£17K WAR POSTER
A RARE Lord Kitchener First World War poster found in an attic sold for £17,360 at auction in Blandford, Dorset. The ITV drama series, starring Rachael Stirling and Julie Graham, was a big hit in the US and has swelled visitor numbers to the home of wartime codebreaking.
Iain Standen, chief executive of Bletchley Park Trust, says: “Visitors can Outlander was shown in the US, Australia and Canada one year before it first aired in the UK, and its fans are obsessed. Doune Castle in Stirling, which features as Castle Leoch, has had a 227% increase in numbers since the show launched in 2013. Last year 142,091 people visited in a boost locals call “The Outlander effect”. Samantha MacKenzie runs the Jamie & Claire Tour, named after the two main characters. She says: “I’ve seen tears of joy.”
The Covenanter Hotel in Falkland, Fife, is recognisable as Mrs Baird’s B&B. Owner Stephen Shand says: “This summer will be our busiest yet.”
BBC detective thriller Shetland portrays the island, 125 miles north of Scotland’s mainland, as a mystical place with a high body count.
Streamed to 14 countries on Netflix, it’s made tourists flock there in droves.
David Malcolm, who runs Discover Shetland small tours, says: “When I moved here in 1983, virtually no cruise ships came but last year we had 116 and over 92,000 visitors of 98 nationalities.
“The filming company takes over people’s homes but pays handsomely. The book shop has done very well from it, as have fish and chip shops and B&Bs.
“It makes me very proud to hear people describe it as a piece of heaven.” discover the stories of the real Millies, Susans, Lucys and Jeans by exploring the restored wartime codebreaking huts and exhibitions that bring the true story to life.
“We welcome visitors every day from around the world.” The Hartland Abbey Estate in Devon features Blackpool Mill Cottage – a bolthole popular for filming because it looks so remote.
The property was featured on The Night Manager as Jonathan Pine’s home when he goes undercover as Jack Linden.
And it’s easy for fans to get a taste of the location – Lord and Lady Stucley rent the cottage for holiday lets.
Lady Stucley says: “We’ve tried to keep it as much like it was in the past. We get people from all over the place. They are here because they’ve seen us on the telly. It’s really nice.” Located in the North East, the market town of Alnwick and the nearby coastline are regularly used to film ITV crime drama Vera starring Brenda Blethyn. Northumberland Tourism said in 2014 they were getting more visitors to the site and emails from interested tourists asking where episodes were filmed.
Scenes take place in the garden of The Village Tea Room in Alnwick and owner Lesley Long, 49, says: “We get visitors from different places recognising places where Vera was filmed.”