An early model of a typical Dorset stone village.

indentThere are many villages of this character throughout Dorset and South Somerset.v Few, it must be admitted, still have a village pond but some do while the use of a second "lane" paralleling the main one is typical of the area.v (I am sorry many of these older photographs are in black and white but, since in the early 80's most magazines only published in black and white, there was no point in taking colour photos as they wouldn't print them.v Another advantage with black and white was that all you needed was a tripod and you could take a time exposure with the available light; nowadays to take colour one has to get out some seriously powerful lighting and arrange it carefully for every shot!v This is progress?)

indentDetails here are the village pond with its protective railings, the signpost and, hidden away in the undergrowth, the ubiquitous village war memorial.v Although the stonework is more or less the same throughout the model village, the character comes from the apparently hap-hazard mixture of gables and roof lines.v In fact, of course, it is all most carefully arranged to look like it just grew over the years, one building at a time.