Harry Potter Warner Bros Studio Tour 2023

We visited the Warner Bros Studios in Leavesdon for the Harry Potter studio tour in March 2023. Full disclosure: this has not been written as a quick or entertaining read! I've tried to go into lots of detail to help others planning similar visits. I hope you find it helpful.

The boys' grandmother paid for a family ticket as a Christmas present (thanks, Nanny!) so all we had to do was go online, register the gift certificate and then book our slot. This process was easy to do, but we didn't get a confirmation email. As it got closer to the day, I started to get anxious about this, so I got in touch and I'm really glad I did. Not only should I have received an email, but it had our tickets attached, so we wouldn't have got in without it! So if you don't receive a confirmation email, definitely chase this up.

I would also say book with plenty of notice. We booked in January to go in March and were able to get the date and time we wanted, but in the busier months (July to August) it can get booked up way in advance.  We were able to secure a 10.00am slot, the first slot of the day for that date*, and I would really recommend you do this. Although entry is by timed ticket, there is no limit to how long you can spend there once in, so I can imagine it can get very busy later on in the day. We chose to visit on a weekday during term-time as we figured it would be a bit quieter, and we found the crowds manageable, but I don't know how much of this was down to the date or the time we chose. *Do be aware opening and closing times vary throughout the year.

We live in Lincolnshire, so Leavesdon is about 130 miles away for us, or about two and a half hours drive. We decided we didn't want to travel and then walk around the studios for potentially 3-4 hours on the same day, so we decided to stay in a hotel near the studios both the night before and the night of our visit.

We had Tesco vouchers to use, so we ordered Hotels.com vouchers through the Tesco Boost website. It's worth noting that until 14th June 2023, Tesco Boost vouchers are worth 3x the amount, whereas after this date they will only be worth 2x, so it's worth exchanging your vouchers before that date as they will be valid for 12 months. This was easy to do. We ordered the vouchers, received a code via email, then went through the Tesco Boost website to access the right section of the Hotels.com website. Accessing the website this way meant I knew the hotels I was looking at would accept the vouchers. Not all Hotels.com hotels accept Tesco vouchers, so be aware of this.

We chose to stay at the Holiday Inn Express London Watford Junction, which is ideally placed for visiting the Warner Bros Studios. It was easy to access and find by car using Google Maps, and is a 2 minute walk from Watford Junction train station if you are travelling to the hotel by train. It is worth knowing that Warner Bros Studios offer a shuttle bus from Watford Junction station to the studios, included for free in the price of your ticket. We didn't use this service as we wanted the flexibility of taking our own car, but information about the shuttle bus, and other ways of travelling to Warner Bros Studios, is available here.

The hotel met our needs; it's a budget chain so expect basic, but that being said there was nothing that we needed that we didn't have, it was clean, and the staff were lovely. All the rooms are standard express rooms, so come with a double bed and a double sofa bed. This meant our boys, aged 4 and 8, had to share a bed. They were fine with this, but do be aware of this if you have light sleepers or older children. Also be aware the bathroom has a shower but no bath, which might be an issue if you have younger children. A full list of room features at this hotel is available here. Breakfast was included, and we paid extra for free cancellation up to 24 hours before travel. Parking was an additional £7 a night.

The breakfast was a particular highlight for the boys, the eldest (Charlie) having not stayed in a hotel since he was about three, and the youngest (Thomas) having never stayed in a hotel before. 

There was plenty on offer: a choice of cereals, a range of milks, fruit compote, and yogurt; a bowl of fruit including oranges, bananas and apples; apple juice and orange juice; a coffee machine offering a wide range including hot chocolate, latte, mocha and cappuccino; croissants, chocolate chip muffins, brown or white bread to toast and an array of jams, marmalade, honey and chocolate spread; and cooked breakfast including bacon, scrambled egg, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, hash browns.

