Linda Williams turned into a celebrity while on vacation in Scotland. People in Greenock, a small town close to Glasgow, greeted her when she entered shops. A taxi driver recognized her, and the mayor provost gave her an official welcome. They had seen her picture in the local newspaper, The Greenock Telegraph.
This summer, Williams went to Greenock, a filming location for the 2004 movie “Dear Frankie.” “It’s a good, heartwarming story,” says Williams, a Seymour resident. It is a tale of a young boy wanting to meet his absent father, supposedly a sailor who writes letters from afar. The mother, the actual letter writer, finds herself in a predicament when the ship comes to port. A stand-in father spends a weekend with Frankie.
Williams e-mailed producer Caroline Wood to ask where scenes were filmed. In her response, Wood suggested Williams go to the newspaper office for directions to filming locations.
“I have always wanted to go to Scotland because my ancestors are from Scotland and I wanted to see it,” says Williams. She booked a tour that included major cities and historical sites, and also arranged to go five days early in order to have time in Greenock.
A newspaper photographer and reporter spent a day taking her around town and telling stories about the filming. The reporter shared with readers Williams’ re-creation of the beach scene. “I brought a skimming stone from Gatlinburg. I wrote ‘Tennessee’ on one side and ‘USA’ on the other,” she says. “Here it was my first trip out of the country, and I get my picture in the paper!”
Two other guides took her to Port Glasgow and interesting attractions in the area.
She then joined her tour group and visited Glasgow, Edinburgh, Saint Andrews, Loch Ness and several historical sites, including the battlefield at Culloden. The verdant countryside was most appealing.
“I kept a journal and wrote, ‘I saw lots of sheep today.’ The next day I added, ‘More sheep.’ The hills are like Tennessee. It’s just beautiful.”
Linda Lange may be reached at 865-342-6433. She is travel editor of the News Sentinel.