I went to Winterfell and it was a building site

You would be forgiven for thinking that a visit to Winterfell would be all about spearing Wildlings, petting dire wolves and cosying up to the remaining Starks but alas, I visited Winterfell and it was just a building site- a totally amazing, nerd-tastic building site.

For up to date Game of Thrones fans, the last we saw of Winterfell was at the end of series 2 when Ramsay Snow set fire to it as he kidnapped Theon Greyjoy. Bran and Rickon see its smoking ruins as they begin their journey north.

When I visited the site of Winterfell, just 2 miles from my home in County Antrim I found it was going under major renovation ahead of the filming of series 5, which begins in August.

The Winterfell site before now was made up of the bare minimum, a courtyard and well and a burnt out cart, but now it is being turned into a full on castle.

I’m not up to date on the books but it definitely looks like Winterfell is coming back with a vengeance in series 5.

Written by Ned Stark? Unlikely.

To my despair I did not find Jon Snow at the set begging for my hand in marriage or Arya learning how to use her sword, but these lads staring over the fence. It seems they aren’t too happy their home has been infiltrated again by not only the Starks but construction workers, architects and very soon a cast and directors.

The North’s cows also remember

This Winterfell site has protection like that of the Bloody Gate protecting the Eyrie, except it is really just a 24/7 security team making sure nobody likes me breaks in and takes pictures like me. My bad.

That security set up though

The Winterfell site is situated in a local demesne, and it takes up a small fraction of the large expanse of farming land. The land has also been used to film outdoor scenes at The Wall and tucked away in an old farm building is the Winterfell brothel which Tyrion visits in Season One. I can now say that I visited my first brothel with my Daddy, which could easily be a story line in GOT .

Do brothels always look so quaint?

Inside Winterfell’s one and only brothel

Below is the outline of a direwolf cut out from wood which hangs proudly in the Winterfell courtyard, the cute but deadly CGI animals are now synonymous with the Stark family.

Recognise this next picture from any scenes?

Additions being made to what was the archery practice area in Seasons 1 and 2  in Winterfell

Below shows some more new additions to Winterfell in the form of a wooden turret which has yet to be treated with stone like paint. Hollywood secrets eh?

Below is a picture of the front gate of Winterfell which is never actually featured in the show as the outside of Winterfell is filmed in different locations around N.I. You readers can take that fun nerd fact home for free.

While Winterfell may not be as glamorous or warm as visiting the Targaryens  in Croatia it is pretty cool that this set is just down the road from me and you can be as sure as Reek has no genitals I’ll be doing my best to sneak in when filming resumes.