British Pathe released a number of entertaining short pieces on arts and crafts and some of the best featured talented model-makers. One of these was Harold Gough, a 16-year-old (in 1941) whose hobby was building mansions made of matchsticks. The rainy season in England must indeed be long! Never mind that Harold looks closer to 30 than 16, he is a very creative lad. In addition to building houses of matchsticks, he even constructed a double-decker bus.
Click here to watch: Matchstick Models (1941)
Young Terry Summers is another talented miniature carpenter, aged 16. He constructed the entire British Houses of Parliament buildings out of balsa wood. They measure one yard long and are built to scale. Impressive indeed!
Click here to watch: Model Houses Of Parliament (1951)
The most entertaining of all is Model Villages, a 2:52 minute clip showing T.F. Dobbins, designer of a model village in Southport, Merseyside. Tiny visitors enjoyed this outdoor "Land of the Little People" for years before it was demolished to make way for a supermarket.
Click here to watch: Model Villages (1962)
Other similarly themed British Pathe shorts:House of Commons Model (1949) - 2:08 minutes
Bristol Model (1951) - :35 minutes
Model Houses (1954) - :52 minutes
Gannymeade Model Village (1967) - 1:03 minutes
Looking forward to checking these out!
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