Brief Encounter
locations

When David Lean / Cineguild were looking for locations for the film Brief Encounter, they needed a railway station with some quite specific characteristics.

The railway station needed to have main line passing through it, for the express trains, and also a local line for the stopping trains to Churley and Ketchworth. There needed to be some distance between the refreshment room and the Churley platform, so that a degree of urgency could be shown, as the characters ran to catch trains, and there needed to be quiet places on the station, where the main characters could have a discreet conversation.

Practically, the station should also have sidings nearby so that the real train seen in the film could be stored, and also somewhere nearby where the train could be turned around to appear to be either the Churley or the Ketchworth train, as appropriate. The station also needed to have little or no local traffic, during the hours of filming (10pm to 8am) so that the filming would neither disturb, nor be disturbed by the running of the railways.

Originally a London Station (possibly Watford Junction?) had been allocated by the Ministry of War Transport, but this London station wasn't suitable, and the location chosen, was Carnforth station in Lancashire.

Carnforth station had many of the features needed by the David Lean / Cineguild and was visited at the end of 1944 or early 1945 and location photographs were taken for later reference by the film makers.

David Lean wasn't happy with the real location of the refreshment room on Carnforth station. He considered it to be too far from the subway, for him to be able to easily get the characters to and from the refreshment room. L P Williams, the Art Director, was consulted, and "flats" were constructed in Denham film studios in London, and transported to Carnforth by lorry. These flats were then erected on the open space, to the north of the subway, on the centre platform at Carnforth station. Although in the film both sides of the refreshment room, can be seen, there were actually only two flats made, one for the curved end of the refreshment room, and one flat refreshment room side. These were moved on the station platform, as necessary, so that the refreshment room appeared to have depth.

Many of the shots of Carnforth station, seen in the film, were genuine location shots, but all of the shots  inside the refreshment room were filmed on a set at Denham Film Studios.

Three locations which were supposed to be Milford Junction, weren't filmed at Carnforth. The station approach, the steps to the booking hall, and the booking hall / platform locations were all filmed in studio.
The station approach and the booking hall / platform locations were both in studio. L P Williams never considered the possibility that the film might be viewed frame by frame. After the characters have walked through the booking hall and onto the platform, close examination of individual frames, reveals that the view of  Carnforth subway and platform is actually a backdrop.
David Lean needed the station approach to be quiet, so that Laura and Alec could have a discreet talk, before walking onto the station. At the time, Carnforth station had two entrances, one from the town, and the other from a bridge over the main line. Neither were suitable for a discreet talk, so L P Williams built a set, which was a combination of the steps down from the bridge entrance, and the main line booking hall.

One of the features of Carnforth station which is closely associated with the film, is the Carnforth station clock. This clock was probably not part of the original filming requirements, but David Lean saw the visual opportunities it presented, and made good use of it in the film. On some shots, the face of the clock was covered by a dummy face. Filming is usually done out of sequence, and the time on the real clock would be wrong, the clock of course could be stopped, and the hands set to the "film" time, but because the filming took place at night, even with powerful lights, and with some lens angles, the face of the real clock would be out of focus and fuzzy. To make the clock more visible, and more important, the clock face was covered with a much larger face, so that the camera could see it more clearly.

David Lean starts the film with shots of Express trains racing through Milford Junction station.( It has been mis-reported in the past that these were filmed at Watford Junction, but they were filmed at Carnforth by Eric Cross) David Lean uses a trick with the second shot in the film and flips the negative, so that the train appears to be travelling right to left (or northbound). Railway "buffs" may notice the train is on the wrong track!

The filming at Carnforth took place in February 1945, and "black out" restrictions were still in force. As the express trains approached Carnforth, the drivers, were suddenly met with a blaze of lights. To the drivers, who were used to the "black out" this blaze of light caused concern, and they braked hard, and by the time they were going through Carnforth station, they were travelling at a walking pace, which was NOT the image that David Lean was looking for, for Brief Encounter. A Railway Traffic Officer (Frederick Loach) had been allocated to Brief Encounter by the LMS and Frederick Loach had to send a message "down the line" to the drivers, to tell them that all was well, and requesting that instead of slowing down, they speed up. After five years of war, the drivers were happy to help, and for a short time there was some very spirited running through Carnforth.

