The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry 2023: Yorkshire filming locations for new film starring Yorkshire actor Penelope Wilton and Harry Potter actor Jim Broadbent

The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry was originally a bestselling novel by Rachel Joyce and has now been brought to life in the form of a film produced by Entertainment One (eOne). It will be released in cinemas across the UK and Ireland from Friday, April 28, 2023.

The author of the book also wrote the screenplay for the film and it is directed by BAFTA winner Hettie Macdonald, known for Howards End and Normal People. The book won the UK National Book Award for the New Writer of the Year and was the UK’s bestselling book from a new novelist in 2021 and sold more than six million copies worldwide.

The film follows the journey of a man who leaves his seaside town in South Devon to deliver a message to an old friend. Harold Fry never intended to be a hero, he is simply an ordinary man who felt he had failed as a husband, a father and a friend. But now, well into his 60s, he is happy to fade quietly into the background of life.

However, when he learns that his friend Queeny is dying, he is inspired to act; he leaves home, walking to the post box to send her a letter, until it dawns on him that a letter is not enough. He ends up walking all the way to her hospice, 500 miles away in Berwick-upon-Tweed. He believes that as long as he walks, Queeny must live. Along with his wife Maureen, he embarks on a walk of hope and determination to travel the length of England to save his friend.

The film stars Jim Broadbent as Harold Fry, known for his roles in Harry Potter, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Moulin Rouge. The film also stars Scarborough-born actor Penelope Wilton as Maureen Fry. Penelope is known for her roles in The Borrowers, Downton Abbey, Doctor Who and Ricky Gervais’s Netflix dark comedy After Life.

Along Harold’s journey, he passes through many locations across the UK, including towns, villages and cities in Yorkshire.

Yorkshire filming locations for The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry

North Yorkshire

Harrogate

South Stainley

Skipton-On-Swale

Northallerton

West Yorkshire

Wakefield

Rothwell

Harewood, Leeds

South Yorkshire

Norton Woodseats, Sheffield

Chapeltown, Sheffield

Barnsley

Staincross