If you’re a horse lover, you will know of the hugely popular netflix show free rein. The series follows the story of an American teen called Zoe who visits her mother’s childhood home on a beautiful island and bonds with a wild horse named Raven who no one else can tame. It’s been a hit for kids and adults alike, scooping emmy awards and attracting millions of viewers from across the world.

The show is the brainchild of ex-Hollyoaks writers Anna McCleery and Vicki Lutas who both grew up around horses. The show is produced by Lime Pictures, a Liverpool based studio who also work on shows such as The Only Way Is Essex and Geordie Shore. The show has already been renewed for a third series and is set to go global. The series is very much in the tradition of English riding-school adventure novels and the like, while being a lot more contemporary (think modern day Disney Channel) with the main characters’ teenage life and drama. It’s a little bit like Heartland, a Canadian TV series focusing on the lives of a cowgirl and her rodeo-cowboy father and grandfather but with more horses!

Scenes for the latest series of Free Rein were filmed in and around Ellesmere last autumn. Residents spotted film crews in the Castlefield car park, near the Mere and at the Boathouse. The series is aimed at children and follows a 15-year-old girl from LA who spends the summer at her mom’s childhood home on an island off the coast of England and bonds with a wild horse. The show features British dressage Olympic champion Charlotte Dujardin as a guest star.