Google said it would take us 10 minutes to get to Warner Bros Studios, so we left at 9.20am and arrived in plenty of time. We used Google Maps to get us most of the way there, then it is signposted as you get nearer. If arriving by car, have your tickets ready to show attendants in the car park. We were directed to the parking, which was nearly empty when we got there as we were the first slot of the day. Although we don't have an electric car, I did notice there were plenty of charging spaces. There are a few things to look at outside, including the chess pieces from Ron and Harry's giant chess game (see above) and an arch way made up of enormous models of some of the wands from the films.

We began queuing a little before 10am, and got in pretty quickly. Our tickets were scanned just before we went through the front door. Once in the foyer, adults have to put their belongings through a scanner, walk through a scanner, and be checked over with a wand scanner. The queue was small when we got there so we got through this quickly, but do allow time for this. Just after this there is another foyer with toilets and a cloakroom. We considered checking our coats in, but the cloakroom attendant helpfully pointed out that there is an outside section in the middle, and it was a little inclement and chilly so we decided to keep them on us.

You then go into a large hallway they call the Hub, with an enormous model of a dragon hanging from the ceiling, specifically the Ukrainian Ironbelly!

There are lots of options for food and drink while you are there. There is a coffee shop in one corner of the hub called the Hub Café, and this offers Starbucks hot and cold drinks and bakery items. At the far end of the hub is the Chocolate Frog Café, offering a range of tempting sweet treats, and next to this is the Great Hall Food Hall, which offers a breakfast and lunch menu. There is a further café called the Backlot Café roughly half way round the tour, and this is where you can eat a packed lunch if you decide to bring one with you, which we did - more on this later. If you want more information on any of the food and drink options, see here.

If you look in the background of the photo above, you can see the area where you queue to enter the studios. As we were booked on the first slot of the day, there was no queue here, so we got straight in. There is then a waiting area with plenty of space to queue, and boards to read about the making of the films, plus the actual set of Harry's bedroom from 4 Privet Drive! Again, we weren't here long, before being shown into a room with film screens high up, where some fans and the actors who played Fred and George Weasley tell you more about what to expect. You then go into a cinema-style room and watch a longer video with clips from J. K. Rowling and the stars of the films. The screen then draws back to reveal the doorway into Hogwarts!

This section probably took about 15 minutes, and this was first thing in the morning when it was quiet and there wasn't much in the way of a queue, so I imagine it could take longer. Our 4.5 year old was just about ok with this wait time, but if it had been any longer, or he'd been any younger, I think we would have struggled, so it might be worth taking a Kindle or something like that along just in case.

You then enter the ACTUAL Great Hall!

You then move through several rooms showcasing sets and costumes from the films. Myself, my husband and my 8 year old all found this fascinating, but my 4 year old less so. I'm not sure what he was expecting, but this wasn't it, and he was frankly rather whingey. You can get a 'passport' and visit various stands to 'stamp' your passport in a press, which he liked, and there are questions to answer and things to find, so this kept him going for a bit. There are also two green screen experiences, the first for riding a broom and the second a bit later on alongside Platform 9 3/4 is sitting in a train carriage. These are good fun to do, and you get to see what it looks like with the film scenes behind you, even if you don't purchase videos or images to take home, which we didn't due to the cost. There are toilets at the end of this section, next to the entrance to the Forbidden Forest.

Next you pass through the Forbidden Forest which the little one found a bit more engaging, due to the animatronics.

Then it's on to Platform 9 3/4. Mine love steam trains, so were keen to see the Hogwarts Express up close, plus the chance to pose with a luggage trolley on the platform.

There was also an activity folding paper to make a Howler, like the one Ron's mum sends him after he and Harry steal Arthur's car. The little one loved this, as he prefers to be doing rather than just looking. He also perked up at the sight of the sweet shop in this section! 

Then you reach the Backlot Café, pretty much halfway round the experience, so a perfect time to stop. There are toilets here too, hand for before or after lunch. The queues were very short, but it wasn't long after 12pm and we were the first group through and it quickly started to fill up as we arrived. As we were in a hotel, we decided to pop to a supermarket (there's a Sainsbury's in walking distance of the hotel) and grab a meal deal before we went to the studios, just to save us a bit of money. We then 'splashed out' on one Butterbeer and one Butterbeer ice cream to share between the four of us. I'm glad we did this, as it was great to experience it, but my husband and my eldest liked the Butterbeer, and myself and the youngest liked the ice cream, so we had just about the right amount. Plus you get to take home the plastic containers too, great little souvenir! 

