Dark Knight bathes in strath sunshine

PRODUCTION of "The Dark Knight’ briefly emerged into the most brilliant daylight over the strath after all the rain clouds of the past week.

The Hercules, and a small black twin prop plane and a helicopter which have been based at Glenfeshie airstrip, were flying in very close proximity as part of the production of the latest Batman blockbuster movie for several days.

One of those to see the aircraft flying in close formation in the kinder weather was the daughter of the strath’s wartime Royal Observer Corps chief.

"We heard this wonderful friendly drone of an army transporter," said Mrs Betty Pentland, of Moss Cottage by Kincraig, "and when my husband Michael and I stepped into the garden we saw the most beautiful gleaming white Hercules.

"So naturally I made a dash for the camera!"

As it turned out, Mrs Pentland – whose father, Ronald Fane Martin had served as Assistant Observer Group Officer in World War II, inspecting all the local observation posts – need not have rushed.

"We were amazed when it came back a little while later. And then again. And then the next day..."

In fact, tourists and locals watching from the ground lost count of the number of takes there must have been over the past week.

As they watched the ‘drama’ unfolding high above them, several locals and visitors grumbled that the film company should have been allowed to land the Hercules on the A9 Inverness-Perth road as producers had requested.

Transport Scotland had reportedly feared the disruption to the region’s main arterial road in a decision to turn down the request.

"It’s certainly a lost opportunity," said Amanda Frazer, chair of the Badenoch and Strathspey Federation of Small Businesses branch.

"If they had gone ahead with the landing, the tourists would have flocked here to see it and photograph it. It would have been a tremendous boost for the local economy."

Meanwhile, there were no road closures in the Feshie Bridge area today (Tuesday) as part of the eagerly awaited Hollywood movie.

A police spokesman confirmed that they had received a request to close the roads on July 20 in and around the village.

He said: "They were to film at Feshiebridge and this would have involved closing the road for most of the day but they are no longer doing this."

There has already been some Hollywood action after a stunt went wrong and a sheepish but lucky skydiver was left stuck in the roof of a house in Glenfeshie.

The stuntman rehearsing for the new Batman movie was described as "plummeting like a stone" and on-lookers said that he had a miraculous escape after he got caught up in strong winds a couple of weeks ago whilst taking part in rehearsals.

The parachutists, dressed in black, had been jumping from the private plane painted black as part of the sequence for the movie starring Christian Bale and Michael Caine.

The chartered helicopter has also been based at the Cairngorm Gliding Club’s airstrip.

The Dark Knight Rises is due for release in July 2012. It is director Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film, the previous features being Batman Begins in 2005 and 2008’s The Dark Knight.

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