David Lean used the shots of the express trains, and the scene where Stanley Holloway, as the ticket collector, crosses the main line tracks, and enters the refreshment room as establishing shots, to show the geography of the station.
Stanley Holloway was very concerned about the safety of crossing the tracks, and for the rehearsals a local station porter, Bill Fawcett stood in for him.

Churley was never seen in the film, but Ketchworth station was seen twice. Ketchworth station was a studio set.

Many of the views of Milford, were in Beaconsfield , but the street scene outside the hospital, was actually a set in Denham studio. The Hospital has the nameplate "Bathstone Road" on one of the walls, and the "Bathsone Road" set was originally built for the film "Perfect Strangers" and then adapted later for Brief Encounter.

Boots lending library, where Laura changes her library book, is reported to have been the interior of  W H Smiths in Beaconsfield. (This is probably incorrect, as the production team would have used a sound stage in Denham Studios, whever possible).
The "Five Ways Cafe", also in Beaconsfield became the exterior of the Kardomah Cafe. Spinks and Robsons' and the Tobacconist, may have been real shops, but were probably studio sets. The location of the outside shot of the cinema seen in Brief Encounter is reported as being a set in the car park of Denham Film Studios.  The interior cinema scenes  were filmed on the balcony of the "Metropole Cinema" in Victoria (London), as were the shots of the organ and organist. Irene Handl who is seen playing "March Militaire" is actually miming, the original recording having been done on the Wurlizter organ at the Metropole Cinema, by James Whitebread, the resident organist.

The garage, the entrance hall, and the interior of Stephen Lynn's flat were all in studio, and were very similar to the flat in which David Lean lived.

Most of the remainder of the scenes were filmed in studio, with he exception of Regents Park, in London, which was used for the sequence of Laura and Alec in a boat. The little bridge in the countryside, was close to Ambleside, where the production team stayed, whilst they were filming at Carnforth.

BRIEF ENCOUNTER
LOCATIONS.

RAILWAYS.

MILFORD JUNCTION

Express Trains through Station
Ticket Collector crosses tracks to refreshment room.
Ketchworth Platform
Churley Platform
Subway
Interior Refreshment Room
Milford Junction station approach.
Steps down to booking hall
Booking Hall and platform
Bell
Dolly Messiter and Laura in train
Ketchworth Station
Watford Junction (Rumoured but Not used in Brief Encounter)

MILFORD TOWN

STEPHEN LYNN'S FLAT
Garage of Stephen Lynn's flat
Lift to Stephen Lynn's flat
Stephen Lynn's flat

TOWN
Interior Boots
Interior Spinks and Robsons' shop
Interior Tobacconist shop
Interior Kardomah
Interior Cinema
Exterior Cinema
Exterior Hospital
War Memorial

ROYAL HOTEL
Royal Hotel dining room
Royal Hotel hallway
Exterior Royal Hotel

Boating Lake

Interior boathouse,

DREAM SEQUENCE

Ballroom
Paris Opera
Venice
Travelling car
Ship
Tropical beach

LAURA'S HOUSE

Laura's bedroom
Hall Laura's house
Bobbie and Margaret's bedroom
Laura's dining room
Laura's library
Exterior Laura's house

ELSEWHERE

Interior Mary Norton's house
Travelling in car.
Little bridge

NOTES.

Many of the shots of Milford Junction station were actually Carnforth station, in Lancashire. Carnforth Station has recently been completely rejuvenated, and many of the views seen in Brief Encounter are still recognisable, including the clock. If visiting the station, allowance has to be made for filmic "licence". For example, the scene where Laura gets the spec of grit in her eye, was actually filmed on the southbound Furness platforms at Carnforth, and not as portrayed in the film, near the main line.

The interior of the "Milford Junction" refreshment room, was a stage set, at Denham film studios.

The approach walkway to Milford Junction station, the steps to the booking hall, the booking hall and nearby platform were all studio sets.

The  bell seen in the film is mounted on a brick background. The refreshment room wall was weatherboards and Carnforth station bell was mounted on a rough stone wall. The bell is probably some local bell near to a sound stage at Denham.

The interior of a railway carriage can be seen in a number of scenes.
The travelling shots of Dolly Messiter and Laura were in a studio set.

L P Williams the Art Director wondered initially if just a carriage would suffice for Ketchworth station, but obviously a more complex set was needed.

