Bekonscot in

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and civil parish within the unitary authority of Buckinghamshire, England, west-northwest of central London and south-southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High W ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

, is the oldest original

model village A model village is a type of mostly self-contained community, built from the late 18th century onwards by landowners and business magnates to house their workers. Although the villages are located close to the workplace, they are generally phys ...

in the world. It portrays aspects of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

mostly dating from the 1930s. Bekonscot was first created in the 1920s by a

resident, Roland Callingham (1881–1961). Callingham, an accountant, developed the master plan for his miniature empire as an addition to his large back garden, drawing in help from his staff: the gardener, cook, maid and chauffeur. Together they developed the model landscape portraying rural England at the time. The

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

became the first "sea" and the undulating rockeries were built up as hills.

Bassett-Lowke Bassett-Lowke was an English toy manufacturing company based in Northampton. Founded by Wenman Joseph Bassett-Lowke in 1898 or 1899, the company specialized in model railways, boats and ships, and construction sets. Bassett-Lowke started as a m ...

, the large-scale model railway manufacturers, were commissioned to build an extensive

Gauge 1 1 gauge, gauge 1 or gauge one is a model railway and toy train standard that was popular in the early 20th century, particularly with European manufacturers. Its track measures , making it larger than 0 gauge but slightly smaller than wide gauge ...

railway network for the project. Callingham named the village ''Bekonscot'' after Beaconsfield and Ascot, where he had lived previously. Bekonscot was not conceived as a commercial

visitor attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural b ...

but as a plaything to entertain Callingham and his guests. It was only after 1930 that its existence became widely known, catching the imagination of the press and public alike. Frequent newsreels, such as

Pathé Pathé or Pathé Frères (, styled as PATHÉ!) is the name of various French people, French businesses that were founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France starting in 1896. In the early 1900s, Pathé became the world's largest ...

, and international and

national newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports an ...

coverage, ensured a steady stream of visitors, all of whom were invited to make a donation to the Railway Benevolent Institution. Bekonscot has been run by the

Church Army The Church Army is an evangelistic organisation and mission community founded in 1882 in association with the Church of England and now operating internationally in many parts of the Anglican Communion. History The Church Army was founded in E ...

since 1978 and donates large amounts of money to

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * Ch ...

. It has raised the equivalent of almost £5,000,000 and has been visited by more than 14,000,000 people.

Legacy

Bekonscot is acknowledged to be the inspiration for many other model villages and miniature parks across the world, including

Babbacombe Babbacombe is a district of Torquay, Devon, England. It is notable for Babbacombe Model Village, the Babbacombe Theatre and its clifftop green, Babbacombe Downs, from which Oddicombe Beach is accessed via Babbacombe Cliff Railway. Frequent bu ...

Cockington Green Gardens Cockington Green Gardens is a park of miniatures, situated in Nicholls, Australian Capital Territory. Doug and Brenda Sarah had the idea to create a miniature village in 1972, and Cockington Green was opened on 3 November 1979. The business is ...

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

Tucktonia Tucktonia was a late 1970s theme park located on Stour Road, Christchurch, Dorset, England. It was officially opened on 23 May 1976 by Arthur Askey. It originally occupied of the Tuckton Park Leisure Complex. The park was closed down in 1986. ...

Madurodam Madurodam (, opened 1952) is a miniature park and tourist attraction in the Scheveningen district of The Hague in the Netherlands. It is home to a range of 1:25 scale model replicas of famous Dutch landmarks, historical cities and large developme ...

Bourton-on-the-Water Bourton-on-the-Water is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, that lies on a wide flat vale within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village had a population of 3,296 at the 2011 census. Much of the village ...

, Wimborne,

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

, Clonakilty and

Mini-Europe Mini-Europe is a miniature park located in ''Bruparck'', at the foot of the Atomium, in Brussels, Belgium. Mini-Europe has reproductions of monuments in the European Union and other countries within the continent of Europe on display, at a scale o ...

