9 minute read
RISING FROM THE ASHES
THE PHOENIX HAS RISEN FROM THE ASHES
After sport and fishing, model railways are the next most popular hobby in the UK. Mary finds out more from the president of Market Deeping’s model railway club, Colin Brown
COLIN ATTENDED A technical grammar school in south London and started making Airfi aeroplanes. And in 1947, aged 14 he progressed to model locomotives, wagons and tracks and this has been his passion ever since. And what a passion to have. These intricate models take hours of painstaking work and really are quite a feat of skill and engineering, albeit on a small scale. One locomotive can take between two to three hundred hours’ work to complete and Colin has more than 40 engines in his house; along with many, many carriages and wagons. And then there’s all the buildings and tracks as well - all made by him.
It really is a labour of love and Colin is not the only person locally to have such a passion; indeed nationally and internationally there are many millions of people indulging in this hobby. And many, many of those people came to the aid of the Market Deeping club when in 20 their e hibition was vandalised at the Stamford Welland Academy. And now that I have seen these intricate models and the hours of work that goes into them it’s even more heartbreaking to think that this happened.
The Market Deeping model railway club was launched in 1976 when local enthusiasts got together to build layouts, models, locomotives and wagons and swap tips and tricks of the trade. Colin joined them 21 years ago and is now president and the oldest member at . Many of the models they build are e act replicas of historic engines such as the lying Scotsman and the Mallard. And many of the layouts are of old railway lines, stations and tracks. Stamford station has been modelled by them along with many more iconic routes and buildings. The size of the models varies, as do the tracks but that seems to depend on personal taste and space available.
Colin always loved trains and they run in his blood as his grandfather worked on building both the lying Scotsman and the
Mallard, as well as many others. During his career Colin didn’t need to build his own layouts (although he did) as he had the run of the ritish railways anyway, having a first class pass to anywhere as he was rail operations manager for Esso and other companies moving freight by rail. So he made the most of that first class ticket and enjoyed unlimited travel.
Today the railways are still his oyster but on a smaller scale. In his very impressive garden shed he has his own model railway which is replicating the late 1930s and ‘40s on the North Eastern railway which became part of LNER in 1923 and British Rail in 1948. There is a station, Alston, which is in Cumbria and the enthead signal bo , the highest in ngland, is an e act model. The line was to be built from Alston via Nenthead in the 19th century, but this didn’t happen, hence the model. Whiskey, his black and white cat that he had as a child can be spotted on the vegetable patch and one of Colin’s friends, a lady in a blue and white spotted dress is waving whilst waiting at the station for the train to arrive. This work of art, as it really is that, took Colin 17 years to build. The streetlights are lit and the vegetables are growing while the coal man stokes the fires to keep the engines running. uite e traordinary and was very privileged to be shown it and see it in action. 20 for the club was definitely an annus horribulus and then, of
course, Covid scuppered everything with no meetings taking place for two years, (‘we did have long phone calls and a lot of Zoom’). There were no exhibitions either. So the scars of 2019 have yet to be erased. But they will be soon as the phoenix is rising from the ashes with their 2022 exhibition which will be held on May 14-15, again at the Stamford Welland Academy.
‘I have never seen such destruction before,’ says Colin. ‘We sometimes get things stolen and the odd accident happens but the wanton vandalism was horrifying. Some of our members lost whole layouts which had taken them over 20 years to build.’
But out of something horrible, good has happened. So many people were horrified by what had happened that donations started coming into the club thick and fast. ‘My email crashed as it just couldn’t cope with the number of messages I was receiving.’ People from all over the world were sending donations, models and locomotives. Rod Stewart sent them £10,000 and many more well known names got in touch. The kindness of people from the famous to the unknown modest modeller was overwhelming. Colin is still sorting through many of the models they were sent, and loving every minute of it.
And because of these kind donations the club has recently been able to relocate to new premises and now has a clubhouse at Essendine. This means they have space to work on layouts and can store models and also have a kitchen and toilet as well; something they didn’t have before.
The club has over 40 members and always welcomes new ones. Nearly every member has their own layout at home and all bring different skills with them. Some are very skilful welders, others can work on the intricate paintwork and others are expert modellers of the buildings rather than locomotives. All are happy to offer advice and impart their skills.
Do go along to the exhibition on May 14 and 15. There will be more than 20 fantastic layouts to admire and engines will be running. There will be demonstrations of different skills and the chance to chat to some of the members. There will also be traders there as well as refreshments. The phoeni has definitely risen from the ashes for this model railway club and long may it continue.
Put your best foot forward
Kate finds out about the first Harborough District Walking Festival
THE FIRST HARBOROUGH District Walking Festival will run from 26-29 May with up to two guided walks per day in countryside around Market Harborough and Lutterworth. This is the brainchild of local walking guides James Carpenter and George Keeping who met through their shared passion for the countryside, walking and local history. They aim to share their knowledge of the area with locals and visitors alike and introduce them to places they may not have previously discovered.
‘Although there are many people who are happy to walk in the countryside there are lots who are unsure with cattle or worry about trespassing,’ James told me. ‘We’ll take people out and give them confidence. Also we ll e plain about the local wildlife, farming and the history of the villages. A number of our walks will take in the lovely villages of Hallaton, Gumley, The Langtons and Tugby to name just a few. And we have done our best to tie them in with local cafés and pubs. We all like to eat after a walk!’
James trained as a blue badge tourist guide in the early 1990s and has been leading guided walks in the Harborough district since then. He also leads the very popular ghost walks in Harborough and Lutterworth he s brimming with stories about different phenomena but he likes to tell them frankly and doesn’t rely on actors jumping out from behind gravestones. lue badge guides are first and foremost entertainers, James said, ‘but you do want to get the correct information across at the same time. I often have locals telling me they’d never heard of such and such a fact and they find the walks fascinating.
James’ father farmed part of the Althorp estate around Brampton Ash for 36 years and James joined the farm after agricultural college.
‘I love the countryside and wildlife,’ he said. ‘When I met George I discovered he does too and we hope to enhance the walks with our local knowledge.’
George originally trained as an archaeological conservator, stabilising and restoring objects from e cavations. Then he worked in museums and then in countryside management in Lincolnshire and elsewhere, for 30 years. He has also written local books on the countryside, including one about Stamford. He told me: ‘When I moved to the Harborough area I was staggered at how beautiful it is. I wanted to share that in some way and when I met James while we were both delivering wellbeing walks we came up with the idea of the walking festival.’
James had retired from work last year and had wanted to do more with his blue badge training. The council sponsored him to do a walks programme giving the history and heritage of both arborough and Lutterworth. This year the council is e panding its sponsorship to help fund the walking festival.
All of the seven festival walks will be countryside walks through ancient pastures and farmland, ne t to streams and through woodland spinneys. There will be a range of length and accessibility; si to seven miles ma imum, some with easy access without stiles. One walk along the Brampton Valley Way up to the Waterloo Farm Leisure cafe, will be suitable for wheelchairs as it finishes before the tunnel. ach walk during the festival will cost e cept the Brampton Valley Way walk which is £5. If you buy a festival pass you can enjoy all the walks for £35, but it’s advisable to book early as places are limited. As there will be livestock en route, dogs are not allowed on the walks. For further information and to book online go to www.harboroughwalks.org.
