Downton Abbey at Cogges

Yew Tree farmyard, aka Cogges Manor Farm

Ever had to keep a secret so big, so exciting that you thought that you'd just burst. I have! But now I can reveal all.

A few months ago, 17th May to be precise, I was fortunate enough to be allowed to be on site at Cogges when some of the cast and crew of Downton Abbey came to do some filming. As I've already said, I was sworn to secrecy. a notice had been posted a few days earlier to inform people that the farm would be closed in the morning for filming. There was much speculation and as Downton was being filmed at the time in nearby Bampton, it was the hot favourite. I should have got an Oscar for my performance of keeping a neutral expression on my face so as not to give the game away.

The small wall attached to the larger wall isn't normally there.

For weeks before hand members of the film crew popped in from time to time to check things out and see what had to be done to turn a historical site in the 21st century into a setting in the early 20th century. The day before filming a wall appeared that isn't usually there. A temporary sheep pen was constructed on the grass in front of the stables and on the day of filming some of the sheep from the pastures beyond the woodland area were put in this pen. The old building that housed the toilets had a large security light on it and this was hidden by the addition of a wooden dovecot being built over it. The door to the upper loft of the stables has a hole in it and a hessian sack was draped over the railings in front of it to stop any of the 3 farm cats from sticking their head out and getting in on the action. One of the volunteers, Bob, was asked to be an extra and spent the morning walking around dressed as a 1920's farmer in tweed and wearing a flat cap.

Temporary sheep pen.

The day of filming arrived. Another volunteer and I had been asked to stand with the security guard at the entrance. The security guard was to stop any members of the public from entering and my friend and I had free entry vouchers to give to anyone who had travelled especially to visit Cogges that day. In practice we took it in turns to go into the farmyard to watch the action, such as it was.

 There was an awful lot of hanging about. If the sun went behind a cloud filming was stopped. If the sun came out filming was stopped to ensure of the continuity of the shot, which would be compromised by shadows. Then there were the planes from Brize Norton airbase that flew past at regular intervals.



At one point during one of these breaks,  I was in the office when the actor who plays Tom Branson came into the office to ask where the toilets were. I directed him back to the area where they'd just been filming. After he’d gone, one of my colleagues asked me why I hadn’t offered to show him the way. Now why didn’t I think of that. I had met him once before at Highclere Castle at the Help For Heroes fundraiser, but of course he wouldn't have remembered that. But he did leave this mature lady in a bit of a flutter.




Everyone that passed Cogges asked us if it was Downton Abbey that was being filmed. My friend and I said that we could only confirm that it was a costume drama. The security guard and film crew on the other hand were quite happy to confirm that it was indeed Downton! Around the other side of the site there is a white gate leading out to a public path and members of the public had stopped to watch some of the filming anyway. So much for keeping it a secret. But I had been told not to tell anyone and  I wasn't going to risk not being allowed on site if they ever come back to film again.

Lady Mary, Tom and Farm er Drewe.

Finally after about 4 hours of being on site they finished filming. A car drew up at the large green gate and the 3 actors emerged and were whisked away to Bampton to film some more scenes there. The film crew stayed behind gradually dismantling the set and removing all trace of the filming and the doors were opened for business as usual. Finally after weeks of agony not being able to tell anyone, the new series of Downton started and last Sunday, 20th October the scenes filmed at Cogges were finally shown. Poor Bob was edited out. But he was well paid, so he didn't mind. It was only a brief scene but who knows? Perhaps they'll need to film more scenes at Yew Tree farm. After all the Crawleys and the farmer, Mr Drew, are meant to be working in close partnership. Watch this space!

Photos with actors courtesy of Katja Partridge.

Additional photos by Isabel Johnstone.

check out my new website at http://isabeljohnstone.co.uk/?p=366

WOAPA perform at ABC 'Witney in Pink' event 2013

Pushing your boundaries.

'To have an extra-ordinary life you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Only ever regret what you wish you had done, but didn't.' unknown.

This was posted on my Open University Creative Writing Facebook group by one of my fellow students. It had a profound effect on me as this is how I'm trying to live my life at the moment; it's not always easy. But it's one of life's lovely quirks that sometimes things happen or come to your attention just when you need them to.

 I recently watched the Last night of the Proms on BBC television. I'll be honest here, it's not usually my thing. All that bobbing up and down and waving flags to the same songs that were sung last year and countless years before! I'm sure that it's one of those situations where being there makes all the difference. So why did I watch it? Out of curiosity, is the short answer. Earlier in the day I'd heard that the orchestra was to be conducted by a woman for the first time in the 118 year history of the Proms, and this intrigued me.She told the Today programme that she is "very, very proud, but also pretty surprised to be the first".

At the tender age of 9, Marin Alsop expressed a desire to learn to be a conductor, but her violin teacher told her that; 'girls don't do that!' But undeterred her parents went out and bought her a box of batons and told her that with practice there was nothing that she couldn't do. How wonderful to have such supportive parents. It took a while, but not only did Marin conduct the BBC orchestra at the proms, but she also has her own orchestra, the Säo Paulo Symphony orchestra and she's also the Director of the Baltimore Symphony orchestra. Not bad for a girl! 

 Coincidentally, Marin happens to be the same age as me, although I'm a few months older!  In an interview the day after her performance she said; 'Follow your passion, never give up.' So how can I fail to be inspired and challenged by this incredible woman.

Well that suits me! For the past couple of years I've been doing just that. Now the thing about doing this is, sometimes it works and, sometimes it doesn't. But if you're doing something that you're passionate about, it doesn't really matter if it goes wrong. We all know, we can learn from our mistakes, sometimes even more so than when things work out. I know that I seem to remember the things that have gone wrong more vividly than the ones that have worked out alright!

I'm also very fortunate in being surrounded by people who are very encouraging. Although I'm sure that my children must roll their eyes sometimes, wondering what mum's going to get up to next! But the way I see it, we only get one life. I've taken risks in the past simply because I didn't want to look back in the future and think, 'if only'. I wouldn't have my youngest son if I hadn't taken a risk.

So today's challenge to anyone who'd like to accept it is; take a risk; push your boundaries. If there's something that your passionate about but haven't pursued yet; go ahead and try. What's the worst thing that can happen? As I've already said, if it goes wrong you'll at least be able to learn from it and perhaps try again with the knowledge that you've acquired from your first attempt. 

Don't let anyone tell you that you can't. Surround yourself with the people who will support and love you, no matter what. I can promise you one thing, it won't be boring.

Now what new challenge can I attempt today? 

photo courtesy of  http://inspirational-images.tumblr.com/image/56716548392