A Kind Of Loving

Hi,

My parents live near where a lot of the film was shot A Kind Of Loving, Radcliffe, near Manchester.

..............OK

The park scene were shot in Coronation Park, see pics. (Apologies for quality of film ones they were done with a digital camera pointed at the TV.) The shelter used in the film was never actually there, and walking around the park the other day I realised how small it actually is, the film makes is feel so much bigger.

...............often the way, the lenses used often create odd perspectives

I’ve attached a couple of pics with Radcliffe Parish Church in the background; although the today image doesn’t give a good view due to the trees. This is also the case with the Irwell Valley shots. (When the film was shot you would have been able to see the valley from the park, but again too many trees.)

..............but capital E for effort, well done

As for St Mary’s from the opening scenes, this has now been demolished but was a few miles away in a place called Beswick. Most of the area has been flattened and is home to Manchester City’s ground and the velodrome, among others. The nearest pic I could find was a painting by LS Lowry.

............that really is amazing, firt time we've had to turn to an artist to establish a location!!!

According to IMDB, St John’s Church in Radcliffe was used, but I can confirm that it wasn’t that one (which is now demolished), plus my mother would have known. (I can’t remember where I got St Mary’s from, but the painting confirms it for me.)

..........the IMDB are a funny lot. They put up a lot of errors, won't correct them when we tell them about them, won't accept our offering etc etc

The hospital used was Bolton General but this has been completely rebuilt over the years, however, Bolton Town Hall remains and other than pedestrianisation has hardly changed.

.........this was photographed in the summer and is waiting to be loaded on site

There are scenes in the film of Vic with his father walking along a pedestrian railway bridge. Bolton is about five miles from Radcliffe and I remember many years using the bridge as it was a shortcut across the town running on top of Bolton train station, which is in a large cutting. Again, this has gone.

...........but of course Bolton was used to great effect in Spring and Port Wine, almost all the locations are still there

I’ve been struggling to find the pier where they get off the bus for their honeymoon. I thought it was Southport, but it isn’t, and from what I can gather it’s none on the North West coast.

...........and I thought it was New Brighton, where the Magnet was filmed, also waiting to go up on site

I suppose it’s possible that it could be one on the south coast.

..........yes, film-makers duck and dive all over the country. God alone knows why. Violent Playground, made mainly in Liverpool, was finished off in London's East End...........Hey Ho!!

Anyway, hope this info helps.

Richard Hamer.

............it does indeed, and thank you again very much. As an instant "reward" I'm giving you a year's subscription to the site, and when we load the pictures that you have kindly sent in, I'll be paying you £5.00 each for the location addresses, and a fiver for your photos that have some sort of architectural proof that they are accurate.

.............best wishes
..............John Tunstill