This October, a touch of magic has arrived on Cornwall’s wild coast, with filming underway at Kynance Cove for HBO’s upcoming Harry Potter series.

The ambitious new project will retell J.K. Rowling’s seven books as a decade-long television saga, one season per book, offering a more detailed and faithful adaptation than the original films. Season one, based on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, is already in production and set to bring a new cast of witches, wizards, and Muggles to the screen when it premieres on HBO Max in 2027.

Seeing Kynance Cove transformed into part of this reimagined wizarding world is a truly magical sight, blending Cornwall’s dramatic natural beauty with one of the most beloved stories of all time.

I drove up to Kynance Cove hoping to get access to the main car park and maybe a closer look at the film set, but the entire area had been closed off for the crew. That meant heading further on to The Lizard, parking there, and walking the 2.5 miles back to Kynance Cove with a heavy backpack in tow. My knees and back weren’t too happy about it, but the weather was stunning and the walk itself was beautiful well worth the effort to see what was unfolding on the Harry Potter film set.

About half a mile into the walk, Kynance Cove came into view. I stopped to see if I could capture anything from that distance. Not knowing how long filming would last or how close I’d be able to get, I decided to start recording while I had the chance. The wind was fierce, but I managed to get some surprisingly good shots that later cleaned up well after a bit of zooming and stabilising in post editing.

In total, I filmed from three different vantage points, all from quite a distance. Thankfully, that’s where having a superzoom camera really pays off; you don’t need to be right up close to get usable footage. With a little editing and cropping, the results turned out better than I expected.

I’ll admit I’ve never actually seen a Harry Potter film, so I can’t say for sure how much of what I captured will mean something to the die-hard fans but it was a fascinating experience nonetheless, and I hope you enjoy watching the footage as much as I enjoyed the adventure of getting it.