Electric cargo cranes and a brick transit shed line Princes Wharf, the quay The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society used as Weymouth Docks.
What Harbourside looks like
Four grey electric cranes stand in a row along , their lattice jibs rising above the quay. They are numbered 29 to 32. Behind them a long two storey shed runs the length of the wharf, its lower half faced in painted red steel doors and its upper half in glass, with M SHED lettered across the front.
Historic vessels line the quay in front of the shed. The wooden replica ship the Matthew sits bow to the water with its single mast rigged, and the black and white excursion ferry moors nearby under crane 29. Small steam tugs and a fireboat tie up along the same stretch of wall.
The quayside itself is stone flagged, with an old railway line still laid into the surface where the Bristol Harbour Railway runs alongside the water. Further west along the same bank, keeps a green painted timber shed and an octagonal brick chimney over its 1888 engine house, with wooden sailing boats moored in front.
Two footbridges cross the water east of the wharf. lifts on tall steel counterweights at St Augustine's Reach. The white painted swings open for river traffic further along, with St Mary Redcliffe's spire visible behind it. Across the basin, the Arnolfini's stone warehouse fronts a marina crowded with small pleasure boats.
Shot in Harbourside
Princes Wharf has stood in for other harbours on screen more than once. The dockside museum's well preserved exterior reads easily as a different port entirely.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, 2018
The M Shed transit shed
Played Weymouth Docks, Weymouth, Dorset, 1946
The production dressed Princes Wharf as Weymouth Docks in 1946, using how well preserved the dockside museum's exterior still is. The scene plays out along this stretch of quay, in front of the shed doors and beneath the cranes. Street View
Galavant, 2015
The wooden replica of John Cabot's ship the Matthew served as a filming location for the Disney series Galavant. It sits permanently moored on the Harbourside next to the cranes, rigged with a single mast. Street View
Stan and Ollie, 2018
The MV Balmoral
Played Cobh Harbour, Cobh, County Cork, Ireland, 1953
The 1949 excursion ferry MV Balmoral is moored on the Harbourside. Princes Wharf stood in for Cobh Harbour in Stan and Ollie, the quay where Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy step off the ship on their 1953 Irish tour. The same ferry has also appeared in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Another Mother's Son and Black Cake. Street View
What Harbourside can double for
Chatham Historic Dockyard in Kent, England
Chatham's dockyard keeps its own portal cranes, slipways and brick storehouses from the same working dock era as Bristol's. The scale and the ironwork read close enough for a mid twentieth century commercial harbour. Chatham's slipways and covered ropewalk are wider than anything at Princes Wharf, so a tight crane level frame holds the match best. Try searching portal cranes slipway now.
Charlestown Navy Yard in Boston, Massachusetts
Charlestown Navy Yard keeps its own historic ship moored beside brick dock buildings, much like the Matthew and the Balmoral sit against Princes Wharf's shed. Its granite quay walls and dry dock give a similar working harbour scale. The Navy Yard's much larger dry dock and its surrounding modern towers give the wider shot away, so frame tight on the quay and the moored ship. Try searching historic ship dry dock now.
Gloucester Docks in Gloucester, Gloucestershire
Gloucester Docks is also a still water basin held level by lock gates, lined with tall Victorian brick warehouses rather than sheds. The quiet water and warehouse fronts give a close match for the Floating Harbour's calm. Gloucester has no dockside cranes to match Princes Wharf's, so a frame that needs cargo cranes in shot has to stay at Bristol. Try searching still water dock basin now.
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