Film crew to come to the South Hams this month

A new film starring Jim Broadbent and Penelope Wilton will be filmed in the South Hams this month.

The film crew for The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, a film adaptation of a novel by Rachel Joyce, will be coming to Kingsbridge on Sunday, 26 September, and Monday, 27 September. 

The film and production company, Rose Pine Productions, will be in Kingsbridge, which is where Joyce’s novel is actually set, where the main character, Harold Fry, who is recently retired, lives. 

The story is that Harold gets a letter from a woman he hasn’t heard from in 20 years to say she is in a hospice and is writing to say goodbye. Harold pens a quick reply and, leaving his wife to her chores, heads to the corner mailbox. But then, as happens in the very best works of fiction, Harold has a chance encounter, one that convinces him that he absolutely must deliver his message to Queenie in person. 

And thus begins the unlikely pilgrimage. Harold Fry is determined to walk six hundred miles from Kingsbridge to the hospice in Berwick-upon-Tweed because, he believes, as long as he walks, Queenie Hennessey will live. 

On Sunday, the crew will be at The Bake House on Fore Street, making the set look like a Post Office, and on Monday they will be prepping and dressing in the morning, followed by shooting from 2pm and 6pm in and around The Bus Station, including using the post box outside Well Pharmacy. 

Fika Cafe will also be involved, housing extras, but they will not interrupt any activities of the pharmacy or the buses, as they want the area to be “real and alive”. 

There will also be a shoot outside The Bake House and then one shot of Harold Fry walking at the top of Fore Street. 

Vans will be parked next to the Town Hall and they are asking that no cars are parked directly outside the Bake House and down the hill. This is to “facilitate the filming” and means they can get “a great shot looking down Fore Street”. 

The production company is working with South Hams District Council, Devon County Council and Kingsbridge Town Council to gain necessary permissions. 

Jack Thompson, Assistant Location Manager, sent information to businesses on Fore Street, saying: “We will always endeavor to keep any inconvenience to an absolute minimum. Filming like this is only made possible with the cooperation of the local community and we are very grateful Kingsbridge has embraced this project.”