Bekonscot Model Village
“Tell is what you did in the summer” we invited in last week’s email. On reflection that sounded rather like those essays that punctuated primary school years: “What I did in my holidays” – always a challenge for children who didn’t do anything much (and occasionally an embarrassment to parents when the truth came out – “I don’t know why Daddy didn’t come with us because he hasn’t got a job” made my mother cringe).
So — having made the suggestion I thought I’d better start us off with my trip to Bekonskot Model Village, which ended in a thunderstorm at Marylebone and a whole new meaning to the expression “wet through”.
I went at the suggestion of my (grown up) daughter. I love models, and joy of joys, model trains – there’s a track runs right round the area with LOTS of trains. There were, of course, lots of children too, but also not a few unattended adults. It’s so well done – the models, the ingenuity, the scenery – even the bushes and the flowers were to scale and the lawns were immaculate. The cat, strolling along the railway line, not to scale and causing a few anxious moments for the onlookers as a train trundled towards it.
I rather envied the gardeners who must have access to all the little paths the public aren’t allowed to walk on, but goodness, keeping the grass so tidy must take some doing. Imagine having to lift all the models to cut under and around them.
A bit of history….*
Bekonscot Model Village and Railway is the world’s oldest model village, opening for the first time in 1929. It is now operated by The Roland Callingham Foundation Charity, continuing the tradition established by their founder of welcoming visitors to the village and supporting worthwhile causes by sharing the income with charitable organisations. To date they have donated over £5.5 million to various, mainly local, charities.
The brainchild of Roland Callingham, it all began in 1928 when Mrs Callingham made a short but moving speech which suggested that either the indoor model railway went, or she did. The model railway moved outdoors.
Local buildings and personal favourites of the staff provided much of the village’s inspiration. The Waitrose Building bears a striking resemblance to the actual Waitrose not far away. Bekonscot’s founder was never concerned with precision: it was, and always will be, eccentric, fun and full of character – and never meant to be taken too seriously.
Bekonscot has been through many changes in its history, the biggest coming in 1992 when it went from being kept up to date, with all of the latest cars, trains and planes, to being returned to a 1930’s time warp. The village has remained like this ever since, with new and refurbished buildings always in the traditional style. (This makes some of it quite painful; the zoo for instance, with its tiny, bleak animal enclosures, and the fox hunting scene, things we’d rather not remember.)
It’s easy to get to – if you can call Marylebone easy to get to – with fairly regular trains if the drivers haven’t been “pinged” (ours were – both ways) and not far from Beaconsfield station. And it’s not ridiculously expensive. So altogether a very satisfactory place to go and a thoroughly good day out. (I’m sure my shoes will dry out eventually.)
*From their website: https://www.bekonscot.co.uk/