Return to Camelot

Hello Legend fans!

Bethan here again. You're probably getting sick of me by now haha. Elle isn't dead I swear, she's just handing our video uploads at the moment.

In April this year I was lucky enough to go back to Pierrefonds for a couple of days. I was excited to be back and even more excited to find out that this time the cast were definitely there filming!
Unfortunately, Elle couldn’t make it but I took a lot of photos of the cast (and the stunning castle) and I did film a video diary. However, I haven’t gotten around to uploading it yet *cough*.

15th April

We got to Pierrefonds around 2pm and went straight up to the castle (via the hill which nearly killed us). We went to get our tickets to get in and after a botched attempt at French, the woman at the gift shop worked out that we were English and there for Merlin. Fair to say, my friend Lizzie understood a lot more of what was said to us than I did XD
So we went in with much excitement and squeeing and first thing we saw were a load of knights...and Bradley and Rupurt! Yay!
We met up and chatted with a load of fans including the lovely Julie who runs Merlinlocations and her friend.

We wondered round the castle for a bit and got some stealthy pics of the cast (and got told off for climbing over a wall *cough*). Lizzie was a lot better at that then I was.
Filming was taking place in the crypt and in the area with the gryffin statue (yeah, I know the technical terms XD). Not sure what was going on but there was a lot of "Huzzah/hurrah!" going on.
We all got kicked out at 5.30 when the castle shut so we met my Dad and went to our hotel.







16th April

We went back to the castle for it opening at 10am and had a wonder around the areas which weren't open before. I then found the postcard that was left for me after much rummaging around! Didn't get a pic, but I did film me finding it which I'll piece together later on.

We Went and had lunch and went back for just before 2 where we met Julie and the gang again. Watched the knights with their horses for a bit and waited outside to be let back in (the castle closes for an hour at lunch).
When were let back into the castle itself Bradley, Colin, Katie, knights and horses were in the courtyard. We were allowed to stand there while they filmed a scene as long as we were quiet and didn't move. The filming was really fascinating to watch- especially watching the cast slip in and out of character.

We saw the same scene repeated a few times and then they had a break and we managed to move into the sun and watch them film a close up of Merlin and Arthur's conversation. Then the boys left and had a costume change and returned to film what I can only assume was part of episode 2, although it was just Merlin and Arthur wondering up and down the walkway. Still, facinating to watch, and we got a good spot sat in a door way in the sun with a good view of the filming.

We got kicked out at closing time again but we found Sir Leon and the gang on horseback on the hill infront of the entrance filming a scene. We got a wave from them and then as we were leaving, Rupert gave a small boy infront of me a wave. Said small child ignored him but I didn't and waved enthusiastically back.

Unfortunately, I didn't meet any of the cast to talk to aside from "hello" to Tony, but to be honest I can't bring myself to mind too much. I know they were all working and that it wasn't like Expo, they weren't there to see us. It was a privilege to watch them work and I couldn't have asked for more :D







Once again, massive thanks to the lovely cast and crew for letting us fangirls hang around, take pictures and generally stare at them while they work. It must be a bit unnerving at times but they're all so nice about it ♥ Also apologies to the Pierrefonds staff for climbing on your walls and for having such terrible french ^^; They all really do have such patience with all the fans, much love to everyone there.

As usual, more pictures can be found at my Flickr account. Here are pictures of the castle and here are photos from the filming.

Merlinlocations

Heya Legend fans

Bethan here and I'm just going to take a moment to promote a pretty awesome website that we're fortunate enough to contribute to.



What is Merlinlocations?
Merlinlocations.com is a website dedicated to the locations used in BBC’s Merlin. From the Chateau de Pierrefonds right down to Abergavenny train station, the aim of the community is to share information about and images of the locations used in the show. We hope to help you visit them either virtually or actually :D

Reccently we’ve also started providing information on locations that are linked to Arthurian Legend and you’ll also find information on the places Bradley and Colin visited in The Real Merlin and Arthur. We love the boys in all their incarnations.

So what does the Flickr group do?
The Merlinlocations flickr group enables anyone who has been to the locations to upload and share the pictures from their adventures.

At the moment the group currently includes over 600 photos of locations including Pierrefonds, the Forest of Dean, Puzzlewood, Dunraven bay and Arthurian locations such as Glastonbury, Camlann and Stonehenge.

That’s a lot of images. How do you keep track?
When people submit their photos to the group we ask that they simply tag them with the location name. You can also choose to add additional tags such as "Behind the scenes" for filming shots and individual tags for each cast member if it’s a photo from the set.

We’ve also started to use flickr’s unique geotagging system which allows the user to mark exactly where the photo was taken on a map. This is especially useful because it allows users to look and see if there is a location close to where they live, and when you click on the pink marker it brings up all images taken in that location.

That sounds great! How can I get involved?
If you’ve already got a flickr account all you need to do is upload the snaps of your location and join the group. Once you’ve done that, simply click "Add something" and your photo will be added to the group pool. The great thing about flickr is that it will still have your username attached to the photo so you don’t have to worry about someone claiming it as their own or not knowing who to credit it to if they wish to use it in graphics. You can always ask your mods, Julie and Bethan, for help if you need it!

You’re also very welcome to join us over at the LiveJournal Community where you can post a report of your adventures and read what other cans get up to. Around the time of filming in Pierrefonds you may well find someone to travel with if you want to visit to the Chateau. We’re also here to help if you need advice on where to stay, how best to reach a location and offer suggestions on what’s best to see.