The Modelworld Project

[Nick]

In the deepest darkest parts of Norfolk there be a plan to create a museum dedicated to models!!! 
http://www.themodelworldproject.co.uk/

The Modelworld Project is a British version of the Hamburg Miniature Wonderland http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/. It's in Wroxham on the Norfolk Broads but I can't tell if it's open yet from the website. They also cover other toys like Scalextric slot cars, Hornby model railways, Meccano, K'Nex, Lego, Dolls Houses etc.

Get this.... We will also create display space for clubs and societies to loan an entire display for short periods to create ever changing displays. 
http://www.themodelworldproject.co.uk/model-kit-displays/

[Dizzyfugu]

Well, the good and bad thing about Hamburg is that is totally commercial and sponsored by a model railroad company. It started as something with real "sweat and blood", but is IMHO now a gigantic railroad cancer with professional treatment. You can like that, or not - I find it horrible. BTW, there's a less-known (but just as commercial and unrelated) similar "thing" in Berlin called LOXX.

A true technical toy museum would be IMHO much more worthwhile. There are so many forgotten but beautiful things - and this includes IMHO early IP kits, too, which have a certain charm.

I recently saw a documentation on TV about a German Matchbox car collector who is looking for a site for a respective museum - thousands of cars, probably the biggest collection in Europe, and it is supposed to become a public museum, too.

[PR19_Kit]

That looks pretty darned interesting, lots of scope for all sorts of modelling activities, and in a lovely part of the country too, I know it well.

But why is it over 200 miles away on the opposite side of the country to me? 

[Old Wombat]

Wot? Only 200 miles?



Guy

[Weaver]

According to a post HERE the opening date has been put back to April 2014 due to a fire in an adjoining building.

[PR19_Kit]

Wot? Only 200 miles?



Guy

That may be 'just down the road' in Oz, but over here it's a LONG way, and not a single mile of motorway en route either.

[kitnut617]

Wot? Only 200 miles?



Guy

That may be 'just down the road' in Oz, but over here it's a LONG way, and not a single mile of motorway en route either.

Erm! more like 'just around the corner'     

[Weaver]

Reminds me of the saying: "Americans think a hundred years is a long time, while the British think a hundred miles is a long distance".

[PR19_Kit]

Reminds me of the saying: "Americans think a hundred years is a long time, while the British think a hundred miles is a long distance".

Precisely........

[kitnut617]

When we were still in Calgary we would take a run into Banff just for breakfast on a Sunday.  About a 160 mile round trip ----

[luft46models]

We were in Europe in '88. Got on a train in Munich to go to Bonn, weather was horrible that day and we had Eurail passes ( essentially could go anywhere by train ) so sat on the train and ended up in Amsterdam at the end of the day. Told a few people at the hostel that night and got some very funny looks. Distance is very relative for an Aussie. Had a two week driving holiday a few years back - only did 3000 kilometres!

William in Oz 

[Weaver]

Wot? Only 200 miles?



Guy

That may be 'just down the road' in Oz, but over here it's a LONG way, and not a single mile of motorway en route either.

Erm! more like 'just around the corner'    

Norfolk is seriously off the grid as far as long-distance travel is concerned.

Not sure exactly where Kit lives but according to Google Maps, it's 203 miles from my home in Stockport to Modelworld, and the estimated journey time in current traffic (weekday lunchtime) is four and a half hours. Now bear in mind that since I'd be travelling North-South (unlike Kit) I'd have motorways on my side for a least part of the distance. I could get more of my journey onto motorways, but then I'd have to go so far out of my way that the time saving is only a mtter of minutes, but the distance goes up by 50 miles...

Allowing for breaks, that would be nine or ten hours of driving for a day out: not a very attractive prospect....

Putting in "Forest of Dean" as Kit's starting point, the quickest route is also about four and a half hours, with the shortest route being rated at nearly five hours. That might have something to do with the shortest route being the A11, which runs through Oxford AND Cambridge....

[Captain Canada]

That's some pretty cool news Nick ! Are you planning on joining in ? I have always thought about asking museums, the Navy club, the Sea Cadets, and the Legion and Air Force Assoc. if I can build anything for them. No point letting kits languish in my basement !

[PR19_Kit]

Wot? Only 200 miles?



Guy

That may be 'just down the road' in Oz, but over here it's a LONG way, and not a single mile of motorway en route either.

Erm! more like 'just around the corner'    

Norfolk is seriously off the grid as far as long-distance travel is concerned.

Not sure exactly where Kit lives but according to Google Maps, it's 203 miles from my home in Stockport to Modelworld, and the estimated journey time in current traffic (weekday lunchtime) is four and a half hours. Now bear in mind that since I'd be travelling North-South (unlike Kit) I'd have motorways on my side for a least part of the distance. I could get more of my journey onto motorways, but then I'd have to go so far out of my way that the time saving is only a mtter of minutes, but the distance goes up by 50 miles...

Allowing for breaks, that would be nine or ten hours of driving for a day out: not a very attractive prospect....

Putting in "Forest of Dean" as Kit's starting point, the quickest route is also about four and a half hours, with the shortest route being rated at nearly five hours. That might have something to do with the shortest route being the A11, which runs through Oxford AND Cambridge....

Exactly! Well, almost anyway.

The A11 doesn't get as far as Oxford as it goes from Norwich down to Cambridge and then morphs into the M11 to go to London. From Cambridge you'd need to cut across on the A428 to Bedford, then the A6 down to Lutn and then the A505 across toward Oxford. (Guess who's done THAT trip more than once?)

I'm right at the south end of the Forest of Dean, about 10 miles North of the Severn Bridges on the west bank of the River.

[Weaver]

Ah, I see: Google maps just called that route "A11" and I didn't notice how little of it actually was....

I once did Bridgend to Cambridge and back in a day in a Transit: that was a joy.... not........