A FRUIT and veg stall at Bolton Market was transformed into a 1990s Manchester flower stall to film scenes for a new com- ing-of-age drama set in the city.
Spike Island, featuring Elliott Tittensor, of Shameless fame, and Emilia Clarke, who starred in Game of Thrones, is about a group of Stone Roses fans from Manchester, determined to see their heroes on stage. The film crew has been in Bolton all week recording scenes in back streets as well as driving around the town in a 1990s bus.
And yesterday they were at Bolton’s award- winning market.
Director Mat White- cross said: “So far, for us it has been brilliant. You wouldn’t think of a film set 20 years ago as a peri- od film, but it is.
“We have found some incredible locations around Bolton and Greater Manchester that match what we’re look- ing for.
“You never know what it will be like when a rel- atively large film crew turns up somewhere like this but the market has really taken us in.”
Close to 30,000 fans watched the legendary concert in Cheshire in May, 1990. The film fol- lows a group of young council estate hopefuls in an unsigned band and is written by actor Chris Coghill, who played Happy Mondays dancer Bez in 24 Hour Party Peo- ple.
The Spike Island con- cert came to be known as the “baggy Woodstock” and came as the Madch- ester scene was at its height.
The scenes shot at Bolton Market featured Elliott as one of the group of Stone Roses fans and Emilia as the object of his affections.
Spike Island has been jointly funded by the BBC, the British Film Institute, Bankside and the band Coldplay
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