Bekonscot Model Village

Britain is known the world over for its history of notable eccentrics, collectors and obsessives. And almost nothing screams 'British!' like a superbly detailed model village, especially if it has working model trains. 

If you want to see exactly what I mean you must visit Bekonscot - the oldest Model Village in the world.

Bekonscot is a village locked in a time warp. Opening for the first time in 1929, it boasts very few nods to the modern age - even the Underground Station borrows its design from Art Deco stations like Chiswick and Redbridge in London. Elsewhere you'll see manor houses and village shops, fox hunts and cricket on the village green, a small fishing port and a castle, all firmly stuck in the 1930s. It also operates a massive model railway covering over one and half acres of gardens, all controlled from a genuine full-sized vintage signal box. Over 15 million visitors have been captivated by the charm and eccentricity of the place, including Queen Elizabeth when she was a child. 

The village was the creation of a wealthy London accountant called Roland Callingham. His house in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, sported a swimming pool and tennis courts and was a favourite  country haunt for his society friends. The story goes that Callingham was a passionate model railway enthusiast but his hobby had began to take over the house. So much so that, in 1928, Mrs Callingham issued him with an ultimatum - either the indoor model railway went, or she did. And so the model railway moved outdoors. And it grew. 

And grew. 

One of his neighbours was his great friend, Enid Blyton - creator of Noddy and The Famous Five, though whether she played tennis there (and, in particular nude tennis of which she was, allegedly, a fan) is unrecorded. In 1946 she wrote a short story entitled The Enchanted Village which described a visit to Bekonscot with her niece and nephew. Her house, Green Hedges, was demolished to make way for a development of new houses aptly named Blyton Close. But the model village does have a model of her house (with a figure of her on her porch, typing) and a original full sized sun dial that she owned.

Many of the buildings at Bekonscot are based on real buildings in the area but Callingham was never concerned with precision – Bekonscot was never meant to be taken too seriously. 

I was lucky enough to have a behind the scenes tour of the place back in 2018 ad met some of the maintenance staff and the talented model makers who create the buildings and the tiny people.

In addition to the miles of toy train tracks, there is a ride-on 2ft gauge railway that drives around the site. The track and tipper wagons are thought to have come from the contractors who built the Great Central Railway through Beaconsfield in 1908. The narrow gauge railway was used to move spoil around Bekonscot during construction, and later to move plants and ice creams around to serve tourists. 

Every so often the model village produces special models to mark important anniversaries, such as the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI. On that occasion, Bekonscot boasted a Zeppelin and a tiny diorama of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.   

Bekonscot is now operated by The Roland Callingham Foundation, which continues the tradition established by the founder of welcoming visitors to the village and supporting worthwhile causes. To date it has donated over £5.5 million to various, mainly local, charities. 

Here's the website.