Meeting 8 April 2008
Pendon Museum - Then and Now
Presented by Chris Webber
Chris Webber talks with WRF Treasurer Stan Weatherhead during coffee break about the Pendon Museum. Photo by Chris Challis
The Fraternity's meeting on the 8th April commenced with Prebendary Dennis Goodman saying a few words of tribute and remembrance following the death, in March, of our long-serving member the Revd Norman Lempriere.
Our speaker for the evening was Mr Chris Webber, Chairman of the Pendon Museum Trust, who had acted as our guide when the Fraternity visited the museum in March 2006. His illustrated talk was entitled 'Miniature Landscape and Transport at Pendon' and he began by outlining the background to the museum's foundation in Long Wittenham, near Abingdon, in 1954. Its founder, Roye England, an Australian engineer, had come to England in the 1930s in connection with the registration of a patent for a train control system. He had stayed for a while at Wanborough, immediately falling in love with the Vale of the White Horse district (between Swindon and Abingdon), and was to spend the rest of his life in England. He became concerned that many of the picturesque vernacular buildings in the Vale were being demolished or updated in a totally unsympathetic way. He, therefore, spent much time recording, measuring, photographing and sketching many of the rustic cottages, farms and inns in the area and making detailed models of them. In the post-war years, the idea of capturing the landscape of South Oxfordshire in the 1920s and 1930s by means of a large model took root with the result that the present day model occupies a space no less than 70 by 30 feet. The various farms and settlements are linked by chalky lanes and the landscape depicted is dominated by a large prehistoric hillfort. Road vehicles are rare and only occasional trains on the GWR main line disturb the tranquillity of the scene. The whole is at the model railway 'HO' scale of 3.5mm to the foot (i.e. I:87) and Mr Webber illustrated the techniques employed by Roye England and his helpers to produce models to an incredible degree of accuracy. At first, cottages were thatched with human hair - although later hemp was used - and cats' whiskers were used for the stems of tall flowers in the cottage gardens! The interiors of some cottages were fully furnished in accordance with Roye England's original meticulous notes and the skill in accurately furnishing a room far less than 2 inches across is truly amazing. Mr Webber told the story of an old lady who was shown the model of a cottage in which she had once lived; she was delighted but drew attention to the lack of a certain item of convenience under a bed - an omission which was then soon rectified!
In the second half of his talk, Mr Webber concentrated on the railway content of the museum. In addition to the main South Oxfordshire scene, a second, of particular interest to the railway enthusiast, depicts a landscape on the edge of Dartmoor. This is dominated by a Brunel timber viaduct of 16 spans - based on that which once existed at Walcombe on the Tavistock branch. Amongst the trains which process across this splendid structure is a GWR coal train with no fewer than 85 wagons, representing a scale length of a third of a mile! A superb model of the 'Cornish Riviera Limited, hauled by King George V also features. Each carriage is fully furnished and complete with passengers - and lit so that realistic night-time views can be depicted. The main line disappears from sight only to reappear in a 'showcase' along one wall of the Museum shop, portraying part of the famous sea wall at Teignmouth.
Mr Webber also referred to the museum's Exhibits Room and to John Ahern's pioneering Madder Valley Railway layout. He concluded with photographs of a wonderful model of a church by John Warner and Gerry Hall which is now also on display. He reminded us that although the museum's models depicted rural life of 70-80 years ago, it was still a period of comparative poverty and hardship for many country people at that time. A vote of thanks for a fascinating evening, not only for those interested in railway modelling but also for the general enthusiast, was given by Mr Chris Challis.
Our speaker for the evening was Mr Chris Webber, Chairman of the Pendon Museum Trust, who had acted as our guide when the Fraternity visited the museum in March 2006. His illustrated talk was entitled 'Miniature Landscape and Transport at Pendon' and he began by outlining the background to the museum's foundation in Long Wittenham, near Abingdon, in 1954. Its founder, Roye England, an Australian engineer, had come to England in the 1930s in connection with the registration of a patent for a train control system. He had stayed for a while at Wanborough, immediately falling in love with the Vale of the White Horse district (between Swindon and Abingdon), and was to spend the rest of his life in England. He became concerned that many of the picturesque vernacular buildings in the Vale were being demolished or updated in a totally unsympathetic way. He, therefore, spent much time recording, measuring, photographing and sketching many of the rustic cottages, farms and inns in the area and making detailed models of them. In the post-war years, the idea of capturing the landscape of South Oxfordshire in the 1920s and 1930s by means of a large model took root with the result that the present day model occupies a space no less than 70 by 30 feet. The various farms and settlements are linked by chalky lanes and the landscape depicted is dominated by a large prehistoric hillfort. Road vehicles are rare and only occasional trains on the GWR main line disturb the tranquillity of the scene. The whole is at the model railway 'HO' scale of 3.5mm to the foot (i.e. I:87) and Mr Webber illustrated the techniques employed by Roye England and his helpers to produce models to an incredible degree of accuracy. At first, cottages were thatched with human hair - although later hemp was used - and cats' whiskers were used for the stems of tall flowers in the cottage gardens! The interiors of some cottages were fully furnished in accordance with Roye England's original meticulous notes and the skill in accurately furnishing a room far less than 2 inches across is truly amazing. Mr Webber told the story of an old lady who was shown the model of a cottage in which she had once lived; she was delighted but drew attention to the lack of a certain item of convenience under a bed - an omission which was then soon rectified!
In the second half of his talk, Mr Webber concentrated on the railway content of the museum. In addition to the main South Oxfordshire scene, a second, of particular interest to the railway enthusiast, depicts a landscape on the edge of Dartmoor. This is dominated by a Brunel timber viaduct of 16 spans - based on that which once existed at Walcombe on the Tavistock branch. Amongst the trains which process across this splendid structure is a GWR coal train with no fewer than 85 wagons, representing a scale length of a third of a mile! A superb model of the 'Cornish Riviera Limited, hauled by King George V also features. Each carriage is fully furnished and complete with passengers - and lit so that realistic night-time views can be depicted. The main line disappears from sight only to reappear in a 'showcase' along one wall of the Museum shop, portraying part of the famous sea wall at Teignmouth.
Mr Webber also referred to the museum's Exhibits Room and to John Ahern's pioneering Madder Valley Railway layout. He concluded with photographs of a wonderful model of a church by John Warner and Gerry Hall which is now also on display. He reminded us that although the museum's models depicted rural life of 70-80 years ago, it was still a period of comparative poverty and hardship for many country people at that time. A vote of thanks for a fascinating evening, not only for those interested in railway modelling but also for the general enthusiast, was given by Mr Chris Challis.