'I visited village where The Holiday was filmed and it was magical'
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There’s a moment in The Holiday where Jude Law’s swoon-worthy character Graham scans a bustling pub with quiet dismay until his eyes land on Cameron Diaz’s Amanda, who gives a small, knowing wave. Romance is rekindled. Hearts flutter. But step inside The White Horse pub in Shere, Surrey, and the scene plays out a little differently.
No one’s scanning the room for long-lost lovers here. Instead, many visitors make a laser-focused beeline to one holy spot - the very chair Jude Law parked his handsome self on during filming. Naturally, I do the same. I enter this cosy 15th-century pub - all roaring fireplaces, low beams, and the kind of atmosphere that makes you wish you’d worn a cable-knit jumper - with one goal in mind: to claim Jude’s seat. I order a glass of wine, Amanda-style, and settle in for my moment of festive film history. Thomas Gillas, the pub’s general manager, chuckles as he talks of the pub’s starry reputation.
“We get pretty much 20 to 30 people over the weekends and then like 5 or 6 during the week,” he says. “And a lot more around Christmas. Some just come to have a look or take photos. We get loads of requests for Jude Law’s seat, with people booking months in advance. I’ve only worked here a few months, but I’ve seen visitors dressed in white hats and scarves like Cameron’s character. It’s known as The Holiday pub, and people ask a million and one questions.”.
As I sip my wine, I notice two women loitering by the door, phones poised like paparazzi. “It’s just so cute here,” Mia Celestine, 25, from Portsmouth, tells me. “We wanted to come and see it for ourselves. It’s one of my all-time favourite Christmas films. I watched it this weekend actually.” Her friend Renata DelValle, 25, from Spain, adds: “I just watched it for the first time last night. I’ll be watching it every winter now.”.