You then move into an outdoor section called the Backlot, which again the youngest was a bit more excited about. I loved the model of the Weasley's house, the Burrow. It was built to represent the one that they used to film the burning of the Burrow, and includes the same painstaking detail, such as the coloured glass and lead-piping in the windows. The fact that they put such detail into it, knowing it was going to be burnt to the ground, speaks volumes to the quality of the production of these films.

In this area there's also the Night Bus which you can stand on the back of...

4 Privet Drive which you can walk through (ground floor only)...

Professor Sprout's greenhouse, where you can pull up a Screaming Mandrake...

the covered bridge which you can walk over...

the flying car...

and Hagrid's motorbike.

Then it's on to creature effects, ie. makeup and props. The boys particularly liked the CGI section, where you move in front of one of three screens, and a different version of Dobby mimics your actions.

You then enter the spectacular set of Gringotts Bank, before entering the vaults. Be prepared for this bit! The vaults are in disarray, and smoke billows around you. You can hear the dragon, but not see it... until suddenly you can, very large and very realistic! Our youngest was frightened and hid behind daddy. He got over it pretty quickly, but some other children were more upset by it, but you could just walk straight through this section without waiting for the dragon to appear.

You then walk along the set for Diagon Alley, before entering the art department and the model room, which give a bit more behind-the-scenes detail of how the films are made. This section didn't particularly interest my children, but I could have spent ages in this section!

Then it's on to the gift shop. The gift shop is enormous, with several sections, and while I'm sure there are things here you can't find anywhere else, it is also very expensive. The boys had £20 each from their Mama to spend. Thomas bought a 'dark mark' lollipop for about £3 and a pen in the shape of Harry's wand for £11. Charlie bought a chocolate frog for £8 and a Niffler pen for £6. When you exit the gift shop you are back in the Hub, with access to the Hub Café, the Great Hall Food Hall and the Chocolate Frog Café, or you can exit the cafe to the lobby to access the cloakroom and toilets, and then to the exit.

On the whole we enjoyed it immensely, but on reflection I think I would have waited another year or two so that Thomas would have got more out of it. The rest of us weren't able to fully enjoy it because of trying to deal with his whingeing and we had to rush through some parts.

We went back to the hotel for the afternoon. The boys chilled and watched a film in the hotel room with daddy and I went for a run. From the hotel I was able to run to Cassiobury Park, run a lap, then return to the hotel, for a nice 5k run. We decided to use Tesco Clubcard Boost vouchers for our evening meal, so I used the website to search for restaurants nearby and settled on the the Battle Axes in nearby Elstree. It was about a 20 minute drive away, out into the countryside. Again, this was easy to find using Google Maps. We had a lovely meal and I would really recommend this restaurant. It's a Chef and Brewer, and they have activity sheets and colouring pencils for children, as well as a lovely children's menu. There's also lots of choice for adults, the food came quickly, service was excellent and the food was delicious. If we lived nearer, we would go back here again and again!

I hope you've found some helpful information in here. If so, or if you have any questions, do leave me a comment!

Lost villages of the UK

As promised in a previous blog post, here is the trial article I wrote for RuralHistoria. If you are interested in rural history, have a look around the website - there's loads of interesting stuff on there... starting with my article on fulling mills, obviously!

Anyway, here's my article on the lost villages of the UK:

Lost Villages of the UK

As you travel through the British countryside, you will inevitably spot the odd derelict house or perhaps a group of long-disused farm buildings. But did you know that there are over 3,000 deserted medieval villages (DMVs) across the UK?

The reasons why these villages were abandoned are many and varied, and offer an intriguing insight into the history of the British Isles.

Coastal erosion

Many of the lost villages on the British coast have unsurprisingly been lost to coastal erosion. One such village is Easton Bavents, Suffolk. Once a thriving village with its own market, it also had the distinction of being England’s most easterly village. However, the village was slowly lost to the sea, losing the church sometime in the 17^th century. The last remaining building in the village, a row of three terraced houses, was demolished in 2020.

