Model Village Small Talk

[Gary]

Please feel free to post any of your model village thoughts, trip reports, memories and images here.

First up - in what I hope will be an ongoing thread about model villages - is the attraction at Anglesey I visited last month.

I remember smiling at the precise directions printed on a pamphlet advertising the Anglesey Model Village:

After crossing the A55 Britannia Bridge, take immediate first exit to "T" junction, turn left signed A4080 Newborough.

• After 1/4 mile take next main road left signed A4080 Newborough.

• Follow A4080 for 8 miles.

• We are 1/2 mile past garage, see brown tourist signs from village of Brynsiencyn.

How could I miss that?

I drove past it.

But that says more about my driving than the directions.

I have difficulty articulating what exactly it is about a model villages that I really love.



The landscaping.


Those names above the shops and garages. It's Gerry Atric here...
I know, I know..but the names make a model village.


The train


There's usually a fairground.
Actually this image sums up model villages for me.
Simple. Uncomplicated. Non-animatronic.


Anglesey Model Village first opened to vistors in 1992 after 2 years of design, landscaping and model-making by the owners Jim and Anne Lympany.

It's certainly not the biggest model village I've been to and at a quick pace you could probably get round in 5 - 10 mins but model villages are meant to be taken slowly. Besides, you can go round as many times as you like.



Anglesey Model Village and Gardens is a little corner of Newbrough stuck in time that is forever.. Wales.

[Gary]

I have very fond memories of Blackpool Model Village.

Between 2000 and 2005 my family and I visited this place on several occasions during a time in our lives when a weekend stay at my in-laws’ caravan at Marton was more or less the norm.

The 2.5 acre attraction can be reached from the road that borders the southern quadrant of the beautiful Stanley Park.

My abiding memories of the village are of stone pathways that branched out and met up elsewhere – You had a choice which way to go and could backtrack.

I also remember the piece of paper with typed questions on it together with a pencil the lady at the entrance would give out for the kids (and adults)

You know the sort of thing..“How many soldiers are in the fort..” etc etc..

The models looked weathered..but loved

Apologies about the quality of the photos here



The name of the builder of the house below is Brian Cowbory...Of course...





You can't have a model village without a fairground



From the website at:

http://www.blackpoolmodelvillage.com/about.html

"Marvel at the many hand crafted models and figures that represent lifes rich tapestry and step back in time to those bygone days when life seemed to move at a slower pace, from a Scottish Castle, protected by its ranks of Guardsmen to a tranquil Cornish fishing village.
From thatched cottages hidden away and a Tudor village whos diminutive residents enjoy a cricket match on the village green. 2011 has seen many new exhibits added along with a working tram running through the shopping centre of the main village!"

Make time for - and take your time around - Blackpool Model Village..Entertainment in its most simplest of forms.

Recommended.

[Gary]

Bekonscot Model Village is in the town centre of Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.

I first visited Bekonscot in 1999 and have been back 3 times since parking each time in the church car park across the road.

It's almost six years since I interviewed Tim Dunn of Bekonscot for themagiceye website here at Joyland.

Tim was (and I presume still is) Bekonscot’s development co-ordinator and a well-respected authority on model villages and miniature parks.

In the interview Tim states:

"..Most model villages in the UK and many abroad owe their existence and inspiration to Bekonscot.

Builders of Babbacombe, Ramsgate, Southport, Clonakilty, Corfe Castle, Great Yarmouth, Tucktonia, Legoland and Madurodam all came here to get inspiration.

A lot of the original buildings and features are still here – that’s part of its charm and beauty – and why people come back year after year. People connect with it – it’s part of the childhood of every person living in the district. You can’t fake real heritage.

It was built by Roland Callingham, a wealthy London accountant. His wife at the time warned him that his model railway had outgrown the house - and either it went outdoors, or he did! He transformed the neighbouring meadow (and his extended rose garden) into an alpine garden complete with 1:12 scale houses and 1:32 scale model railway..."


Wife, daughter and I have been totally captivated by the magic of this place on each time we have visited.

The love, care and dedication that has gone into keeping this 1930s idyll of rural living alive should be congratulated.

See Tim's full interview at:
http://www.joylandbooks.com/themagiceye/articles/bekonscot1.htm

and take a trip on the model village railway at Bekonscot with a driver's eye view at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_anZev8RcU

[Gary]

Situated behind the Old New Inn pub at Bourton on the Water is an exact 1/9th model village replica of Bourton -on-the-Water hand crafted from local Cotswold stone.

The Model Village was built in 1937 and started out as a small garden project which grew into the tourist attraction that it is today.


Image by Francis Frith

Usually model villages are built in a scale of 1:12 - not 1:9 as it is here.

In this quirky set up there is a model of the village within the model village itself (Does that make it a scale of 1:81?)

Not your usual model village but definately worth seeing in my opinion.

[leonrossdale]

I have been to the New Bolsover model village, Bolsover, Derbyshire once. The New Bolsover model village was built in a philanthropic attitude so as to benefit and better the lives of the labourers. This village is built in a pseudo rural, half timbered Mock Tudor style, with sash windows.


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[blue]

In my mind, Great Yarmouth has the best Model Village in the UK.

It has everything you can want from a Model Village: a good working railway, nice landscaping, models that are not out of place, funny scenes, great place names, a boating pond for R/C boats, push button sounds and the building on fire with smoke coming out of the roof.