Portaferry Excels In War-Time Role

Seventy years flashed past in minutes last night as a Co Down village fast-tracked into the 21st century.

Poratferry is today back to 2009 having stood in yesterday for a 1940s Yorkshire village.

Filming for the BBC's romantic drama 'Small Island' meant the village was remodelled during the week as part of an ambitious two-part adaptation of Andrea Levy's multi-award winning novel.

The drama beats a path from the heat and hustle of life in 1940s Jamaica to the devastation of London in the Blitz.

Set against the backdrop of the Second World War, in a time when landlords would put up signs that read 'No Irish, no coloureds, no dogs', it follows the interlocking lives of Queenie, her Jamaican lodger, his wife and Queenie's husband.

Small Island, which began filming this year, will be broadcast in the autumn.

About 120 people, including actors, had come along with the production with the town's square closed off for the action, but yesterday evening at 5pm, everything was quickly restored back to normal.

The war-time sandbags, authentic period awnings on shops, tape on windows as there would have been during the war years and even a phone box morphed into a large air shelter had all gone, as had the American GIs and other characters.

Now, London-based Ruby Films has moved on, to warmer climates, with the next phase of filming taking place in sunny Jamaica.

See: Picturesque Port Gets Starring Role In BBC Drama

(BMcC)