Ponder People

One reason for the crazy full on nature of getting as much done on the layout over recent weeks was the fact that with just a fortnight to go to Burton, we went off on holiday. 

We have an annual non-Tywyn holiday, one where we can just relax and unwind the three of us with no other distractions. We’re now tied in to school holidays and chose to go away during the May half term. 

Having done battle with the M5 on the bank holiday, we’ve spent a lovely week in Beer, East Devon. We hadn’t explored the Jurassic Coast at all and took the opportunity to explore the area from Sidmouth in the west to Lyme Regis and Charmouth in the East.

We chose to stay in Beer and were glad that we did. We prefer to avoid crowded places when on holiday, finding getting away from the crowds more our thing. Beer was perfect for that, a peaceful village containing some very attractive (and modellable) buildings running down the street to the stony beach, where the local fishing fleet is still in action and hauled up on the high water mark.

The village stores, deli, a couple of pubs and a restaurant that was open all saw to our needs. As did the Post Office that is also an Off Licence, stocking local micro breweries and cider producers. My kind of store. 

Our holiday wasn’t without railways, naturally. Being in to model railways and staying in Beer, we did take the pilgrimage to Pecorama. Annabel loved the play ground, we both enjoyed the model railway displays. Whilst we all liked the train ride and the garden. 

Just along the coast is the Seaton Tramway. A quirky endeavour and must say I really rather liked it. I’m not a fan of infernal combustion machines, preferring steam. But I do have a liking for the cleanliness of the electric tram car. We spent the day riding up and down interspersed with lengthy sessions on the play equipment at Colyton (handily, with tea on tap from the cafe) and unsurprisingly, Annabel was smitten with the pink tram. Especially when riding behind the driver who got her to push the button to blow the whistle!

The views are great over the Axe Estuary from the top deck too. We had so much fun that when asked what she wanted to do on our last day, Annabel asked to return to the Tramway. 

Just above Beer are the Quarry Caves. Formed from two thousand years of quarrying the limestone from Roman times through to the 1920s. Beer stone was much in demand for building cathedrals and even the Tower of London due to its easily carved nature when first carved that hardens as it dries. 

Near to the quarry is a very attractive row of cottages, connected to the quarry that appeal as being very modellable. 

Whilst I don’t want to jump ahead until after Wheal Ponder is finished, the area has given me some ideas for an L&B style layout idea that would provide home to a certain Lionheart locomotive. Some doodling will occur, but not until after Burton…

Talking of Burton, I took some modelling with me. Having a five year old means that our going out options in the evenings are limited. So I took a selection of acrylic paints (no odour with those) and primed some figures before we went.

All finished and ready to go to their allotted places, the following will help ‘Wheal Ponder’ come to life: 

A Ruston driver. 

The passenger (with briefcase). Sensible man has a raincoat on. 

The napping gardiner. For the conservatory.

The lunching Linhay stoker

One aspect of layouts that has appealed to Annabel and held her attention has been spotting animals on layouts. So we also have: Two pigs, two donkeys, three cats (black, grey & ginger), a red squirrel, a hedgehog, five rabbits and six chickens. 

The Donkey Samctuary near Sidmouth is well worth a visit, as is their cafe. Visiting at the start of the week proved useful as a reference for painting the donkeys. 

The figures are a mixture of Langley and Phoenix (S&D) white metal castings and ModelU 3D prints. 

Have also finished off a tub full of barrels (Skytrex castings) that were primed and had their initial coat of brown before we came away. Back home they will be glued together for wagon loads. 

Not wishing to rush home after checking out of the holiday apartment, we took a slight detour to Diggerland where we all had great fun on all the digger related rides. Just need to reduce it in size down to 1/43.5….

Now home after a more enjoyable clear run up the M5. Thankfully I’ve got a couple of days before I’m back at work to complete the finishing touches ahead of Burton. Wish me luck!