. As such, it is regarded as the "grandfather" of the model village and miniature park movement. Bekonscot - Historic Model Village: 2009, Page 34 The village expanded in size throughout the first half of the 20th century. Callingham sold off much of the land surrounding the model village, all of which is now a

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States a ...

. The village is now entirely surrounded by

urban development Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

so further expansion is impossible. Bekonscot popularised the miniature park movement, put

on the map, and has a continuing financial legacy in donations to charitable organisations both national and local.

Miniature landscape

The site covers approximately , of which just over half is a miniature 1:12 landscape. Buildings are constructed in

natural material A natural material is any product or physical matter stop changing it. Minerals and the metals that can be extracted from them (without further modification) are also considered to belong into this category. Natural materials are used as building ma ...

s, concrete, or dense

foam board Foamcore, foam board, or paper-faced foam board is a lightweight and easily cut material used for mounting of photographic prints, as backing for picture framing, for making scale models, and in painting. It consists of a board of polystyre ...

, and many are originals from the 1920s. There are six model villages set within the miniature landscape. They are entirely fictional towns, but many buildings within them are based on UK prototypes. Successive generations of modelmakers, gardeners and craftsmen have left their mark on their subjects, which display a wide range of vernacular

architectural style An architectural style is a set of characteristics and features that make a building or other structure notable or historically identifiable. It is a sub-class of style in the visual arts generally, and most styles in architecture relate closely ...

s. Currently there are 12 full-time staff who maintain the village throughout the year. During the open season a further 20 or so seasonal staff are employed. Names of shops and other features include humorous

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

s, such as ''Lee Key Plumbers' Merchants'' ('Lee Key' = '

leak A leak is a way (usually an opening) for fluid to escape a container or fluid-containing system, such as a tank or a ship's hull, through which the contents of the container can escape or outside matter can enter the container. Leaks are usuall ...

y'), ''Sam and Ella's Butchers'' ('

salmonella ''Salmonella'' is a genus of rod-shaped (bacillus) Gram-negative bacteria of the family Enterobacteriaceae. The two species of ''Salmonella'' are ''Salmonella enterica'' and ''Salmonella bongori''. ''S. enterica'' is the type species and is fur ...

') and the ''Mark Owney Wireless and Gramophone stores'' (' Marconi'). Other model villages have run with the playful nature of the miniature business names and it has become something of a model tradition.

Notable features

Railways

Gauge 1

Bekonscot's

outdoor model railway is among the largest public

garden railway A garden railroad or garden railway is a model railway system set up outdoors in a garden. While G is the most popular scale for garden railroads, 16 mm scale has a dedicated and growing following especially in the UK. Model locomotives in ...

s in the UK, at ten scale miles. A custom-built PC-based interface controls the

block signalling Signalling block systems enable the safe and efficient operation of railways by preventing collisions between trains. The basic principle is that a track is broken up into a series of sections or "blocks". Only one train may occupy a block at a ...

system, directing up to 12 trains at any one time on prototype routes. In addition there are two manual

lever frame Mechanical railway signalling installations rely on lever frames for their operation to interlock the signals, track locks and points to allow the safe operation of trains in the area the signals control. Usually located in the signal box, the ...

s, one ex-

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

ways (BR) and the other from

London Underground The London Underground (also known simply as the Underground or by its nickname the Tube) is a rapid transit system serving Greater London and some parts of the adjacent ceremonial counties of England, counties of Buckinghamshire, Essex and He ...

. The BR lever frame is still in use as a

manual override A manual override (MO) or manual analog override (MAO) is a mechanism where control is taken from an automated system and given to the user. For example, a manual override in photography refers to the ability for the human photographer to turn off t ...

for the trains. Some original

stock from the 1930s is still in daily use, albeit with new

running gear In railway terminology the term running gear refers to those components of a railway vehicle that run passively on the rails, unlike those of the driving gear. Traditionally these are the wheels, axles, axle boxes, springs and vehicle frame of a ...

