren' bemoaning the barring of Exeter
docks to tall masted ships due to the motorway bridge being built, I believe
some filming was done there as their buildings, particularly those of the
maritime museum, were unadulterated.Gloucester docks I know were used primarily because the warehouses were
still 'as built' & I presume the local council encouraged the arrival
of the ships. Sadly I see the builders are in & soon all the dirty brickwork
will be scrubbed clean & the docksides will take on the look of so many
British docks, that of up-market flats & offices. Thankfully Tommi Nielsen
is running the two drydocks there so hopefully ships with bowsprits
& yards will still make the journey & gladden the heart of this
landlocked sailor.Falmouth was another port in favour with the film companies. Large docks,
clean blue sea accessible at any time of day or night, cobbled Napoleonic
quaysides (now built on by flats & offices!) nearby large country
houses & period doors & alleyways for street scenes.The Cornish coastline gave the oportunity to test the imagination as it
became either the Bulgarian coast or a jungle river or a tropical island, or any
other location required. Versatile place Cornwall.Another port which might have been used in the early days of the Onedin
Line is Ipswich. I sailed in there on the Norwegian full rigged ship 'Sorlandet'
back in the early 80's, the inevitible road bridge was about to be
completed so I suspect this little dock is now no longer available to larger
sailing ships. Progress?Regards,Rick.Hi all,Well, I suspect what you say is quite true, in regard to progress, well isn't that testament to the sociey is now, very throw away? If it doesn't make money, or isn't worth anything, let's knock it down and start again!When I visited Exeter quay recently, you can see that it is very similar to what you see in Onedin, but they have yes you guessed it built dockside flats, luxury apartments, that really spoils the oldy worldy look! Dartmouth is probably one of the few places that still looks exactly like it did when Onedin were there.Mike also gave me another location that they used as well, apparently, I didn't know this but some of you here might, that Anne Stallybrass wasn't the first choice to play Anne Onedin, he did tell me who it was but I can't rememeber here name!!, they used Bristol docks to re film the pilot with Anne in the Anne Onedin role.He also told me about Edward Chapman, apparently he used to hold up filming quite alot, as he was lets say fond of a few drinks or two!! so that's why his character was written out. I don't know if any of you have the books, but the character is in the story alot more than is portrayed by the tv show. Mike did say he thought that was a shame as Edward Chapman was a fine classical actor, and he rather admired some of his other acting roles.Ok I will shut up now!!Take care allCarie."richard.dodds2" <richard.dodds2@btopenworld.com> wrote:
Hello All,In response to Bill's question regarding locations.I was never aware of Liverpool being used for any Onedin filming, I don't believe any period warehousing or quaysides were left undeveloped by the 70's but also the Mersey is a muddy & fast flowing river when the tide turns with a large tidal range, most if not all the docks were accessible only by lock gates which wouldn't have made it suitable for economical location filming.I remember the crew of the 'Soren' bemoaning the barring of Exeter docks to tall masted ships due to the motorway bridge being built, I believe some filming was done there as their buildings, particularly those of the maritime museum, were unadulterated.Gloucester docks I know were used primarily because the warehouses were still 'as built' & I presume the local council encouraged the arrival of the ships. Sadly I see the builders are in & soon all the dirty brickwork will be scrubbed clean & the docksides will take on the look of so many British docks, that of up-market flats & offices. Thankfully Tommi Nielsen is running the two drydocks there so hopefully ships with bowsprits & yards will still make the journey & gladden the heart of this landlocked sailor.Falmouth was another port in favour with the film companies. Large docks, clean blue sea accessible at any time of day or night, cobbled Napoleonic quaysides (now built on by flats & offices!) nearby large country houses & period doors & alleyways for street scenes.The Cornish coastline gave the oportunity to test the imagination as it became either the Bulgarian coast or a jungle river or a tropical island, or any other location required. Versatile place Cornwall.Another port which might have been used in the early days of the Onedin Line is Ipswich. I sailed in there on the Norwegian full rigged ship 'Sorlandet' back in the early 80's, the inevitible road bridge was about to be completed so I suspect this little dock is now no longer available to larger sailing ships. Progress?Regards,Rick.
