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The Eliots Green Grammar School Reunion Website

A Brief Encounter of the Third Kind

This has nothing whatsoever to do with EGGS or reunions, but I thought I’d expand the site laterally: Whilst idly watching the classic film ‘Brief Encounter’ starring the totally delectable Celia Johnson (well, she has almost the same initials as Catherine Zeta Jones) recently, I felt that some scenes seemed eerily familiar to me, even though they were shot some sixty years ago. Those of you that know me well will know that ‘time warps’ hold a particular fascination for me - indeed, part of the pleasure of organising the 2000 reunion was the sense of travelling back in time.  So I did a little research and discovered that although much of the film was set at Carnforth Station in Lancashire, some of it had actually been shot on location in Beaconsfield new town. Well, I couldn’t resist this challenge, could I?

In the scene below, Laura has just left the jewellers and walking to the “Kardomah Cafe” for lunch. Move your mouse pointer over the picture and you will see the whole scene as it is today, taken from the entrance to the access road serving Beaconsfield Station on a rainy Saturday morning, March 2002.

In the film, this is the scene the moment before  Alec (Trevor Howard) bumps into Laura (Celia Johnson) as she emerges from the doorway of ‘Boots lending library’ on the right of the shot (see below).

Move your mouse pointer over the picture and you will see the whole scene as it is today. I took it from the doorway of WH Smith in Beaconsfield. March 2002.

What exciting lives we lead....

BE Links

Celia Johnson

Trevor Howard

Brief Encounter

Quotations

Carnforth Station


Our Brief Encounter

Steve Clarke’s personal BE tribute pages
 

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