All about our business…
Yes, you may have guessed from the photos…we are a family run business and very proud of it! Robin Thwaites (pictured left in black and white snap) purchased the Model Village in the late 1960’s when it was in need of repair. His vision and attention to detail has set the standard for a great deal of what you see today. Stuart and Penny (daughter of Robin, the current owners) are passionate about everything you see here and with our great team we aim to give every customer a wonderful nostalgic experience.
The Model Village first opened to the public in 1952 after Mr Dams created models of Shanklin to populate the top section of the Old Vicarage gardens. The lower half of the garden (the first section you will see when you arrive) contains models of Godshill (the village we are situated in) that Robin Thwaites made with help of model makers at Pinewood – this was the sixties remember with Thunderbirds and Lady Penelope at the top of their game!
You could say our attraction has a split personality! On one hand we are a fantastic model village replete with Island life perfectly recreated in miniature, and on the other we offer a stunning collection of conifers and trees.
The garden is landscaped to provide a back drop to the model houses but in doing so we have created an outstanding experience for gardeners. If you can appreciate the hours of work it takes to attend to the conifers and shrubs we have growing here you will LOVE this place.
The models are laid out over the Old Vicarage gardens to represent Godshill (the village we are set in) and Shanklin (a town on the coast a short drive away). The original owner of the site wanted to create a faithful representation of Shanklin in the garden here. Work started in the 1950’s moving earth using a local farmers horse and cart to dig out the Chine Valley that runs from the top of the garden to the large pond.
The real houses in Shanklin were then measured and photographed for accurate reproduction in the workshop. The Godshill section was opened by the family of the current owners in the 1970’s. Both areas represent life in the 1930’s – so you will find houses, pubs, churches and little people frozen in time.
Our little people are created by local artist Helen Egleton who has been working with us since she was a teenager. Her artistic style has evolved so we have to ask her to make our little people more caricature than a faithful representation, as that provides better photos for our customers.
We come up with the ideas for a new diorama, Helen comes up with some drawings and we discuss which people, animals or shop fronts to put into production. Helen will then bring them to life in clay.
(we do have an answerphone so if we are busy with the models or garden we will call you back)
