Thinking small... miniature villages and other delights

[EAS]

It would be interesting to hear of news of others:

http://nemesisrepublic.blogspot.com/200 ... small.html




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Pic: Bekonscot Model Village Geograph pic © Copyright Ray Stanton and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.

[furie]

We visited Southport's model village last year and the whole family (my parents, myself, my wife and two kids (12 and 3 at the time)) all had a fantastic hour or so there.

I love the simple pleasures you can garner from places, and this was one of them. No thrills, no spills, no electronic beeps and whistles. Just plain old fashioned gentle joy.

The kids were certainly fascinated, and the adults really enjoyed taking a step back to our childhood holidays too.

Then again, that holiday in Southport we enjoyed donkey rides, a trip on the miniature railway and ice-cream and chips along the pier (including a visit to fantastic penny arcade - complete with Sooty band ).

It seemed a shame that everyone else in town was trying to cram into JJB or McDonalds and was completely missing out on a tranquil, relaxing simple joys of being at the seaside. Very sad.

Those families partaking though we all smiling faces and giggles.

Here's hoping the economic crisis can help guide people back to the cheap and simple things the UK has to offer.

[EAS]

It's just so true furie!

Frankly, I can't see the fun in all that hanging around airports and boiling on beaches. I think there's so much simple fun can be had in the UK, with (or indeed without...) children!

Possibly we can add some other things and sources of information to this thread? (Of course the new Dreamland will be a magnet for families...)

[EAS]

Nick has kindly added these to the list in the blog:

There is also a fantastic model village at Sewerby near Bridlington:

http://delightfullyjaded.com/bondville-model-village/


Skegness Model Village:

http://www.enjoyengland.com/attractions ... Pid=128382


Southsea:

http://www.localhaunts.com/model-village/


Wimborne Model Town:

http://www.wimborne-modeltown.com/

[timmydunn]

Nemesis - thank you for your super description of Bekonscot and mention of my own miniature plans for rescuing our model heritage of tiny buildings!

Thought I had better join here as I've often browsed the forums before.

We have plans to catalogue the model towns of Britain on the new Bekonscot website (arriving in the next few weeks) as I've been amassing a collection of postcards and ephemera for the past few years. Fellow researchers have been doing it for over 20. We must get scanning in...

Aside from the glorious examples already listed, there are quite a few others still extant. You'll note that the Forest of Dean village lists itself as being shut on its website - it has however reopened this year with a new owner and its location is quite beautiful.

Another one to look for is Wistow Rural Life Centre:
http://www.wistow.com/model.asp

Also Lakeland Model Village:
http://www.lakelandminiaturevillage.com/

Ruskin Museum at Coniston:
http://www.ruskinmuseum.com/usher.htm

And one which I've facilitated the move of, from Harrogate to North Yorks. It's just been moved in bits to Ryedale Folk Museum - and will be restored over the next few years.
http://www.ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk/


I'm especially interested to find out about other villages - even the ones in gardens.

There was once a very large one at Coney Beach, Porthcawl - and it looks from Microsoft Live Earth that the site is very much extant. Anyone live locally to that who can have a look?

[FATBOY]

nice one here in great yarmouth.

www.merrivalemodelvillage.co.uk

visited it many a time when i was young

[Gary]

I interviewed Tim Dunn of Bekonscot some years back for themagiceye.

http://www.joylandbooks.com/themagiceye/articles/bekonscot1.htm

Gary

PS Anyone been to Blackpool model village in Stanley Park?

[timmydunn]

I remember it well Gary and Google brings it up whenever I search on my name!

This is an important year for Bekonscot - it's the 80th anniversary.

Tim

[Gary]

Hi Tim!

Ann, Isabel and I were at Bekonscot last year again and had a fantastic time!

It's always sunny in that little corner of Buckinghamshire that is "forever England".

Great to see the place thriving - The whole place is fantastic. Happy 80th birthday Bekonscot!

I love the YouTube "View from the Bekonscot model train" video..Essential viewing even if you don't like trains!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_anZev8RcU

Tim, have you ever contacted Blackpool Model Village? We have been there several times and it too has a good atmosphere although the place has seen better days.

Gary

[ghughesarch]

Also Lakeland Model Village:
http://www.lakelandminiaturevillage.com/

I do wonder why Tintagel Post Office seems to be one of their models?
There used to be quite a nice one at Lelant in Cornwall, with a good "Smugglers, Pirates and Witches" type museum attached.
And there was also one at St Agnes Leisure Park, which I recall as being a charming "tots" theme park, all destroyed to make way for a film studio - a tale which has an unhappy ending:
http://www.thisisplymouth.co.uk/news/Film-studio-frauster-ordered-repay-100k-face-prison/article-614933-detail/article.html[/url]

[timmydunn]

I do wonder why Tintagel Post Office seems to be one of their models?

I'm not sure - I know that the builder concentrates on Cumbrian vernacular architecture, and he has many fine examples. He did some experimentation with other prototypes including some half-timbered buildings from Sussex, so perhaps Tintagel Post Office is one of his early experiments... I must put my photos online sometime.

Lelant and St Agnes are long gone - but some of the buildings survive and I have reason to believe that a small selection will go on to be redisplayed at Lands End theme park this or next year. There were two model villages at Lands End - one used the Lelant/Agnes buildings in a small cluster near the carpark (temporarily relocated away from Lands End but may return) as well as another more scattered layout somewhere else on a hilly part of the site - I have vague childhood memories of it.

Anyone remember any more?

I haven't been up to Balckpool yet Gary - I have heard that the new managers are doing great things with it and have improved the gardens a lot.

I can also recommend one of my favourite 'villages' if you find yourselves in West Wales - in a garden in Corris:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timmydunn/ ... 279173013/

[EAS]

Well I have to say all this is turning out to be a much wider topic than in the blog last week! Isn't the internet wonderful, how it can suddenly pull together so much information and people! Clearly, we are not alone in our interest in model villages, and they do survive all over the country.

Somewhere in a huge box of family pics I am sure I have one of my other half and his sister at Bekonscot, not quite eighty years ago but certainly about half a century, I must go and see if I can find it.

Congratulations Bekonscot on achieving eighty.

[timmydunn]

Those nice people at NothingToSeeHere are, I understand, writing about several other model villages this year.

I'm embarking on a project to catalogue my ephemera and postcards, interviews and bits on all of the towns so far.

Just to get you started (and thinking) - I've put together a quick Google Map of all of the model villages in Britain.

The info on here isn't complete - it's more a reference for myself as to where the damned things were. I have literally thousands of things to scan and type up - there's a space on the new Bek website for it all to go so I'll keep you posted.

Anyway, link here:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/ms?hl=en& ... 480957&z=7

GREEN = Public and open.
RED = Public and shut.
BLUE = Private and open.
PINK = Private and shut.

A few have been moved very slightly or omitted to protect privacy of private ones. But it's pretty accurate...

[EAS]

To update this thread, another blogpost, this time about Godshill:

http://fantasticjournal.blogspot.com/20 ... untry.html

[EAS]

The first listing of a model village

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2013/ ... el-village

Bourton-on-the-Water in the Cotswolds has been listed at Grade II