Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Entertainment
Dianne Bourne

Where is Peaky Blinders filmed? All the locations as Series 6 hits Netflix

The final explosive series of Peaky Blinders is now on Netflix, and fans are once again enthralled by the dramas of Tommy Shelby and his family back on screen.

The period drama has played out over six series, showing the gangsters of the Shelby family rise to prominence in 1920s and 30s Birmingham and returned for one final series on the BBC earlier this year. Now it is going global with the news it is available on streaming service Netflix from June 10.

But while the show is famously set in the Small Heath area of Birmingham, in recent years filming has mostly been in and around the north west, with Manchester and Liverpool's atmospheric streets and waterways used to double for Brum in the action.

READ MORE: Where was Stay Close on Netflix filmed? All the Manchester and north west locations

Series six was no different, with film crews and the show's star Cillian Murphy who plays Tommy spotted out in Castlefield and Manchester for filming over several weeks last spring and summer.

Here we take a look at some of the filming locations used for the action in series 6 - and the good news is many of the locations you can visit for yourself across the region.

Small Heath - via Castlefield

Castlefield was used extensively for filming on Peaky Blinders VI (Eamonn and James Clarke)

While a range of Manchester's old cobbled streets have been used in past series to double as Birmingham, for series six the whole of Castlefield was taken over for several weeks to fully embody 1930s Small Heath.

The real Small Heath is an area south east of Birmingham, where the real Peaky Blinders were thought to have first emerged, terrorising the streets from the 1890s through to the 1910s.

But Peaky Blinders' director Anthony Byrne decided to take over the whole of Castlefield for series six filming to create the show's Garrison Lane and Small Heath - thanks to its atmospheric mix of canals, bridges and cobbled streets.

Writing on Instagram, Anthony wrote: "We took over Castlefield in Manchester and turned it into the streets of Small Heath, Birmingham in 1934.

Behind the scenes on Peaky Blinders in Castlefield where series 6 was filmed (Eamonn and James Clarke)

"This was a place I walked to everyday during the first lockdown and had the idea of turning this extraordinary location into the world of Peaky.

"I was incredibly fortunate to see this com to fruition a year later with some amazing collaborators and friends and the great perseverance and talent of Nicole Northridge our production designer and Jess Dove our location manager who really pulled it together, and you will see a lot more of it on the 27th."

When not being used as a film set, Castlefield is a popular destination on the edge of the city for its canal-side bars and restaurants, and in the summer the outdoor Castlefield Bowl hosts a live series of gigs at Sounds of the City.

China Town

China Town scenes were created in Castlefield (Eamonn and James Clarke)

,.

For major scenes in the new series, Tommy will be seen in the China Town district.

But yet again, Castlefield doubled for Brum in these scenes, with purpose-built sets all across the area.

It was part of a huge production effort between the Peaky Blinders team and Screen Manchester.

Jessica Dove, the supervising location manager for Peaky Blinders 6 was full of praise for Screen Manchester and Bobby Cochrane for facilitating the vast production in the city last year.

She said: “Bobby and his team helped make the Peaky Blinders dream a reality in Castlefield.

"With its atmospheric arches, cobbles, canals and huge scale it played the perfect backdrop to some of the most exciting scenes for the new series.

"That couldn’t have been achieved without the guidance and support of Bobby and Screen Manchester which was available through the whole process.

Cillian Murphy on set in Manchester (Eamonn and James Clarke)

"From the ideas stage, when working out what might be possible, to our inevitable tweaking of dates and plans along the way, the long night shoots and finally the strike and reinstatement, Bobby was there day and night."

Bobby added: "The requests for Castlefield were some of the most ambitious and complex we have facilitated to date but I am proud that we helped make the director’s vision a reality.

"I am excited to see how this stunning area of the city will look in this series and It has been wonderful to see the location in the first trailer".

The Garrison pub

The Garrison pub has been at the heart of the action since Peaky Blinders began, and is based on the real-life pub in Small Heath where the original gang are thought to have drunk.

However the real-life Garrison pub has been closed for some time so could not be used for filming.

So the interiors we see on screen today were all purpose built on sets at West Gorton's Space Studios here in Manchester, as were many of the other interior scenes that you will see in series six.

The exterior was part of the vast set built at Castlefield during last summer's major filming in the city.

Director Anthony has revealed that the pub has had a bit of a new look for the new series, to incorporate the colours of black and gold which are "important to the theme" in series six.

While fans of the series may not be able to visit the real-life Garrison pub these days, you can always get into the spirit at Peaky Blinders-themed bars which you can find on Peter Street in Manchester and on Stanhope Street in Liverpool.

