And finally… Rock and role
Tarmac is helping movie makers and film producers achieve stunning backdrops to their blockbusters with a new online guide to the company’s many and varied quarries and sites that could make the perfect film set.
It might be a moonscape on a distant planet, or, perhaps nearer to home (say… Earth), a dark, brooding mountain, or a deserted deep valley, or even an underwater seascape such as a cavernous subterranean trench. Tarmac has just the place.
The sustainable building materials and construction solutions business has long supported movie makers from around the world with locations for their films. TV hits such as Game of Thrones, Britannia, Dr Who and EastEnders have all been filmed at a Tarmac site.
Last year, Tarmac’s Dunford Quarry provided the moody backdrop to The Ballad of Billy McCrae – a tale of murderous intrigue starring David Hayman.
Now, Tarmac has developed an informative, easy-to-use quarry filming website where production companies – large and small – can explore the sites and locations available for filming. More than 50 locations throughout the UK are available, with a pictorial guide to each and a handy location map.
Simone France, senior corporate marketing manager, said: “Our locations deliver remote wilderness settings, baron landscapes, ancient woodlands, waterways and even industrial buildings including a lighthouse.
“The website can help production teams source the ideal backdrop be it factual or fantastical. From location scouting to filming, we also have a team on hand to help production schedules.”
Much of the epic TV fantasy Game of Thrones, which became known for its spectacular landscapes and stunning sets, was largely filmed at Tarmac’s disused Magheramorne Quarry, in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. Trefil Quarry, in Wales, has been the star of Doctor Who, and, in 2018, Panshanger Park, in Hertfordshire, hosted the cast and crew from the historical fantasy TV drama Britannia, where a Roman camp was constructed in the park as it might have looked 2,000 years ago.
Michael Charlton, Tarmac’s mineral estates manager, said: “We get all kinds of requests to film at our sites because they look so spectacular. The quarry filming website is the perfect place for film producers looking for fabulous locations.
“The Game of Thrones team was on our Magheramorne site for a number of years and built a whole set there for filming. Others might just be around for a few hours, a day or two, or maybe a couple of weeks. We can cater for a wide variety of needs.
“Wrath of the Titans, the 2012 blockbuster follow-up to Clash of the Titans, was another movie to use Trefil as a location and Tarmac hosted a series of launch events for car manufacturer Isuzu to demonstrate the strengths of its new pick-up truck on difficult terrain.”
Simone France added: “I’m incredibly proud of the Tarmac marketing team and the hard work done – entirely inhouse – to develop and launch this new site. New functionality, design, content, video, 360-degree views and images have all brought the site to life, showcasing just some of the stunning Tarmac locations we may very well see on screen in years to come.”