Lin and Sue's Visit to Hastings - April 20, 2005


Directions for the shoot locations at The Stade.

My friend and I were lucky to see some filming with Honeysuckle Weeks but unfortunately no sign of MK. We didn't get down to Hastings until lunchtime so he could have been working in the morning. As we got down to the Stade carpark, we saw the trailers with equipment, caravan thingies and they were serving lunch.

We did think about joining the queue as we were starving. At least we knew something was happening. We went and had lunch ourselves before returning to see what the afternoon would bring. There was a lovely scene on the beach with Sam and a young man in soldier uniform walking together along the seashore with the sun glinting on the waves behind.


Sam and her new young man?

They stop, he takes both her hands and then goes down on one knee. We presume he is proposing to her and he searches the beach nearby for something - presumably a token to offer as he goes back on one knee.


Looking for a dropped penny or a ring?

Maybe he proposes with a pebble as there were plenty of them around. Of course we couldn't hear what they were saying. They repeated the scene many times over and the wind was picking up all the time. Lovely and sunny but they must have been freezing - we were! Sam wore a particularly distinctive coat. I thought it was Honeysuckle's coat and she would take it off when they started filming for real but she kept it on.


Honeysuckle wearing the diamond pattern coat.

Must be a style of the 40s. Long, fitted and with large diamond pattern. We both took photos but from a distance. I did see the clapper board and it said 244/1 and later 245/1,2,3,4,5. They need so much patience to keep repeating the scenes or half of the scene before they are turned back to start all over again.



I have to say that Honeysuckle is such a pretty girl. She walked right past us as they went down to film but we couldnt really shove a camera in her face. She looked absolutely radiant. I know she had makeup on but you can still see what a lovely girl she is.


Honeysuckle has her hair attended to between takes.

There were a few other people watching but mostly crew I think. Wonder if any of your other ladies were there. A couple with a very young baby were there too. It was just like any sunny April day on the Stade, except for the filming. When we started to walk back up the beach we noticed a transporter with Foyles car and another period green vehicle, but still no sign of Mr Foyle.


The Wolseley and another period vehicle on a transporter.

We walked back through the old town to have a look at St Clement's Church and Croft Road. Took some more photos. How they manage to get all their equipment around the Croft Road house is a mystery. The road is so narrow. It was about 5.30 by then so we had to think about getting back. ( I finally got indoors, back home about quarter to 10.) It was such a beautiful sunny day. I wonder how they would have managed if it had been pouring with rain. It would have been even more special if we had seen MK. My friend was a bit disappointed too but it was still a very special experience as neither of us have seen anything like this before.


A seagull with an excellent view of the proceedings.

More photos - click to enlarge...





Many thanks to Lin and Sue for sharing their photos and story.