Artists, writers and film and TV stars have
all found inspiration and stunning locations in Wales, and around
the Coast Path there are many locations associated with literature,
paintings and films. Follow in their footsteps.
North Wales Coast & Dee Estuary
And now for something completely different... Terry
Jones of Monty Python fame was born in Colwyn Bay and is
now the patron of Theatr Colwyn.
The north coast has also proved a popular if unusual location
for Bollywood
movies.
Isle of Anglesey
See the world through the eyes of an artist by visiting the
coast near Newborough, the inspiration for
Anglesey-born artist Charles Tunnicliffe, many of whose
paintings can be seen on display at Oriel Môn in Llangefni.
The iconic cover photo for
Roxy Music's Siren album, famously featuring model Jerry Hall
striking various poses, was taken directly below the bridge to
South Stack, Anglesey.
Worth a visit to experience the breathtaking sea views from the
steep granite cliffs above the lighthouse there.
Menai, Llŷn & Meirionnydd
The scenery of the Snowdonia
National Park will almost certainly leave you stirred, if not
shaken, as it did both Sean Connery and Pierce Brosnan, who came
here to film From Russia with Love (1963) and The World is Not
Enough (1991).
Ceredigion
Hollywood famously came to the edge of Wales when Keira
Knightley, Sienna Miller and Matthew Rhys and others descended on
the fishing port of New Quay, Ceredigion for the filming of
The Edge of Love,
the Dylan Thomas biopic. New Quay (along with Laugharne) was partly
the inspiration behind the village in Under Milk Wood.
Pembrokeshire
Follow in the hoof prints of Hollywood main man Russell Crowe,
who visited Pembrokeshire during 2009 to film the cliff top scenes
for the battle at the end of the Ridley Scott epic
Robin Hood at St Govan’s Head, and beach scenes on the
nearby beach of Freshwater West.
The scenes featuring Shell Cottage in the recent Harry
Potter films were also shot here. Filming has also taken
place at the stunning Marloes Sands for Snow White and the
Huntsman.
Carmarthenshire
The seven mile long beach at Pendine in Carmarthenshire
has been famously used over the years for land speed trials and is
forever associated with Malcolm Campbell and J.G. Parry-Thomas, who
set the world land speed record there five times between 1924 and
1927.
Gower & Swansea Bay
Aberavon Seafront and Port Talbot Docks were used as the
backdrop for the open air play, the
Passion, with Michael Sheen in May 2011, which drew huge
crowds to the area. As the locally-born writer of the hit TV series
Torchwood, Swansea’s
Russell T Davies has had plenty of opportunity to showcase his
favourite local locations.
The fourth series of the drama in particular used the dramatic
sweep of Rhossili Bay as one of them.
South Wales Coast & Severn Estuary
One of the more unlikely people associated with Wales – and one
of the most intriguing locations – is the actor Peter O'Toole, who
came to the Merthyr Mawr sand dunes outside Bridgend to film some
of the dramatic horseback scenes of the 1962 film
Lawrence of Arabia.
Oh, what’s occurin’?
No trip to the Vale of Glamorgan these days would be complete
without a peek behind the scenes in Barry Island, the location made
famous by Ruth Jones, Rob Brydon, James Corden, Joanna Page et al
in the hit
TV show Gavin and Stacey.
Doctor Who?
Cardiff is home to
Doctor Who and Torchwood. Why not take a tour which visits
some of the filming locations – including where the rift cracked
open! The hugely popular children’s author
Roald Dahl was born in Llandaff, Cardiff, and went to
school there until he was nine years old. He was christened at the
Norwegian Church – now to be seen in Cardiff Bay.