Cliff Fall at Easton Bavents (c) Bob Jones

Requisitioned by Armed Forces

Several lost villages across the UK were requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence for military training during the Second World War. Some of these villages, such as Balsdean, Suffolk, were already largely uninhabited at the time they were taken over. However, many of these villages were still inhabited and residents had to be evicted. Often, residents left their homes willingly, believing they were doing their bit for the war effort and they were comforted by the thought they would return after the war. Sadly, this was not to be the case, and many of these areas, such as Imber, Wiltshire and Tyneham, Dorset are still under Ministry of Defence ownership even now.

Ruined Barns, Balsdean (c) Simon Carey

Switch from arable to pastoral farming

Perhaps the best-known abandoned village in the UK is Wharram Percy, Yorkshire. As one of the largest and best-preserved abandoned villages, it has been the focus of ongoing archaeological investigations since the 1950s. The village had provided homes for farm workers when the land was used by the Percy family for arable farming. However, the land was taken over by the Hylton family in the 1400s, and by this time, owing to changes in prices and wages, it was more profitable to make the change to pastoral farming. Over the next century, more and more land was given over to grazing pasture for the sheep, and fewer and fewer workers were needed. In the early 1500s, the final residents of the village were evicted to make way for more sheep pasture.

Ruin of Wharram Percy church (c) David Smith

Loss of Industry

Villages are often built to house workers near mines or work sites. Often these industries are not sustainable and eventually the work dries up and the workers leave. One example is Binnend, Fife, which was built near a shale oil extraction works in the 1870s. When the oil works closed in 1892, the population began to decline. Many houses in the village were used during the First World War, as housing for admiralty staff, homes for women widowed by the war and affordable housing for workers in the nearby aluminium works and shipyards. However, the population continued to decline in subsequent years and the village was formally closed in 1931, with the final residents leaving in the 1950s.

Flooded to create a reservoir

Several villages across the UK have been demolished or submerged by the creation of new reservoirs. A notable example is Derwent, Derbyshire which was flooded as part of the creation of the Ladybower Reservoir, and appears in the news periodically when dry conditions cause the water level to drop and expose the remains of the village, drawing huge crowds. Another example is Mardale Green, Lake District, which was submerged in the late 1930s when the level of Haweswater was raised to form Haweswater Reservoir.

The lost village of Mardale Green (c) Marathon

Enduring mysteries

As we’ve seen, archaeological and historical research can often elucidate the reasons why a village has been abandoned. However, there are numerous abandoned villages where no clear reason for their abandonment has ever been established. One example is Lancaut, on the border between Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire. In 1306 the village is recorded as having 10 households, in 1551 it was noted as having 19 adult inhabitants and by 1931 there was a recorded population of 10, but nowadays there is little left of the village except for a working farm. A lack of written records means little is known about why the village was abandoned.

Ruin of St James Church, Lancaut (c) Andy Dingley

Starting out on Upwork

I signed up to Upwork in October 2022. I hated creating my profile - I'm not very good at selling myself! My first job was writing copy for a website in Bulgaria selling greeting cards! I was happy doing that, but he soon asked me to come up with slogans for the cards, or even to suggest images for the cards, and that just wasn't my bag, so I stepped away from that one.

My profile photo - it's from 15+ years ago!

My next job was writing 25 1,000-word articles about freezers for the Freeze It website. When I applied for the job, I couldn't imagine what I would find to write that many words about on the topic of freezers, but I was assured the client would provide me with all the titles and I would just have to write the articles. I have now written 41 articles about freezers, so consider myself quite the expert! I've covered topics including How to defrost your freezer quickly, How to clean your freezer, and profiles on different manufacturers such as Miele and SMEG.

I initially agreed to 6 articles a week, and was able to keep up with that for the first month, but then told the client I would need to cut back as it meant I wasn't able to get any other writing done. I cut back to 4 articles a week, which was much more manageable. After the second month, the client asked me to start writing for one of their sister websites - Let's Foodie. I've only written a few for this site so far, including Why do deli sandwiches taste better? and Can you marinate broccoli?

