This is Y December 2020 Digital Edition

GARDENS ON FILM
DO YOU WANT TO
KNOW A SECRET?
Set to be a screen
sensation, The Secret
Garden, based on
the classic children’s
novel, is a muchloved
Yorkshire story.
With a stellar lineup
of acting royalty,
including multiaward-winning
actors
Colin Firth and Dame
Julie Walters, Carolyn
Nicoll caught up with
cast and crew.
L
et’s set the scene, The
Secret Garden is the story
of Mary Lennox (Dixie
Egerickx), a 10-year-old girl,
born in India to wealthy British
parents and then sent to England
when her mother and father
sadly pass away. Life changes
forever at her uncle’s home,
Misselthwaite Manor on a remote
Yorkshire country estate, as Mary,
together with her cousin Colin
(Edan Hayhurst), uncover family
secrets and discover a magical
secret garden.
No one can deny the
breathtaking beauty of North
Yorkshire’s sprawling moorland,
historic properties and its
heritage railway, so pick your
popcorn (sweet, salted or both?),
sit back and enjoy scenes caught
on camera across this stunning
part of the county. Look out for
Duncombe Park, Helmsley Walled
Garden, the North York Moors
National Park, UNESCO World
Heritage site Fountains Abbey
and Studley Royal Water Garden,
as well as the North Yorkshire
Moors Railway, already a
frequent favourite for film crews,
as seen in Harry Potter, Dad’s
Army and the recent Downton
Abbey, amongst others.
But what can audiences look
forward to?
PART OF THE PLOT
“The hero of the film is the natural beauty of the landscape.”
MARC MUNDEN, DIRECTOR
I love filming in Yorkshire and
have filmed two television
pieces there before: National
Treasure with Julie Walters and
Robbie Coltrane (Harrogate,
Leeds, Scarborough) and Utopia
(Leeds, Harrogate, Halifax). The
locations are incredibly adaptable.
I’ve always loved the North York
Moors and that is an essential
part of the landscape of the
film as Mary Lennox is shipped
from her homeland of India to
live with her uncle in England.
This poor orphaned girl finds
herself surrounded by a vast
alien country and she asks the
housekeeper Mrs Medlock (Dame
Julie Walters) “Is that the sea?”
as she travels over the moor with
its heavy mist and strange muted
colours, perfectly conjuring up
that sense of awe she feels -
frightening and beautiful. The
hero of the film is the landscape
in all its incredible diversity and
uncanny natural beauty.
“We filmed during a summer of perpetual sunshine.”
ROSIE ALISON, PRODUCER
We were determined that
Yorkshire must feature in the film,
the book is set there and there is
a sense in which a ‘Yorkshire of
the imagination’ permeates our
culture, in a clear line from the
Brontës to The Secret Garden,
there are many links between
Jane Eyre and ’The Secret
Garden. We filmed in the county
during an amazing summer of
perpetual sunshine.
It was inspiring to meet the
people who run the wonderful
hidden jewel of Helmsley Walled
Garden. It provides therapeutic
solace for those who work there,
that sense of the restorative and
rejuvenating powers of nature,
exemplified in the story The
Secret Garden. Fountains Abbey
was another location where we
created a ‘ruined temple’ section
of our secret garden. I grew up in
Yorkshire and love it dearly. The
stunning landscapes of North
Yorkshire still have a great hold
When we saw the garden’s
hot borders we knew we had
to have them in the film. Mary
and Dickon (Amir Wilson) run
through the garden as all the
flowers around them shoot up
and bloom. We were blessed
with great weather for the
sequence. What you see in the
film is digitally enhanced but it
was inspired by our first sighting
of Helmsley Walled Garden.
Dixie Egerickx is a legend in
the making. She is remarkable,
intelligent and serious about
acting, but also a lot of fun. All
the children were very dedicated
and into the work so it made
it easy, contributing to a great
atmosphere. Colin Firth is a warm
and incisive collaborator, a brave
actor full of ideas and unafraid to
play tortured and grieving, the
character of Archibald Craven the
widower in the film. Julie Walters
is funny and brilliant, the best
actor of her generation.
over me and I return for walking
holidays on the North York
Moors, where we filmed on the
North Yorkshire Moors Railway
for Mary’s journey to Yorkshire,
then on the Roman Road near
Goathland for her car journey
to the house and on her first
morning at ‘Misselthwaite’, as she
goes out to explore, she sees over
the great park plain, evocative of
a remote Yorkshire setting.
Making a film with children can
really enhance the spirit of the
shoot. Their excitement at filming
was palpable and this lifted
everyone’s mood. Dixie Egerickx
is a remarkable girl, wise beyond
her years and her piercing
intelligence shines through in her
performance. She completely
captured Mary’s complexity, the
complicated journey and goes
from prickly loner to openhearted
friend of Colin and
Dickon. When she smiles, she
lights up the screen.
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yorkshire.com