Gnosall Model Village

Yep, I decided to reproduce our village - in miniature!

Recently I've been on a journey that starts with me being glued (sometimes literally) to a fascinating project that transformed the way I see our pretty village.

Gnosall Model Village


Disenchanted with spending far too much time "doom-scrolling" through social media, a flash of inspiration to create a tiny, perfect version of Gnosall popped into my thoughts. So, I embarked on a miniature adventure not fully appreciating just how much it would demand in terms of patience, tweezers, and eye strain.

Over the course of the last six months my kitchen table became a land of tiny buildings and tinier people, where hours would disappear faster than the pieces I dropped. Working with superglue became a sticky situation, with fingers more often glued together than not. I lost count of the times I lost entire buildings, only to find them stuck to my socks as I prepared myself for bed.

I blame it all on a spell of homelessness back in my late 20s. After leaving the Navy I found myself with no money, no roof over my head and no warm bed to retire to at the end of the day. During this time I used to sit on the sidelines on the streets of London, watching people go by, as I shivered my way through the long, cold days and nights.

I found myself immensely curious about people, buildings, and the fabric of what makes us a society. I used to wonder where people were going, where they had come from, how they'd got there, and what sort of building they were heading to.

For weeks - or perhaps months (time becomes irrelevant when you're homeless), observing the bustling lives and buildings surrounding me became the foundation for the miniature model of Gnosall, even though it took almost three decades to turn it into a reality.

It's been a labour of love and patience. I meticulously studied every street using drone footage, Google Streetview, OS Maps and of course my own photography. However, walking around the village taking pictures of people's homes would have raised a few eyebrows, so I kept this activity to a minimum!

Crafting the models required such detail that after a few too many squints and misses, my 12-year-old daughter Lauren had to take over some of the the people-making department - her younger eyes are better suited for placing microscopic bridesmaid dresses on microscopic bodies.

Two hundred hours later, I finally surfaced to show the model at the Spring Craft Fair in The Grosvenor Centre. I can honestly say I wasn't expecting the kind of response I've had over the last couple of weeks, and I'm humbled by all the kind words spoken to me. I was expecting folk to be squinting over the model, pointing out the discrepancies, whispering "You got my car colour right, but where's the dent where I hit the lamp post last spring?"

After many requests, I have plans to expand the model to add more locations in the village, provided my family doesn't stage a protest for "excessive crafting." However, I calculated that in order to squeeze the whole of the built-up area of Gnosall, I'd need another 16 models of this size, so be patient. Gulp!

From an observer of life from the sidelines to a creator of tiny worlds, this journey has taught me a lot about patience, precision, and how to make the tiniest models of ostriches using Blu Tac.

I look forward to my model eventually being on permanent display somewhere in the village. Until then, expect me to pop up regularly at local events, assuming I have not superglued myself to our kitchen table!

Chris

Gnosall Model Village
Gnosall Model Village
Gnosall Model Village
Gnosall Model Village
Gnosall Model Village
Gnosall Model Village
Gnosall Model Village
Gnosall Model Village
Gnosall Model Village
Gnosall Model Village
Gnosall Model Village
Gnosall Model Village
Gnosall Model Village
Gnosall Model Village
Gnosall Model Village
Gnosall Model Village

I want to...


£
Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Solo, Discover Credit Cards


Your payment is 100% secure, and processed by Stripe.