Curiouser and curiouser, as the White Queen said...

Look

On Saturday, we went to Gloucester for shopping and a walk, and taking our usual route through the docks, we found that a fleet of magical tall ships had arrived, and the whole area was in the process of being transformed into Wonderland - literally! The docksides were strewn with prop barrels, tea chests with mysterious symbols of the Orient, and Victorian handcarts, as Disney prepared to film scenes for Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass, the sequel to Tim Burton's Alice Wonderland, with Johnny Depp, the marvellous Helena Bonham-Carter, and Mia Wasikowska.

There was a tangible frisson amongst the unusually large number of people milling around amidst the rigging, though the inhabitants of the houseboats which normally moor in the docks seemed less enthusiastic about the Hollywood invasion, which meant that they'd have to vacate the site for a day and a half. The tall ships were magnificent, and transformed the whole atmosphere of the docks, which can seem rather ghostly on a deserted afternoon, rather than the bustling, noisy, smelly place it would have been in its heyday. Gloucester docks is a fascinating place, which is a rare survival of an important complex of high, gabled brick warehouses, dock offices, other associated buildings, and even a dry dock, all listed at Grade II in recognition of their significance. The dry dock is still used by a traditional boatbuilder; it's fascinating to see boats being transformed on successive visits, with such skilful craftsmanship.

Despite everyone's heightened expectations, we didn't spot any actors, but it was amazing to see the
amount of effort going into just one day's filming: dozens of trucks for lighting, rigs projecting from the windows of offices in the warehouses, acres of props, miles of cabling, and a veritable tented village in a vacant lot across the road, no doubt to provide welfare, catering and dressing room facilities. Still, I'd like to think that, in these scenes at least, Gloucester will be the star; remember these views, and see if you can spot them when the film comes out in 2016!