Wide streets of Victorian villas lead to Plasturton Gardens, the gabled crescent His Dark Materials used as a street in Oxford.
What Pontcanna looks like
runs the length of the neighbourhood in one line of large stone and red brick villas, three storeys with bay windows, pointed gables and carved stone dressings around the doorways. Most have been converted into flats, guest houses or offices, their front gardens paved over for cars or set with outdoor tables. A five storey concrete office block breaks the run of stone at the road's southern end, precast panels from 1978. Its ground floor is let to the union Unite.
One block west, is a crescent of matching gabled stone terraces built around a railed garden square. Mature trees fill the square, and a red telephone box stands against the railings on the corner nearest Cathedral Road.
Pontcanna Street and the northern stretch of Cathedral Road carry the neighbourhood's independent shops and cafes under painted fascias. The , a stone pub with a tall corner gable, sets out red umbrellas and benches on the pavement.
stands on King's Road in the same pale stone as the villas nearby. Its parish hall, a plain corrugated iron building painted green with arched sash windows, sits beside it behind iron railings.
The streets end at on the east, an open playing field on the bank of the River Taff, bounded by mature trees and cut by a mown path. The Taff Trail runs along the same bank into Bute Park. forms the western edge, another run of red brick terraces with pointed gables and bay windows, cars lined along both kerbs.
Shot in Pontcanna
For the BBC and HBO series His Dark Materials, Lord Boreal's portal into our world opens onto a leafy Oxford street. The scene was shot at Plasturton Gardens, the crescent of gabled terraces around Pontcanna's own railed garden.
His Dark Materials, 2019
Plasturton Gardens
Played a residential street, Oxford, England, present day
Lord Boreal's portal into our world opens onto this street in the second episode, The Idea of North. The camera holds on the crescent of matching gabled terraces around the garden square, with nothing built or dressed for the shot. Street View
What Pontcanna can double for
Oxford in Oxford, England
His Dark Materials used Plasturton Gardens itself as a leafy Oxford street when Lord Boreal's portal opens into our world. Cathedral Road's own villas, in red brick and stone with the same bay windows and pointed gables, would suit an Oxford street just as well. Cardiff's yellow road markings and bilingual Welsh street signs need dressing out for the match to hold. Try searching leafy Oxford street now.
Clifton's gabled Victorian villas match Cathedral Road for scale and period, the same stuccoed fronts repeated street after street. Many there have been converted into flats and guest houses too. Clifton's steep hills and the suspension bridge in wider shots give Bristol away, so tighter street level frames hold the match best. Try searching gabled Victorian villas now.
Ballsbridge in Dublin, Ireland
Ballsbridge pairs red brick villas of the same scale and gables as Cathedral Road, many now embassies or guest houses. The comparison is untested, but the massing is close enough to work in a tight frame. Ballsbridge's taller building lines and right hand traffic would need to stay out of any driving shot. Try searching red brick villas now.
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