A film crew is due to descend on one of the most beautiful beaches in North Wales this month. The two-week shoot at Traeth Llanddwyn, Anglesey, is thought to be for the second season of HBO’s House of the Dragon series.
Cross Plains Productions, one of the series’ producers, has written to residents in nearby Newborough village pledging disruption will be minimal. Preparations begin on Monday, June 12, and site reinstatement is due to be completed by Monday, June 26.
Only three days of actual filming are scheduled, on Wednesday to Friday June 21-23. At other times, residents have been reassured the production will have a light “footprint”.
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It is thought some filming for the series has taken place on Anglesey already. Film crews have been spotted on the island and a marquee was erected at Penmon. You can read more about this here.
Cross Plains Productions is also organising a month-long shoot at Dinorwig Quarry on the edge of Eryri (Snowdonia) near Llanberis. This starts on the same day, June 12, and ends on Wednesday, July 12, though only two days of actual filming are planned. There’s more on this here.
Llanddwyn’s pine-backed sandy beach on the west coast of Anglesey is noted for its beautiful sunsets and views across to Eryri. It leads to Ynys Llanddwyn, is a small tidal island that has a special place in Welsh romantic folklore and has featured in countless tourism brochures.
It also has its own resident red dragon. Last year a visitor captured an impressive photo of its slumbering form in rocks on the island.
In their letter, the producers said: “We plan to film at several locations along the beach and in the woods. During the filming, we may ask people to wait for a moment when we are shooting, or take an alternate route around the area where filming is happening. There will be no other limitations on access in any other areas.”
What other dragon-friendly sites in North Wales should the producers be considering? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
A residents’ car park near the beach will be unaffected. However a section of the public car park will be allocated to trucks carrying filming equipment. Location manager Tom Barnes said much of the car park will remain accessible, along with toilets and BBQ areas.
The area is managed by Natural Resources Wales and in 1955 was declared the first coastal national nature reserve in Wales. The producers say they are aware of its ecological sensitivity and have been “working hard” to minimise the shoot’s impact.
“As a gesture of goodwill, we are making a donation to the Pritchard Jones Institute,” they said. “We appreciate that we are very privileged to film in Newborough.”
It is understood another beneficiary is the Llyn Parc Mawr Community Woodland Group. This will be used to pay for squirrel feed, Newborough Forest being a sanctuary for reds.
Traeth Llanddwyn filming schedule
- Preparation days: Monday, June 12 to Friday, June 16
- Hold days (no activity): Saturday and Sunday, June 17-18
- Preparation days: Monday and Tuesday, June 19-20
- Filming days: Wednesday to Friday, June 21-23
- Reinstatement days: Saturday, June 24, and Monday, June 26
- Hold day (no activity): Sunday, June 25
The identity of the production being filmed hasn’t been confirmed officially but local speculation points towards House of the Dragon. As well as rumoured filming for the series in Dinorwig, and elsewhere on Anglesey, a social media video published last month appeared to show a House of the Dragon set on the Gwynedd coast at Trefor. The clip showed scaffolding at Y Gwaith Mawr, a large walled granite quarry on the Yr Eifl (The Rivals) mountains.
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In Newborough resident has met the location crew and been reassured disruption will be minimal. She too dropped a heavy hint on social media. “They are basically filming a man walking towards the sea, talking to his dragon,” she said. “It’s being done by the people who filmed Downton Abbey and they leave nothing but footprints and some goodwill donations to the village.
“Nobody wants a repeat of the 2006 production company that completely took over the beautiful beach and Ynys Llanddwyn. Stopping access, painting a historical iconic lighthouse blood red and knocking down a 12th century wall for a food wagon. This filming is absolutely nothing like that.”
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