. Locomotives include several

tank engine A tank locomotive or tank engine is a steam locomotive that carries its water in one or more on-board water tanks, instead of a more traditional tender. Most tank engines also have bunkers (or fuel tanks) to hold fuel; in a tender-tank locomot ...

s, a freelance tender loco, GWR railmotor, pannier tanks, SR 2BIL EMU, plus assorted others. Many of these trains have significant historical value. Some have been running for over 50 years, each covering about per year. The model railway is not based on any particular prototype but features two stations based on local examples - that at Maryloo

High Wycombe High Wycombe, often referred to as Wycombe ( ), is a market town in Buckinghamshire, England. Lying in the valley of the River Wye surrounded by the Chiltern Hills, it is west-northwest of Charing Cross in London, south-southeast of Ayl ...

and Greenhaily

. There are seven stations in total; others have been inspired by Midland,

Great Central The Great Central Railway in England was formed when the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire Railway changed its name in 1897, anticipating the opening in 1899 of its London Extension. On 1 January 1923, the company was grouped into the L ...

and

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

designs. Significant lineside features include several tunnels, a working

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, overpass ...

and a scaled-down replica of the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North Shore. The view of the bridg ...

traversed by the branch line to the coal mine. The model railway has changed many times over its history since being established in the 1920s. Bekonscot - Historic Model Village: 2009 Early photos show a coarse scale Gauge 1 network with several branches, and many sidings, goods yards and express loops, around Maryloo. These were later reduced to enable easier maintenance and a more efficient experience for the visiting public. A branch was added to Evenlode in the 1940s, originally double track throughout with the end looping around a canal basin area, now the site of the coal mine. One part of this loop (single track) was discovered still intact in a ceramic pipe used as a tunnel during excavations in 2002. The branch has subsequently been realigned and singled, with

passing loop A passing loop (UK usage) or passing siding (North America) (also called a crossing loop, crossing place, refuge loop or, colloquially, a hole) is a place on a single line railway or tramway, often located at or near a station, where trains or ...

s, and now follows a slightly shortened route. Ideas for extensions and additions have often been considered by staff, which means that the railway has been altered many times.

gauge

miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petrol ...

known as the Bekonscot Light Railway, providing for passenger rides, was built along the perimeter of the site in 2001. Of gauge, it was extended in 2004 to a new terminus. Three

battery-electric A battery electric vehicle (BEV), pure electric vehicle, only-electric vehicle, fully electric vehicle or all-electric vehicle is a type of electric vehicle (EV) that exclusively uses chemical energy stored in rechargeable battery packs, wi ...

locos haul trains: one a

Bo-Bo B-B and Bo-Bo are the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and British classifications of wheel arrangement for railway locomotives with four axles in two individual bogies. They are equivalent to the B′B′ and Bo′Bo′ classifications in ...

tram, one a

diesel shunter and one a large

0-4-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents one of the simplest possible types, that with two axles and four coupled wheels, all of which are driven. The wheels on the earliest four-coupled locomotives were ...

built by Maxitrak. The latter was named "Sprocket" in 2004, the third birthday of the railway and the 75th of the original model village. The two Bo-Bo locomotives were designed and built by the in-house engineering department. Visiting locomotives have included a Maxitrak Opal 0-4-2

, a

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ga, Contae Dhún na nGall) is a county of Ireland in the province of Ulster and in the Northern and Western Region. It is named after the town of Donegal in the south of the county. It has also been known as County Tyrconne ...

railbus A railbus is a lightweight passenger railcar that shares many aspects of its construction with a bus, typically having a bus (original or modified) body and four wheels on a fixed base, instead of on bogies. Originally designed and developed ...

and a Mardyke

InterCity 125 The InterCity 125 (originally Inter-City 125New trai ...

Two foot gauge

There is also evidence of

narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...

railways used on site for construction and later transportation of materials for maintenance. Photographs show the route in 1928 and 1932. Three complete wagon chassis were unearthed in 2003 during excavations for the Bekonscot Light Railway and these have been restored and displayed around the Bekonscot site for posterity.

In popular culture

Bekonscot features prominently in the

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Sel ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

''Scale'' and was the setting of Beaconsfield-resident

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have be ...

