Pendon Museum (Pendon Parva)
Pendon Museum is the home to what is probably the most well-known model railway in the UK, Madder Valley by John Ahern, as well as other exhibits including an ambitious project to model the the countryside of the Vale of the White Horse as it was in the 1930s.
Madder Valley is a seminal work of British railway modelling, dating from the 1930s and built by the late John Ahern. It was the first complete model railway to be set in a fully-developed landscape with villages rurual scenes faithfully recreated. Madder Valley is normally a static exhibit, but is operated on special occasions (see website for details of running days).
The Vale Scene is Pendon's current project, and visitors can not only see the work completed so far but also get an insight into the modelling techniques used on the as-yet unfinished sections. The heart of the layout is the composite village of Pendon Parva which recreates life in the White Horse Vale in the 1930s.
As well as Madder Valley and the Vale Scene, Pendon also has another fully operational layout, the Dartmoor Scene, which includes a magnificent model of one of Brunel's splendid timber trestle bridges set amid the tors of Dartmoor.
Pendon Museum is open every weekend throughout the year, and also on other days as advertised. See the website for details of opening times and admission prices.
Pendon Museum (Pendon Parva) website
