Visiting Hogsmeade Station

Visiting Hogsmeade Station

After a weekend of visiting Harry Potter locations at Alnwick Castle and Durham Cathedral I decided to squeeze one more in by visiting Goathland Station which was the filming location for Hogsmeade Station in Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.

Goathland station is located  North East, just above York in the North York Moors National Park. It’s a beautiful place to drive around. The drive to the station reminded me a lot of the scenery you’d find in Scotland.

After parking at the station we walked onto the platform and we were immediately hit with all those magical vibes that you get from walking onto what feels like a film set. There are only two outdoor  platforms and the one you walk onto is the one where the actual cast and crew filmed those scenes in the first film.

Two scenes were filmed at Goathland Station. The first was at night time when Harry, Ron, Hermione and all the other Hogwarts students arrive at Hogsmeade Station. They’re greeted by Hagrid who ushers the first years into the boats to cross The Black Lake.

The second time you see the station is the last scene of the film when all the students are boarding the Hogwarts express to return to Kings Cross Station. One cool fact is that this was the first scene ever filmed of any Harry Potter film, which is weird as it’s the last scene of the first film.

Fun Fact: In the books Hermione is described as having buckteeth. Emma Watson, the actress who played Hermione didn’t have buckteeth. Christopher Columbus, the director, wanted to be as true to the books as possible, so they gave Emma false teeth to wear. She only wore the teeth in the first scene they ever filmed, which as you already know, was the scene at Goathland station. It was decided that Emma wouldn’t continue to wear the teeth as it was effecting the speech.

Another fun fact: In the books Harry is described as having green eyes, however Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who plays Harry Potter, has blue eyes. The film makers decided to try him with contact lenses. It turns out that Daniel is in that 1% of people who can’t wear these kinds of contacts because he’s allergic to them. They caused his eyes to swell up and made him teary. The effects of this can be seen in the last scene of the film on the platform where Harry and his friends are getting on the train to return home. It’s emotional scene and Harry looks emotional because of the effects of the contacts.

After 20 minutes of looking around and taking pictures, a fully working steam train pulled into the station and it felt very magical. It filled the whole station with smoke. I wasn’t the only one who loved this experience. There was a real buzz of excitement on the platform as lots of people crowded around and took pictures and filmed the arrival of the steam train to the platform.  

There is a very small cafe at the platform, which we used to grab a cup of tea and shelter from the rain. We also saw one of the train conductors eating his pack lunch which was very sweet.

In the cafe they sell a very small amount of Wizarding themed merchandise, they sold “Butterscotch Beer” which is obviously meant to be a play on butterbeer. They also sell Cauldron Cola, chocolate frogs and a Warner Bros licensed water bottle. They also sell non Harry Potter merchandise like a puzzle of the station.  

There is also a shop which sells sweets, books, souvenirs, postcards, drinks, and more Harry Potter merchandise.

Overall, I loved visiting this filming location. Since coming home from the trip I’ve thought about my visit a lot, and it was definitely one of the stand out moments for me. Have you ever visited Goathland station? What did you think, and are there any other Harry Potter filming locations I need to visit?