's short story ''The Enchanted Village''. It is also thought to have inspired the series of ''Borrowers'' books by Mary Norton. The

non-fiction Nonfiction, or non-fiction, is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to provide information (and sometimes opinions) grounded only in facts and real life, rather than in imagination. Nonfiction is often associated with be ...

bestseller ''Forever England'', by Liam Bailey, is a photographic study of the village's miniature characters, whilst ''

Bollocks to Alton Towers ''Bollocks to Alton Towers: Uncommonly British Days Out'' () is a humorous travel book written by Robin Halstead, Jason Hazeley, Alex Morris, and Joel Morris (the creators of '' The Framley Examiner''), which showcases unusual attractions, l ...

'', by Hazely et al., celebrates the quirkiness and eccentricity of Bekonscot. The 2007 song ''Country Life'', by

Luke Haines Luke Michael Haines (born 7 October 1967) is an English musician, songwriter and author. He has recorded music under various names and with various bands, including The Auteurs, Baader Meinhof and Black Box Recorder. Career ''New Wave'' Haine ...

, mentions Bekonscot in its liner notes, and the lyrics use the village as an

extended metaphor An extended metaphor, also known as a conceit or sustained metaphor, is the use of a single metaphor or analogy at length in a work of literature. It differs from a mere metaphor in its length, and in having more than one single point of contact bet ...

. The Penny Peeps released the song "Model Village" in 1968. The single's cover artwork featured Bekonscot. Owing to Bekonscot's proximity to London and the south-east-based

media industry Mass media refers to a diverse array of media technologies that reach a large audience via mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place include a variety of outlets. Broadcast media transmit information e ...

, the village features frequently on television and radio. Television appearances include: * ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...

'' (multiple times) * '' Treasure Hunt'' * ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British crime drama television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the '' Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series (created by Caroline Graham), and broadcast on two channels of I ...

'' (the episode ''Small Mercies'', aired 28 October 2009) *

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

Countryfile ''Countryfile'' is a British television programme which airs weekly on BBC One and reports on rural, agricultural, and environmental issues in the United Kingdom. The programme is currently presented by John Craven, Adam Henson, Matt Baker, T ...

'' *

The One Show ''The One Show'' is a British television magazine and chat show programme. Broadcast live on BBC One weeknights at 7:00 pm, it features topical stories and studio guests. It is currently co-hosted by Alex Jones, Jermaine Jenas, and Ronan K ...

'' (aired 29 January 2010) * BBC ''

Working Lunch ''Working Lunch'' is a television programme which was broadcast on BBC Two covering business, personal finance and consumer news; it was broadcast between 1994 and 2010. The programme was first aired on 19 September 1994. It had a quirky, relaxed ...

'' *

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechri ...

advertisement * ''

One Foot in the Past ''One Foot in the Past'' is a British television series on BBC 2 that ran from 1993 to 2000. It considered the cultural heritage and history of Britain. Each programme ran for 30 minutes. Presenters included Kirsty Wark and also: * Joan Bakewell ...

'' introductory sequence *

Muffin the Mule Muffin the Mule is a puppet character in a British 1946-1955 television programme for children. The puppet had been made in 1933 for Hogarth Puppets. The original TV programmes featuring the animal character himself were presented by Annette M ...

* Discovery Home and Leisure's 'Garden Railway' series *

Great British Railway Journeys ''Great British Railway Journeys'' is a 2010-2021 BBC documentary series presented by Michael Portillo, a former Conservative MP and Cabinet Minister who was instrumental in saving the Settle to Carlisle line from closure in 1989. The documen ...

'' (season 12 Ep 2) * '' The Architecture the Railways Built''

Notes

References

External links

Official website

May 1937 National Geographic article

* – ''a journey round the railway filmed from a locomotive'' {{Ridable miniature railways in England 1929 establishments in England Tourist attractions in Buckinghamshire Miniature parks Miniature railways in the United Kingdom Model railway shows and exhibitions Beaconsfield