Yahoo! Messenger – Communicate instantly…"Ping" your friends
today! Download Messenger NowHi shipmates,I am planning a trip to Cornwall and Devon in August. Of course I want
to visit the locations where the Onedin Line has been filmed. Now we
all know it was at Dartmouth and Exeter for the most part, but also
Falmouth and Charlestown are mentioned. Does anybody know which scenes
(in which episodes) have been filmed there, anything you can recognize
at once?Erika
Reply:
Hello,
When Ann is waiting for the ship that comes in on the shore
(Charlestown in the UK).
I was in Charlestown about 10 years ago and really it's worth to
visit, it's just like you go back in time.
Kindly regards,
Chantal D. from Antwerp (Belgium)
— In shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com, "bastet1958"
<bastet1958@…> wrote:>
> Hi shipmates,
>
> I am planning a trip to Cornwall and Devon in August. Of course I
want
> to visit the locations where the Onedin Line has been filmed. Now
we
> all know it was at Dartmouth and Exeter for the most part, but also
> Falmouth and Charlestown are mentioned. Does anybody know which
scenes
> (in which episodes) have been filmed there, anything you can
recognize
> at once?
>
> Erika
>I was crew on the Soren for the Falmouth filming & lived in & around
Falmouth for many years.I don't know the episodes but we filmed a scene where the ship was
boarded by (Bulgarian?) ruffians at the mouth of the Helford River &
at the same anchorage (I think) the stunt man fell from the yards
into the sea, we were possibly shooting scenes for several episodes
at once? I remember being made up for the fight scene with cuts &
blood trickling down my face & of the great consternation about my
footwear, Clarkes 'pasties' remember those?? However, they filmed
the fight from a dingy circling around the ship & we all looked like
matchstick men on the rushes!Another site was an old 'D'Day embarkation point at Turnaware Point
up Carrick Roads just downstream from King Harry Ferry (do the
crossing to St Mawes anyway, it's fun). I think it was when James &
Bansie were kidnapped??A lot of the time was spent alongside in Falmouth Docks, nothing
much to see there even if you could get into the docks.Various doorways in and around Falmouth were used, one in particular
up Market Street, near the top on the righthand side, steep steps
leading down to an old quay but it's probably all lost in the
development of the waterfront at that end of town.Banies ship that blew up was a 12ft model launched at the docks &
floated over to the beach at Flushing. Knowing permission would not
be granted for pyrotechnics within the harbour it was done very
quickly without permission! The bang was teriffic!!! Sadly no one
had noticed we were close by the fuel barge where fishing boats &
large yachts would refuel & sure enough, the alarm went up & out
came the lifeboat thinking the worst had happened. Television
people, I ask you!!! I think the BBC gave the lifeboat & the
Harbourmaster a healthy donation.That's all I can think of for now, pm me if you want any other info.
Richard ('Captain Mangled', injured skipper of fishing boat James
picked up) Dodds.— In shiponedingroup@yahoogroups.com, "bastet1958"
<bastet1958@…> wrote:>
> Hi shipmates,
>
> I am planning a trip to Cornwall and Devon in August. Of course I
want
> to visit the locations where the Onedin Line has been filmed. Now
we
> all know it was at Dartmouth and Exeter for the most part, but also
> Falmouth and Charlestown are mentioned. Does anybody know which
scenes
> (in which episodes) have been filmed there, anything you can
recognize
> at once?
>
> Erika
>Despite my work on the show having nothing at all to do with filming, I managed to find a reason why I had to be in Falmouth for the exteriors in the summer of 1979, so I'm pretty well up on what went on. The narrowness of the exterior shots that you often see in the show was always caused simply by there being a "wrong" building or other structure just out of frame; a beautiful dockside scene could be wrecked by a World War 2 harbour office or other lump of concrete, and it wasn't always possible to dress these to look Victorian.A far bigger problem was the ships themselves. In particular, the Christian Radich didn't look remotely like a Victorian sailing vessel to anyone who actually knew anything about them. The producer's office was persecuted by sailing-era buffs who seemed to watch the show specifically to spot nylon rigging, badly-camouflaged aerials or any number of other details. Oddly, the same people never spotted the women in the rigging. These complaints were always diverted to the hapless Maritime Adviser, who had already made all the same complaints himself. I think he finally realised that his presence on the credits was mainly to give the show a veneer of historical accuracy – not to actually tell the producer anything he didn't want to hear, which was always unpopular. His startled protests at some of the very weird plot lines of the last two series (anyone remember the Plague story?!) went unheard, alas.
Happy days ….
Bill Scanlan Murphy
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