Tommy's mansion

Arley Hall in Cheshire is the setting for Tommy's mansion (Great British Food Festival)

One of the most atmospheric settings of the drama, is the stately pile that Tommy Shelby now calls home.

And the setting is Arley Hall and Gardens, near Northwich in Cheshire.

The home represents the step up in life Tommy has achieved since his days brought up in Birmingham's Small Heath.

In the trailer for season 6 we've already seen the mansion once again as a dramatic backdrop - with Tommy stalking his grounds with a machine gun and letting off several rounds.

Arley Hall is Tommy's mansion (Arley Hall/BBC)

The interiors of the mansion house, including the library and dining room, have also featured heavily in past series and will be seen again for series six.

In real life, fans of the show can live the Shelby dream by visiting the historic estate gardens which are open Monday to Sunday throughout the year, while the mansion itself opens on select weekends in the summer which are regularly updated on their website here.

The Grays' Boston mansion

Gina Gray in Peaky Blinders (BBC/Caryn Mandabach Productions Ltd./Matt Squire)

In the opening episode we will see Tommy travel to Boston to confront the scheming Gina Gray in her palatial mansion.

With Great Gatsby black and golds, it looks the very epitome of the American Dream.

But the spectacular space was actually all filmed in Lancashire, rather than Boston.

The distinctive circular space of the living room was actually filmed inside the Ashton Memorial in Lancaster.

Inside the Ashton Memorial (Lancs Live)

The folly was built between 1907 and 1909 in Williamson Park by the millionaire industrial Lord Ashton in memory of his second wife Jessy.

The grand dome has been dubbed the "Taj Mahal of the North" and is open to the public to visit daily, as well as available to book for weddings and events.

The "Midland Hotel"

In the trailer for series six, we see Tommy driving to a simply stunning Art Deco building that has the name The Midland Hotel emblazoned on it.

The building is indeed a hotel in real life - but it is actually Manchester's Hotel Gotham that was used to become Peaky's Midland.

Fans of the show will be pleased to hear that it looks just as amazing in real life as the Peaky cinematography also makes it look.

Hotel Gotham on King Street (Hotel Gotham)

The five-star hotel can be found in an imposing former bank building at the top of King Street, and is known as something of a celebhaunt in Manchester, having hosted the likes of Will.i.am, Simon Cowell, Robbie Williams and Jennifer Hudson over the years.

It opened as Hotel Gotham in 2015, and is all 1930s-themed inside as well, boasting Honey Restaurant which is open to the public, while the top floor is the private members-bar Club Brass.

Meeting hall - Salford Lads Club

The landmark Salford Lads Club building (Eddie Garvey)

In episode two, Tommy heads to speak to his followers ahead of a major rally at a distinctive green-doored building.

Music fans will have spotted straight away that the location for this was the iconic Salford Lads Club, found at the cobbled end of Salford's real-life Coronation Street.

The club is probably best known in modern culture for its links to The Smiths, and remains a popular destination for music fans to pose in the same style of Morrissey, Marr and co outside the iconic doors.

The political rally

Peaky Blinders film set at St Georges Hall Plateau in Liverpool (Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo)

This was all filmed over several nights at St George's Hall in Liverpool for scenes that will air in episode two of Peaky Blinders.

Series six will see the return of Oswald Moseley (played by Sam Claflin) as leader of the British Union of Fascists, with Tommy as his deputy as the world edges closer to war.

As seen in the trailer, tense scenes of a protest at the historic hall will be played out in the new series, with the Nazi flags seen flying inside the venue.

The large public hall was first opened in 1854 and is recognised as one of the finest neo-classical buildings in the world.

It recently launched a new tourist attraction, the St George's Hall Experience: The History Whisperer, where you discover the building's heritage on a ticketed tour.

The church

(BBC/Caryn Mandabach Productions Ltd./Robert Viglasky)

When Tommy heads to pay amends for his sins in series six, it is inside a stunning church building.

Photos from the new series show Tommy with a large stained glass window behind.

Many will no doubt recognise the stunning architecture and the famous Te Deum window inside Liverpool Cathedral.

Inside Liverpool Anglican Cathedral (Liverpool Echo)

Liverpool Anglican Cathedral is Britain's biggest Cathedral and the 5th largest in Europe.

The cathedral is free to enter, however you can also book tickets to tour up the tower and enjoy panoramic views across Liverpool.

Peaky Blinders is available to watch on Netflix from June 10, 2022.

For all the latest news and gossip, click here to sign up to our newsletter

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.