I love working for this client as they give clear instructions, they give me the title for each article but then give me freedom on subheadings, and they communicate with me frequently. I also like the way their algorithms work so that my articles show up at the top of Google searches, as it really boosts my online presence. Plus they sort out all the formatting and add in subtitles and luscious photographs, so my articles look awesome! I also get full credit for my writing, and an author bio, which is a great way to boost my profile.

In November I also took on a client who specialises in creating online courses. I wrote a course on Traditional Chinese Medicine Reflexology. For this I had to write a 3,000-word module, 2 extended tasks and 10 multiple choice questions. This isn't available for free online, so I can't share it here. I had to do a lot of research for this one, as it was something I knew nothing about, and I really enjoyed getting to learn about something new.

Towards the end of November I was invited to write a trial article for a company promising ongoing work. I was given the topic "Do Jews Drink Milk", which I will share another time. I was successful and they added me to their pool of writers. I wrote two articles for them: How to cut thick toenails and 15 celebs who are expecting in 2023. I haven't seen the latter online yet, but if you click through to the former you will see that I didn't get author credit for this one. Furthermore, I soon discovered that not many articles came up that were topics I felt confident writing about or had any interest in learning more about, so I decided not to continue with this contract.

Through January I just focused on my work with Freeze It/Let's Foodie. Then in February, when I felt a bit more on top of my work load, I started looking for new contracts. Firstly I secured a contract supposedly writing about backyard birds. However, when writing my trial article I discovered that actually they were interested in birds generally, rather than wild birds of the UK, plus the copy was primarily for US audiences, and I am not confident writing in US English. So after writing this article about long-tailed birds, I stepped away from this client. Again, this was one where I didn't get author credit, but I wrote it, I promise!

Finally, and the contract I've been most excited about, in February I applied for a job with the headline "Pasionate writers wanted for a UK/rural countryside history website. This sounded like my dream job! For my test article I wrote about lost villages. This topic has since been taken up by another writer for the site, so I will share my original piece here at a later date. Since securing the contract I've not had chance to write much (my year 11s are nearing their GCSE exams and I've been focused on marking their work and giving them detailed feedback), but I have written this article on fulling mills. As you will see, this is another site that gives me full credit and an author bio, plus they format the article and add photos so the piece looks really professional. This is my favourite contract so far, as I love rural history, so getting the chance to immerse myself in researching and writing on this topic is a dream come true!

Starting again

So this is my third attempt at starting a blog! Truth be told, I'm not very good at keeping on top of them. As an aspiring writer, struggling to find time to write, it just seems like another thing to make space for in my life. However, as things are starting to take off for me as a freelance writer, I feel like I need a place to keep a record of my writing and showcase things I am involved in.

A bit about me first then. I am 39 years old, I have two children aged 4 and 8, and I live in Horncastle in the beautiful Lincolnshire Wolds. I teach English at a secondary school in the county, which I won't name in case any of them come looking for me - believe it or not they do! You'd think they'd have better things to do!

I have always wanted to be a writer. When it came to choosing courses at university, I knew I wanted there to be a creative writing element, but I didn't have the confidence to commit to it fully. I needed a fall back plan in case that didn't work out. So I found a few universities with courses that combined English Language and Creative Writing, and settled on Sheffield University as my first choice and University of Wales, Bangor as my second choice.

Bangor University (C) N Chadwick

I had a boyfriend who lived in Lincolnshire and wasn't going off to university, so I was really hoping to get my first choice. Honestly, until the moment I opened my results, I really thought I'd got the grades! But it wasn't to be, and I ended up going to university in Bangor. At the time, we were both devastated, but actually a long distance relationship turned out to be great for me, as it meant I could focus on my studies and ended up getting a First!

But I digress. In the second year of my degree, the modules that I wanted to study for English Language weren't compatible with the creative writing modules, so I had to drop this part of the course. I went to see my Creative Writing tutor and explained part of the reason for my choice was that I was getting much lower grades in my writing modules: I was getting 75-85% in most modules but only 65% for the writing. He encouraged me to reconsider, and revealed that I was actually top of the class!

