Bucket List: Cornetto Trilogy Locations

There are bucket lists and then there are bucket lists. The kind that take you from the cathedral square of Wells to the quietly cinematic streets of Crouch End in pursuit of ice cream wrappers and impeccable comic timing. We are, slowly and with great reverence, ticking off the filming locations of the Cornetto Trilogy — first the Somerset serenity of Hot Fuzz, now the North London zombie lanes of Shaun of the Dead — armed with cameras, over-specific knowledge and my Excellent Adventures - The Time Travel Movie podcast buddy Paul Tonks, ever ready to recreate a moment on demand.

Two films down. One to go.

Paul with his prized Cornetto!

Stop One: Hot Fuzz, Wells

(Or, where the greater good reigns supreme)

In June 2022 we tackled Wells, Somerset, the real-world Sandford. Cathedral. Market square. That unmistakable sense that if you jaywalk, a man in a fleece will appear and tell you it’s for the greater good.

Paul was in his element. Pointing. Quoting. Standing in exactly the wrong place to demonstrate exactly the right shot. If you didn’t mutter “narp” at least once, were you even there?

Tick.

Stop Two: Shaun of the Dead, Crouch End

(You’ve got red on you)

December 2025, and this time we're in Crouch End, home of the most important zombie apocalypse in British cinema.

We started, naturally, at 83 Nelson Road, Shaun’s flat. The house where life is going nowhere, plans are always tomorrow and the pub is just round the corner. Standing outside it is weirdly emotional. It looks ordinary. That’s the point.

A short walk away, the holy grail of hangover cinema: the corner shop on Weston Park. The shop. The shop.“You want anything from the shop?”Cornetto. Diet Coke. Nine shots of pure cinema history.

And there it is, if you know where to look. The bloody footprint at the threshold. Proof that the apocalypse really did pass through here, even if Shaun didn’t notice at the time.

Switching roles, Paul gamely took on both parts: first the shuffling, vacant-eyed zombie, then Shaun himself on his fateful shop run. He mastered the distracted stagger, the blank stare and the single, sacred purchase of a Diet Coke, even attempting to open it with his teeth in true hungover style as civilisation quietly unravelled behind him. I can confirm it is still funny.

I can also confirm that, at the crucial moment, I announced — loudly and with satisfaction — that he had got red on him. Some traditions must be upheld.

And yes, they do sell Cornettos!

Then on to Broadway Fruiterers, where Shaun buys flowers for his mum, blissfully unaware of the chaos unfolding behind him. It is still a fruiterers. Life goes on. Zombies or no zombies.

A Personal Footnote

(Or, why this one mattered more than usual)

This stretch of North London isn’t just a filming location for me. I went to school nearby. These streets are baked into my sense of place. Long before zombies, Cornettos and fence-hopping montages, they were just… streets.

Which makes seeing them immortalised in one of the sharpest British films of the last twenty years extra special.

The Ritual

Every pilgrimage needs rules.

ou must:

• Quote lines in situ

• Take at least one photo that looks nothing like the film but means everything to you

• Recreate a moment, even if it makes passers-by nervous

• Stand exactly where a character once stood and declare it important

• Leave slightly overexcited and already planning the next stop

Paul remains excellent at all of the above.

One Film Left

Which leaves just The World’s End. Letchworth and Welwyn Garden City. The Golden Mile. Twelve pubs. One destiny.

We’ve done Wells. We’ve done Crouch End. The trilogy demands completion.

Until then, if anyone needs us, we’ll be in North London, staring at a corner shop threshold and whispering: “You’ve got red on you.” 🍦