I just have to tell you about a great movie made for the Hallmark TV movie channel, The Good Witch. This family style movie stars Catherine Bell as a Witch, or is she? You don't really know in this, the first installment of this 6 part movie series of this wonderfully, delightfully told tale of a slightly different young woman, coming back to a place that has history from her family's past. The Good Witch, The Good Witch's Garden, The Good Witch's Gift, The Good Witch's Family, The Good Witch's Charm, The Good Witch's Destiny are the six delightful movies. Cassandra "Cassie" Nightingale moved in to her ancestor's abandoned home and the town of Middleton's haunted house. Cassie opened her shop of potions and charms, but the town's self-appointed morality dictator, the mayor's wife, tries to run her out of town after she opens her shop in downtown.

My wife and I loved this movie so much, that when we went to celebrate our 32nd Anniversary in her home town, we had to find the location of this movie. I had to find The Bell Book and Candle and Grey House. My wife did some Nancy Drew work on the internet after seeing a local store across from the Bell Book and Candle in the movie. She also knew the area from her days there. It was in Dundas near Hamilton.  Movies and TV shows have used many such sights in what's known as The Golden Horse Shoe in Canada.

She found it after noticing the name of the grocery store (Picone) across the street in the movie, so she looked it up on the Internet and there were several of the stores in the area.  Ursula knew that it had to be Dundas, Ontario and there was only one store located there.  Now that we knew how to find it, it was only a matter of finding the time while we were there and driving along the main street until we found that store.  Knowing that it would have to be near the grocery store but on the opposite side of the street, we were able to find it, the Bell, Book and Candle and, to my amazement, it is now a restaurant, I might add a rather expensive restaurant but no matter, we were going to eat there come hell or high water.

The food was fantastic or was it the enchantments that were left there by Cassie?  I loved being in that shop. It was so fantastic just to be there and know we were having lunch in the Bell, Book and Candle. Of course, it is not named the Bell Book and Candle. I think it was something like Detour or something like that. To make sure we had the right spot, we asked our waitress how long the restaurant had been there and she said only since 2010. That was a little confusing but she said she’d ask some of the other people that worked there. No one seemed to know and they were not aware of the movie either. Also, probably a good chance that Cassie had left a charm in the building so as not to give away its location. 

After finishing our lunch,  I walked out and took pictures of the building from the front, the back, on the side, making sure I took pictures of the fence where Cassie first found her handyman sleeping in a cardboard box.

I was still a little unsure that we had found the actual, Bell, Book and Candle, but my wife was sure of it.  We went across the street, over to the grocery store that we saw in the movie and asked the proprietor who was the granddaughter of the couple that originally owned this wonderful little green grocer and it had been passed down two generations to her.  She gleefully told us that, yes, it was the Bell, Book and Candle and her store was pictured in the movie.  I was so happy that we had found this spot where they had filmed such a delightful movie that warms my heart each time I watch it and I watch it quite often, not unlike a two year old that has to watch your favorite cartoon over and over and over again.  I was not that much of a Catherine Bell fan before but, once I had seen The Good Witch, I can’t seem to get enough of her work. She is an excellent actress and has a spellbinding delivery of her work. 

Catherine Bell in the Picone Store

  My opinion, however, is that her best work ever is in The Good Witch movie.  The Hallmark movie channel has brought us so many great and wonderful movies and TV shows.  The Good Witch has become one of my favorite movies of all time and, yes, I would recommend it to anyone, especially family.It has Keith’s seal of approval. If you haven’t seen it, you need to.