The Making of Harry Potter

About 30 minutes outside of London, Warner Bros. built a studio. It was here that all eight Harry Potter movies were filmed. Of course, some portions were filmed on locations throughout the UK, but some key set pieces are still housed here. This was Ground Zero, so to speak. After the books and movies became such a sensation, Warner Bros. decided to store the props rather than destroy them after production ended on Deathly Hallows, Part 2. Now the tour is allowing the public to walk through the sets and view the props. It is truly awesome! I'm so glad we planned to do this. We were at the studios for nearly four hours.  The scale model of Hogwarts is absolutely amazing and the perfect tour finale. Pictures really don't do this justice. 

These are just a few of our photos. Dave's phone died, and he has a ton more we can't get to at the moment. 

Bonus: They serve Butterbeer! And I bought a copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the UK version of Book 1 with the original title. 

Hampton Court Palace

We started out early for our journey to Hampton Court on the outskirts of London. The train station was a mess because a tree had fallen across a track on the Gatwick Express line, and routes were being cancelled and diverted. Not good during rush hour! Luckily, we only got a little off schedule. 

Hampton Court Palace was originally owned by Cardinal Wolsey, and it was at first nothing special. Wolsey was a rising star at Henry VIII's court, though, and he used his new wealth to make Hapton Court truly remarkable. Maybe too remarkable. Eventually, Wolsey fell out of favor with Henry (as everyone was bound to do at some point when Henry was involved), and Henry remarked that Wolsey's palace was more splendid than any that Henry owned. Noting the dangerous tone to the comment, Wolsey immediately "gifted" Hampton Court to Henry in an effort to find favor once again. It didn't work. Wolsey was charged with Treason a short time later, but he died of natural causes awaiting trial. 

Hampton Court has seen updates and renovations through the years. There is a clear divide between the Tudor buildings and the Georgian buildings. We were mostly focused on the Tudor period as we toured. We saw the Great Hall, Henry's Presence Chamber and Privy Closet, the Chapel Royal and Royal Pew (including a reproduction of Henry's crown), Henry's kitchens, and the wine cellar. 

The HA (Henry and Anne) decorative initials in the ceiling work that mistakenly didn't get cleared away after Anne's beheading:

And more HA scroll work missed in the Great Hall panelling:

The room where debates/politics were hashed out. 

The wine fountain that flowed freely during celebrations. 

The gallery supposedly haunted by Catherine Howard, Hemry's fifth wife whom he had beheaded for adultery. 

The storage areas for food and the meat grilling room.

Chimneys - a sign of the opulence of this place. Each high-ranking guest room had a fireplace. 

Georgian Wing (William III and Mary II) and Gardens

The Ceremony of the Keys

Tonight, Dave and I were fortunate to witness one of the oldest ceremonies in history. The Ceremony of the Keys is the traditional locking up of the Tower of London and has taken place on each and every night, without fail, for at least 700 years. The importance of securing this fortress for the night is still very relevant because, although the Monarch no longer resides at this royal palace, the Crown Jewels and many other valuables still do.  I've copied and pasted the info below because it is the exact script of what happens. We weren't allowed to take photos, so I borrowed that, too. 

At exactly 21.53 (9:53) the Chief Yeoman Warder of the Tower comes out of the Byward Tower, dressed in red, carrying a candle lantern in one hand and the Queen’s Keys in the other hand.

He walks to Traitor’s Gate to meet members of the duty regiment Foot Guards who escort him throughout the ceremony. (Our group was viewing this from Traitor's Gate.)

One soldier takes the lantern and they walk in step to the outer gate. All guards and sentries on duty salute the Queen’s Keys as they pass.

The Warder locks the outer gate and they walk back to lock the oak gates of the Middle and Byward Towers.

They then return along Water Lane towards the Wakefield Tower, where in the deep shadows of the Bloody Tower archway a sentry waits and watches.

As the Chief Warder and escort approach, the sentry’s challenge rings out.

“Halt!“
“Who comes there?“
“The Keys“ replies the Chief Warder.
“Whose Keys?“
“Queen Elizabeth’s Keys.”
“Pass Queen Elizabeth’s Keys. All’s well.”

All four men walk to the Bloody Tower archway and up towards the broadwalk steps where the main Guard is drawn up. 

The Chief Yeoman Warder and escort halt at the foot of the steps and the officer in charge gives the command to the Guard and escort to present arms.

The Chief Yeoman Warder moves two paces forward, raises his Tudor bonnet high in the air and calls “God preserve Queen Elizabeth.” The guard answers “Amen” exactly as the clock chimes 10pm and ‘The Duty Drummer’ sounds The Last Post on his bugle.

The Chief Yeoman Warder takes the keys back to the Queen’s House and the Guard is dismissed.

Visitors are escorted to the exit at 22:05.

The ceremony has never been cancelled and only delayed once when during WWII a bomb knocked a couple of warders off their feet.

Between 40-50 visitors are admitted, under escort, to watch the Ceremony of the Keys each night at 21:30 precisely. 

Tickets are free but must be reserved in advance. They now accept online reservations, and I secured our tickets in January. When I checked the site tonight to verify the directions for entry, I noticed that there are no tickets available through November 2015. Anyone interested in seeing this should reserve their spots as far out as possible. I know our Change of the Guard ceremony last Thursday morning got abbreviated due to rain, but I still think this was the more interesting ceremony. It was very cool being one of only a few inside the Tower walls in the dimly lit passageways, even if we were only there for a short period. It was rainy and cold tonight, but it was definitely worth a little discomfort to see this. 

Thornbury Castle

We celebrated our 1st anniversary with a castle suite at Thornbury Castle near Bristol. The castle was built by Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, as a show palace and never was used for defensive purposes. Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn stayed here in the Duke's Chamber for 10 days shortly after their marriage. We had the room directly above, the Bohun suite. This name comes from the Duke's wife's family. The suite was about 800 square feet with a large four-poster bed and fireplace. The furniture kept with the medieval theme, but the bathroom was modern. We enjoyed dinner and breakfast in the hotel's restaurant as part of our stay.