P is for Scotland Place

The A-Z Tour of Harry Potter Filming Locations heads back into London today.  Our "P" stop (*snort* *giggle*) is at Scotland Place, a street in central London - it's near Trafalgar Square, Downing Street, and Westminster Abbey.

The visitor’s entrance to the Ministry of Magic was filmed at the corner of Great Scotland Yard and Scotland Place.  The telephone box seen in The Order of the Phoenix was built for the film, as was the bridge next to it.  These were built over the wooden door in my photo. But apart from that, it’s one of the few locations that was used basically “as is” and is instantly recognisable.

The corner appeared again in The Deathly Hallows, part 1 when Harry, Ron and Hermione sneak into the Ministry of Magic.  They hide behind the roller door (redesigned to look like the missing wooden door I mentioned earlier) before stunning Ministry employees and stealing their identity. 

I love the fact that the Ministry of Magic is located beneath other official office buildings – the Ministry of Defence, Old War Office Building, Department for Climate Change, and Department of Health are all located on Whitehall/Parliament Street, which Great Scotland Yard leads off of.  Downing Street (the Prime Minister’s office/home) leads off of Whitehall and the Parliament building is at the end of the road.

I also love the fact that Harry and Arthur get the tube to Westminster Station (more on that when we get to U), before walking down to Great Scotland Yard and Scotland Place – Westminster Station is one of the closest to this area.  They do walk in from the wrong direction, but that’s beside the point.

Happy travels,

Ros

I'm also cross stitching the A-Z Challenge.  You can see my P progress at Fangirl Stitches where I'm working on a Pokemon and Supernatural alphabet.