Many of the street scenes in Brief Encounter were filmed at Beaconsfield

The garage, the hallway and all of Stephen Lynn's flat were all film sets.

The Boots library sequence may  have been filmed on location,   inside W H Smith's bookshop in Beaconsfield (which has since moved). However the researched reference to this sequence is ambiguous, and it seems much more likely that this sequence was actually filmed at Denham Studios.

The locations used for "Spinks and Robsons", and the Tobacconists shop aren't known. It is possible that these were also shop interiors in Beaconsfield, or they may have been studio sets.

The Kardomah was a cafe in Beaconsfield called the "Five Ways Cafe", and was on the opposite side of the road to W H Smiths.Like the reference to the Brief Encounter "Boots", it seems likley that the interior scenes of the Kardomah were a Denham Studio set.

The balcony of  the Metropole Cinema, in Victoria (London) was the location for the seated area of the scene. The auditorium  was demolished in the early 80s, but the foyer and facade is still there in Victoria Street as an Ask Pizza and Pasta restaurant.  The organ and organist (Irene Handl) were also filmed at the Metropole Cinema, in Victoria (London).
Irene Handl didn't actually play the organ in "Brief Encounter", the music (March Militaire) was pre-recorded  by James Whitebread  and Irene Handl mimed.

The outside of the "Palladium" cinema was a set built near to the car park of Denham Film Studios.

Denham Backlot. Outside the sound stages, but within the grounds of Denham Film Studios was an area called the Backlot where outside scenes could be filmed. Aftre completetion of a 1945 film,  Perfect Strangers, a street set was left standing, and David Lean re-used this set for some of the street scenes in Brief Encounter.

The War Memorial was a studio set, but but was possibly inspired by the Carnforth War Memorial, which is within two minutes walk of Carnforth station. The figure of the soldier on the top of the War Memorial, was actually only two or three feet tall, but was made to look larger by clever use of camera angle.

The dining room and lounge of the Royal Hotel were both sets. It is probably a coincidence, but of the five hotels used by the production team when they were filming at Carnforth, one was the "Royal Hotel", and another the"Royal Station Hotel"

The Boating lake where Alec Harvey falls in, is in Regents Park in London.

The interior of the boathouse where Alec Harvey dries his trousers was  set.

The "Dream" sequence was probably filmed in Denham studios.

All the rooms in Laura's house, including the exterior view were studio sets.

The interior Mary Norton's house isn't known, but was probably a studio set.

Two cars were used by Laura and Alec. The first Alec borrowed from Stephen Lynn, the second Alec hired. In a letter to her husband, Celia Johnson describes the second car as being German, with a bonnet that seemed to go on for ever. Apparently the car didn't run, and so it had to be pushed by studio assistants.

The little bridge used in the film is "Middle Fell" bridge over Langdale Beck at national grid reference NY 285060. This bridge is still there and is a short distance from the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel, near to Ambleside.

It has been claimed that some of the filming took place at Watford Junction Station. There is no record of any filming having taken place at Watford Junction, and there are no shots in Brief Encounter, which show Watford Junction.
David Lean, when being interviewed about Brief Encounter, shortly before he died,   did make reference to the express train shots, being filmed at Watford Junction, but it seems likely that David Lean either made a mistake about the name, or, it may even be possible that some "test shots" were done at Watford Junction, but not used in the finished film.
There is a commercial video available which mentions Brief Encounter filming at Watford Junction, in the commentary. The out-takes shown in the video have been examined, and the video producers acknowledge that the commentary (based on the David Lean interview) is incorrect. It has been agreed with the video producers that they will change the commentary if the video is re-released.

It must be remembered that when making a film, it is quite common to film a sequence in one location, and then perhaps to re-film it elsewhere. An example of this being the sequence where Laura runs onto the platform, and gets the grit in her eye. It is known that this sequence was filmed both at Carnforth Station,and also in the Studio at Denham Studio. Which one was used in the finished film isn't known.
Another technique used frequently in Brief Encounter was to use a composite shot - that is, part of a scene is filmed in one place, and part somewhere else. An example of this being where the characters enter the Milford Junction refreshment room, as they walk across the platform, they are on Carnforth Station, as they enter the Refreshment Room, they are in Denham Film Studios, and the two shots were possibly filmed months apart.

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