It has recently been brought to our attention that the latest edition (January 2018) of Bluebell News, the publication documenting the happenings on the Bluebell Railway, featured an interesting hockey story.
On 27 August 2017, the Railway's Sheffield Park station was taken over for filming by the cast and crew of "Bollywood extravaganza" Gold. Gold tells the story of the India men's hockey team who won gold medals at the 1948 Olympics, the first time India won an Olympic gold medal as an independent nation. For one night only Sheffield Park in East Sussex became the Amritsar Junction in Lahore. You can read the report from the Bluebell News by clicking the PDF icon below.
The Hockey Museum (THM) has long been aware of the film in question and was consulted by the film's production team prior to shooting. THM's curatorial team offered advice on historical accuracy, specifically with regard to the hockey-playing scenes reflecting the game during that era (rules, equipment etc.). Given the Bluebell News's assertion that "it appears atmosphere is more important than tedious geographical and historical accuracy", in this instance refering to the type of train used in the shoot, we await the film's release to see how much of our advice was taken on board (no train pun intended). Whatever the level of historicity, we're sure that it will be a great film.
Shane Smith, 5 February 2018
