The Ultimate Guide to Chester & Cheshire Autumn 2018

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What a blinder: Cheshire on screen With Arley Hall in the running for the filming of the final series of Peaky Blinders, we check Cheshire’s most screenfriendly destinations. Arley Hall (Northwich) is a blinder for many reasons. Its curvaceous Tudor barn is a thing of creaky beauty. Its formal gardens, with lawns that give way to rolling fields and the sort of secret rock garden that’s manna to a child’s imaginative heaven, are among Cheshire’s finest. Yet the hall is worth a visit for another, starrier reason: its role in the BBC’s hit drama, Peaky Blinders. Since 2015 Arley Hall has been the home of fictional Birmingham gangster, Tommy Shelby, its library playing the part of Tommy’s study, its hall repainted to fit the feel of a country home that’s a retreat from the hard-knock streets of Tommy’s youth. What that means, for Peaky Blinders fans, is the chance to follow in the footsteps of actors such as Cillian Murphy (Tommy), Tom Hardy (Alfie Solomons) and Helen McCrory (Polly Gray). “The great thing is that people are able to walk in the rooms where these amazing stars have filmed their scenes,” says General Manager Steve Hamilton of an estate whose grounds have been used for all manner of small screen offerings – Arley Hall was, for example, the location of Deirdre Barlow’s Coronation Street funeral (sob), alongside scenes from Cold Feet, Hollyoaks and even The Voice. Arley Hall isn’t alone. Cheshire, as it turns out, is a small screen star. The kitchens at Tatton Park (Knutsford) were also used by Peaky Blinders producers, although Tatton’s TV creds go back to 1981’s Brideshead Revisited (a TV series rated as one of the top 10 Greatest British TV Programmes of all time, no less), with most of its interior shots filmed there. Brideshead leads us to Lyme (Disley), where a wedding scene was filmed in its chapel. When it comes to Lyme, though, we need only say two words to prove its filmic credentials: Colin. Firth. The grandeur of the National Trust house paled into insignificance when the actor emerged, dripping wet, from the lake during that infamous scene in 1995’s Pride and Prejudice. While we strongly advise against recreating that particular moment (it’ll be freezing for starters), you can recreate others by trying Lyme’s two-mile ‘Pemberley Walk’. Google it for details. Lyme has in turn appeared in the BBC’s The Village and provided a backdrop for 2011 horror, The Awakening. The brooding Cage took a starring role here and, if you fancy giving yourself the chills, it’s an easy walk from the house. 06
Nearby, Quarry Bank (Styal) tells its own dark TV tales. It was both setting and inspiration for Channel 4’s The Mill. Based on the records, letters and diaries that recorded life at the former cotton mill, The Mill brought to terrible life the conditions endured by its workers. Today, Quarry Bank is altogether more lovely. Its Georgian house is now open to the public, while its kitchen gardens, complete with restored glasshouse, are a world away from The Mill – try the fresh produce (and cake) in the relatively new café that’s located in the kitchen gardens. Country houses aren’t the only ones that get a look in. Nantwich was filmed alongside Cologne, Dusseldorf and, er, the Anderton Boat Lift (Northwich) for 2016 Netflix drama, Paranoid, while the village of Bunbury was the setting for ITV’s wartime series, Home Fires. It was an apt location: the village suffered its own WWII trauma when German aircraft discharged their bombs right over Bunbury. It’s far more peaceful today: take a walk along the canal at Bunbury Locks before heading for The Yew Tree Inn (Bunbury) – a reported favourite of Home Fires cast and crew. So, with a rumoured final series of Peaky Blinders in the offing, that leaves you to make like a celeb and enjoy the pretty, the picturesque or perhaps just a pint in honour of Cheshire on screen. Blind drink? Arley Hall have played a blinder (sorry) by bottling up Peaky Blinders’-branded rum, whiskey, gin and pale ale. Sadler’s, a Black Country brewery with links to the real Peaky Blinders, supply the craft spirits to Arley Hall – where you can buy them priced from £22.50 (spirits) and £3.25 (ale). 07
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Page 10 and 11: Most haunted IMAGES FAR LEFT: CHEST
Page 12 and 13: Start Add a some new family colour
Page 14 and 15: Food, Booze & Unusual News The food
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Page 18 and 19: 15 October MADAME BUTTERFLY - PUCCI
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Page 22 and 23: 30 November - 30 December CHRISTMAS
Page 24 and 25: FROM TOP CHESTER CATHEDRAL / CAPEST
Page 26 and 27: 15 20th OCTOBER - 2nd NOVEMBER 2018
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Page 30 and 31: 20 Cheshire Ice Cream Sold We sell
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Page 34 and 35: 21 Chester Christmas in THE MAGICAL
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The Ultimate Guide to Chester & Cheshire Autumn 2018

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