My mind was made up - I wanted to study Child Language Acquisition and Forensic Linguistics, and I couldn't do that if I kept up the creative writing. So what was the solution?

I started looking for alternative ways to continue with creative writing and stumbled upon the Writers Bureau Comprehensive Writing Course. This seemed to be a win-win. At the time they were offering a moneyback guarantee if you didn't make back the cost of the course in earnings from writing, plus you could complete the course at your own pace with no final deadline - essentially a course for life!

This ended up being a positive and a negative. Without any deadlines, I could fit it around my life easily. In reality though, that often meant going years in between reading modules and completing assignments. I completed a few modules while at university, then a few before I had my children, then a couple once the children were born, but I never really got momentum going.

Then Covid hit... you may be thinking, "Ideal, plenty of time to write!" Not if you were a keyworker and a parent! Juggling teaching remotely, going in to teach keyworker children on a rota and home schooling my own kids was a nightmare! But seeing so many people using that time to develop their skills and achieve their goals really inspired me, and once things started to get back to normal I decided to start putting more effort into achieving my own goals.

At the end of 2020 I started reading modules and working on assignments again. My first was an article about camping in Norfolk, which I will share on here some time. I wrote it specifically for the Caravan Club Magazine, but they weren't interested in it, and I didn't have the confidence to rewrite it for a different publication.

My next assignment was to write either a biographical or autobiographical piece. I didn't feel like my life was interesting enough to write something autobiographical, so I started thinking about who I could write about. I had noticed a plaque on the wall of the Town Hall in Louth commemorating Margaret Wintringham, first British-born female MP, and wondered why I'd never heard of her, so I started conducting some research. I was fascinated by her story, so started putting together an article for the local magazine, the Lincolnshire Poacher. I was thrilled when the piece was accepted for publication! You can read it for free online here: Lincolnshire Poacher Autumn 2021 - Digital Copy (lincolnshirelife.co.uk)

Buoyed by my success, I then rewrote the article for a national audience, and was delighted when it was accepted for publication by This England magazine.

My article in This England magazine

My next assignment was to interview someone, and I was dreading it. Who would I interview? I didn't know anyone famous. Then it occurred to me, I could interview my friend Angie, breastfeeding guru and doula extraordinaire! Thankfully she agreed to it, and we had a lovely chat about her family, her background, and how she got into breastfeeding support. It didn't feel like an interview at all and was such a great experience. I wrote up the article and sent it to Green Parent magazine, who unfortunately didn't want it. I rewrote it for Juno Magazine and they accepted it.

Juno magazine cover, Winter 2021

My final non-fiction task was to write a book proposal. I chose to write mine on Margaret Wintringham and tried it with a couple of publishers, but neither were interested, which knocked my confidence.

I then moved on to the fiction part of my writing course. It was strange, because I originally signed up to the course because I wanted to write fiction, and the non-fiction was just something to be endured, but I actually loved writing non-fiction. I've always loved research, and writing non-fiction means that you've always got a starting point; there's no staring at a blank page, like I find myself doing with fiction! So I've found the move to non-fiction daunting, so my commitment to the course has lapsed again, unfortunately. However, that lifetime guarantee means it's not a problem, and I know I can get back to it at some point.

At the start of 2022, when I knew my youngest would be starting school in September, I considered increasing my hours at work. I teach part-time, and I'm in school Monday to Wednesday. But I decided instead that I would spend that time on trying to make something of my writing. In October I signed up to Upwork and have since worked for several clients - again I will share some of this work in a later post.

Before long, I realised I had made enough money to equal the amount I paid for the course, which meant I could request a certificate of competence from the Writers Bureau. Looking back at what I'd achieved as a result of the course, I decided to take a chance and put myself forward for the Writers Bureau Student of the Year Award. I was proud to be shortlisted, and my story, along with those of the winner and other shortlisted writers can be seen here: Student Of The Year (writersbureaucourse.com)