"If we turn our heads and look away and hope that it will all disappear then they will - all of them, an entire generation of people. And we will have only history left to judge us."
My aunt and I were going to the Highlands for the weekend and decided to go to Fort William, because that's where Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire filming was taking place. Having been to the POA film set location last year I was under no illusions that we'd get to see anything. It is all high security and in the case of this film, set HIGH in the mountain. We knew the filming was taking place at Steall Falls, Glen Nevis on the outskirts of Fort William. So we headed for there not knowing what to expect. We finally got to where all the location vehicles were, the catering vans, lighting equipment, standbyes and I presume, the cast's trailers. (I think this is called "Base") There was a helicopter sitting in the field next to the vans.
We drove on, not exactly knowing where Steall Falls were. The road was a single track and rather remote but had lots of friendly hill walkers and runners. (We learned later that there was a great race on which would explain the runners). We finally arrived at a car park where we left the car and walked and walked. We got some queer looks considering we were going up a mountain without suitable clothing. After a good long walk we came to a treacherous looking waterfall, which we certainly couldn't go past. We started to walk back down quite disheartened. At the car park there were a couple of minibuses working for WB. I still don't know why they were there because there didn't seem to be a feasible way of getting any further up the mountain.
Whilst sitting in the car at the car park, we heard people say that the Goblet of Fire was being filmed today, therefore we knew Dan had to be around. Then we heard a helicopter overhead, it was the same one that had been sitting in the field. We made a mad dash down the hill with Teresa screaming "slow down" only to find that when we got back to base, Dan was already out of the helicopter and away. The helicopter was going away again, so we waited to see who it would bring...Luckily it was Emma Watson and how pretty she is too. We spent a while after that watching all the props and equipment being brought back down off the mountain. We learned that the cast were filming on Sunday too. (Weather permitting)
Straight after breakfast the next morning, we headed for Glen Nevis again but had missed the cast flying up. Very disappointing! But we still had a great time watching props and equipment being flown up. And at lunchtime their lunch was flown up. We spoke to a couple of staff who informed us that because lunch was being flown up, the cast would likely not be down until late afternoon. We also chatted with some passing tourists who told us that the crew were staying in their hotel and they'd been chatting with them the evening before, they all seem very friendly. They spoke of having seen call sheets and times for the helicopter flights.
Unfortunately, we had to go home but we had had the best two days. The scenery in the North West of Scotland is just beautiful. Although I live in Scotland it still never ceases to amaze me just how stunning it is. I hope the cast and crew get to enjoy the scenery as much as we did; they are truly blessed to work in such a setting. The sun shined, which the cast will tell you is very unusual in the Highlands. It was such a great experience.
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