merlinlocations | Cannop Ponds (Reply)

This is the last post resulting from my recent Locations Trip, I promise! (Apologies for the spam.)

We have the wonderful

pakafe to thank for identifying the two locations used at Cannop Ponds. In episode 307 The Castle of Fyrien, our four young characters camp overnight on their way to said castle, and in episode 310 The Queen of Hearts, Arthur and Gwen picnic together. These scenes were filmed in the wooded area where Cannop Brook (or Burn, depending on which map you look at) flows from one pond down to the next. I went to have a look myself last weekend… and came away with something a little more wonderful than photos!

This is an image-heavy post!

the camp site

Neither location is far from the little bridge that crosses the brook at the south end of the first pond. As

pakafe found, all you need do is turn left just before you reach the brook, follow it down round a curve, and pretty much as soon as you find lower ground you're there.

pakafe was lucky enough to visit soon after they'd finished filming, and the logs that the cast sat on were still there, along with their campfire. All that's there now is a sawn-off bit of a log! I considered it wistfully, thinking that maybe Bradley had sat upon it when it was still whole, but how was I to know? :-) I suspect that the logs they used in filming have now all been used as firewood!

Anyway! Here we go with some photos…

This first one is just a general shot of the campsite area, just before the 'path' takes you down to the lower ground. It's not all that prepossessing, is it? :-) But I was there in mid-winter, and I'm sure it's prettier when the trees aren't so bare. The main road isn't very far away - it runs parallel to the brook, just over the other side there. Your eye will pick up a horizontal 'line' of paler bits about three-quarters up the photo; that's the road. The traffic noise is quite clear, and must have been a pain while filming!

Here I am, standing in the camp area, looking north towards the upper pond, having lined up various tree trunks. And I totally nailed the camera angle this time! :-D (You know, it finally occurred to me what Sherlock reminded me of when Sherlock was ducking and weaving, trying to match up lines-of-sight in the bank offices. Yep. A Locations Detective lining things up with a screen cap. Not that I claim to be as endearing as Mr Cumberbatch.)

From there, if you turn around and face south, you see where Merlin and Morgana walked back into camp, having collected firewood.

And then this is looking west, across the campsite and the brook. But I failed on matching it up properly, so I'll just let you line things up yourselves!

the picnic site

To find the picnic site used in episode 310, cross the little bridge, and then turn left to follow the brook. It is basically just across the stream from the camp site location. As you reach the last of the higher ground and look down upon the brook, you are probably standing just where Merlin and Gwen were when they caught Arthur fussing with his hair. ♥ The water was running a bit higher for me than when they were filming, so some of the stepping stones were submerged, and maybe some have been moved since.

Anyway! Here we go… Here's Merlin escorting Gwen down to the stepping stones. I've lined up the tree with the roots beyond Merlin and the tree trunk on the right, but obviously something else is going on here with… I don't know - focal lengths? Anyway, I'm sure you can match up the tree trunks, even though my photo doesn't exactly match the screen cap.

And then I braved the stream, despite there being ice all over the surface of the pond! But I didn't take everything with me, just in case I ended up falling in, so I didn't have the screen caps with me to line up. Why I thought I would risk the camera but not the screen caps is beyond me! :-) So, anyway, you can match up the dark stump which was at the foot of their picnic spread, and the knobbly tree with the amazing roots in the brook, and the tree behind them at their heads. Obviously things were a lot damper when I was there!

And what is that arrow pointing at…? Well may you ask! It's a prop flower… All the flowers you see in this scene, various shades of yellow and white, are props, and perhaps some of the greenery as well. The thing is, this particular bloom, wedged into the fork of a tree, was still there! I didn't realise at first, but it was certainly what made it inevitable that I would brave the icy waters. So now I have a genuine prop here with me, and a romantic one at that… :-D

pakafe was lucky enough to also find some flowers when she was there.

'They must have forgotten it when they were clearing up,' I explain to Mr Loc (Mr Mod?) on my return home. 'Nah…' he replies, making the perfect end to a great weekend, 'Colin must have left it for you.' ♥ 'Aw, thank you!' I say, all a-glow, thinking there couldn't be a kinder husband in all the world… 'Yeah,' Mr L continues, 'he must have told them, Leave that there for the Locations babe!' Damn. Suddenly the whole scenario seemed so patently ludicrous that the glow just totally fizzled out! :-D

But I've still got my flowers! ♥