Haven UK Fanclub Trip 2014 Part 1 – feat. Lucas Bryant and Glenn Lefchak!

Posted on 10 December, 2014 by Tanavi P in Set Visits

Day 1

After flying in to Halifax the day before, we took a little time to explore the beautiful Nova Scotian city. Haven will move filming to Halifax for the winter, from the end of September.

Images: Welcome to Nova Scotia, Lord Nelson Hotel

We drove down the coast towards Chester and as we entered the town I could feel my excitement building! Chester is the main base of Haven production, though filming takes place in various areas along the South Shore of Nova Scotia.

First stop: Chester Visitors Centre on the outskirts of town. Hayley at the centre had been really great in helping us plan our trip. Chester is certainly Haven-fan-friendly! The centre, in conjunction with a couple of other places in Chester, were running a fan competition, so we picked up our entry forms and maps to locations used in Haven, which had actually been filming at the centre that week!

Images: Hayley and Visitors centre, NS map

One of the unique things about the show is that fans visiting don’t just go to visit a set in a studio – the sets are all around! In Chester it’s hard to turn a corner without seeing a place used on screen if you’re an eagle-eyed viewer. Hubbards, and Lunenburg further along the coast, are also rife with beautiful locations.

This means fans can go on a ‘treasure hunt’ for these spectacular sights, easily spending days on the South Shore. It’s one of the qualities that makes Haven so special – what other show offers that?!

Second stop: Chester Playhouse

On the main road in Chester this building was most famously used in the Christmas episode ‘Silent Night’ as a cinema. It is seen in S5 e.g. where Mara stabs a lady in the eye! We were shown round by the lovely Davita and Eric who work there, and seemed as excited to have fans interested in the place as we were in seeing it.

Images: Chester Playhouse

When I saw the balcony which Audrey cut a man down from I couldn’t help myself 🙂

Images: Playhouse Balcony

After that we crossed the road to the Kiwi Cafe for lunch and ordered one of their specials – pancakes! Within no time we started chatting to the staff about Haven, met a couple of other fans in there – Kim and Laura from Ontario – and even met some Mounties who were fans! The cafe had also put up a Haven poster for visiting fans to sign as part of the town competition – this was later presented to the cast of Haven at a charity event.

Images:in Kiwi cafe

It was definitely a ‘poster’ moment. From the outset the locals were so nice and so helpful to us fans, it really elevated the whole experience, and we felt at home.

The Kiwi staff told us of the cast and crew who are in and out of there most days. The main indoor sets are not far down the road. Lucas, true to his character, drinks a lot of coffee, and had already been in 3 times that day! Kim and Laura were visiting Haven for the second time as fans. They had seen filming by the ‘Rope Loft’ that day (also featured in ep 405). One on the Mounties, Chris, told me how he had worked with Lucas and Emily on a drink/drive PSA the year before. It was really great meeting more of the HavenFamily and getting to chat about the show.

We then drove over to the Haven production office where we met Sarah and Adele. They kindly let us look around the premises which were decorated with posters and pictures of the Haven cast and crew, including these fantastic wrap party posters.

Images: wrap posters

It was lovely to see how appreciative they were of the support from fans. We gave them a collage which they put straight up on their wall:)

Images: Haven Production Office.

Driving back into Chester we took our first gander at …The Haven Herald. Though the shutters were down we sneaked a peek inside and this is what we found…!

VIDEO: Haven Herald tour

Image: Haven Herald

(NB: There are some more photos inside the Haven Herald to come…)

Nearby we spotted an empty shop that had been turned into a cute little bakery byHaven‘s superb Art dept for that week’s filming – now seen in ep 5×11 – called ‘The Tart Half Bakery’!

Images: Tart Half Bakery

Shortly after we headed to our hotel in Lunenburg. Coming over the ridge on the road to reveal the shoreline of Lunenburg, featured in Haven’s opening credits, was breath-taking.