Powerful WW11 drama partly filmed in Glenarm ‘a must watch’

‘The Windermere Children’ was shown on BBC Two on Monday night as part of events to mark the 75th anniversary of the end of the Holocaust.

It tells the story of 300 deeply traumatised children who were brought to the Calgarth Estate for four months to have the opportunity to begin their recovery after the horrors of the death camps.

The responsibility for rehabilitating them is held by a German-born child psychoanalyst and his team, who find themselves in uncharted territory.

Commissioned by the BBC, the Wall to Wall Television production was filmed on location in the province with funding from Northern Ireland Screen. The cast includes Thomas Kretschmann (The Pianist), Romola Garai (The Miniaturist), Tim McInnerny (Strangers) and Iain Glen (Game of Thrones).

In a statement, Glenarm Castle recommended people watch the production which was “partly filmed” in the Co Antrim estate last year and is still available to view on the BBC iPlayer.

“The Windermere Children is the first dramatisation of a remarkable true story about hope in the aftermath of the Holocaust, based on the powerful first-person testimony of survivors who began their new lives in the UK. A must watch,” the castle statement added.

Glenarm Castle and the estate have featured extensively in movies including ‘Five Minutes of Heaven’ starring Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt as well as documentaries for television.

Meanwhile, further along the coast, the Londonderry Arms Hotel, Carnlough, played host to an actor involved in filming here.

In a Facebook post on January 24, the hotel, once owned by Sir Winston Churchill, said: “Delighted to have Guy Pearce staying with us last night.”

The actor, who first sprang to prominence in Australian soap ‘Neighbours’, is reported to be starring in a science-fiction film which is shot in Belfast.

Carnlough was also a location for the blockbuster series Game of Thrones.