This time took my road warrior skills to go again to jolly England with the Le Shuttle train service (see post), and my Ford ; towing along my good boys and wonderful Rex! It was a very nice trip going into the countryside and seeing several towns of wonderul architecture and history (see posts), This one is a must and the main reason we made this trip for my boys, who love it !!! and, we will be back, eventually, Warner Bros. Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter is located inside Leavesden Studios, near Watford, in southwest Hertfordshire ,about 30 km from London, We came here after visiting High Wycombe (see post), 25 miles (34 km) away, I have a couple of other posts from the first trip but this will individualise on each attraction in the studio, Therefore, let me tell you about the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour London, the Dragon Alley !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
You can stroll through Diagon Alley and discover Ollivanders, Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes (the Weasley twins’ shop), the exterior of Gringotts, and more. The shop interiors are decorated, but you cannot go inside; you can only admire them through the windows.
The Diagon Alley set was inspired by a mixture of the Harry Potter books and the works of Charles Dickens, with large buildings built at odd angles housing weird and wonderful objects. The set was also redressed and used for the filming Hogsmead in the Prisoner of Azkaban. Like the rest of the sets, an incredible amount of attention to detail was put into the Diagon Alley set, each shop was different and housing unique items. Olivander’s, the wand shop was home to seventeen thousand individually labelled wand boxes. There’s only one place to go when a Hogwarts student needs their school supplies and that’s Diagon Alley. The charming shopping street is home to Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Flourish and Blotts, Mr Mulpepper’s Apothecary and, of course, the famous Ollivanders wand shop.
The design of Diagon Alley was inspired by Charles Dickens’ descriptions of London, but after realising that few places look like a traditional 1800s London, Director Chris Columbus decided a set would have to be specifically built for filming.The Diagon Alley set constantly changed throughout the film series and since its construction, walls have shifted, shop fronts have moved and entire buildings have been carefully tweaked. They even lean slightly to create the unique street featured throughout the film series! Many of the Diagon Alley set pieces were also re-dressed for use in the snowy village of Hogsmeade for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. During our Hogwarts in the Snow feature at the Studio Tour, visitors will be able to learn more about filmmaking snow as fan-favourite sets, including Diagon Alley, are transformed for the festive season.
The Apothecary’s Shop is a shop located on Diagon Alley, specializing in the ingredients needed to make potions. It is the shop where the trio gets their supplies. Barrels filled with slimy substances line the floor. Jars filled with herbs, dried roots, and glittering powders are arranged on the shelves. Bird feathers, snake fangs, and raptor talons hang from the ceiling. The shop also sells unicorn horns and beetle eyes. The Potions Classroom has over 950 potion jars line the walls of the classroom, each with unique props kept inside them including baked animal bones from a local butcher shop, dried leaves, herbs and shrunken heads made by the props department.
The Gringotts Wizarding Bank played an important role in the Harry Potter film series. Lined by towering marble pillars, the grand banking hall is decorated with three magnificent crystal chandeliers and finished with real brass leaf. Inkwells, quills, ledgers and piles of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts complete the goblin tellers’ desks as seen on screen0 At Gringotts Bank, you discover the grand main hall, with its crystal chandelier and marble columns. Then comes an encounter with the Gringotts dragon, followed by a closer look at certain vaults including Bellatrix Lestrange’s!
The Gringotts Wizarding Bank set is home to inkwells, quills, ledgers and piles of Galleons, Sickles and Knuts, all of which are kept under the watchful eyes of the Gringotts Goblins. Costumes and prosthetics belonging to recognisable Goblins running the bank can be seen at the Studio Tour, including Bogrod and Griphook, ans can also enter the Lestrange Vault, where there are opportunities for visitors to capture their very own photos with the legendary Sword of Gryffindor and Hufflepuff Cup. Beware of the Gemino Curse placed upon treasures inside of the vault!
Found on Diagon Alley, Gringotts Wizarding Bank is the safest place for wizards and witches to store their most precious possessions. Seen on-screen when Harry Potter first discovered Diagon Alley and then later when the famous trio escape on a Ukrainian Ironbelly dragon, the set has become a fan-favourite location from the film series.
During the filming of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Gringotts Wizarding Bank was filmed on location at Australia House, London. For Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, however, a studio-created set was later constructed, with original props adapted and embellished. For the final two films alone, the Prop-making Department, led by Pierre Bohanna, created over 210,000 coins! Complete with towering marble pillars, three crystal chandeliers and real brass leaf details. Each chandelier, measuring 12 feet wide and 16 feet from top to bottom, is constructed with thousands of plastic ‘crystals’. During filming, set designers used computer-generated effects to create the top halves of the chandeliers whilst only the lower halves were constructed physically. Meanwhile, the illusion of Gringotts’ marble columns and polished floors required layers of construction and paint effects. In fact, the banking hall floor seen in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows –Part 2 was made of paper. Visual designs were first created in the Art Department and huge sheets of paper were placed onto oil paint swirls, floating on the surface of a six-foot vat of water to create a faux-marble effect.
The official Harry Potter studio tour on the Dragon Alley : https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/the-experience/explore-the-tour/sets/diagon-alley/
The official Harry Potter studio tour on the Gringotts Wizarding Bank : https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/the-experience/explore-the-tour/sets/gringotts-wizarding-bank/
The official Warner Bros Studios Leavesden: https://www.wbsl.com/
There you go folks , do dare drive in jolly England, it’s an adventure of a lifetime, and you will be back !!! as we have lol! Until another round chasing Sherlock we will be saying elementary my dear Watson to you all. Again, hope you enjoy this post on the Warner Bros. Harry Potter Studio Tour London, the Dragon Alley !!! as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
