GRINDHAM (motto Nil Carborundum Illegitimii)

A short history

They say “It is a small world” and I suppose that is very appropriate for our hobby. This old cliché is, however, doubly important in the history of Grindham, for what a strange coincidence that two enthusiastic model makers from the West Country should end up as neighbours in East Anglia. It was almost inevitable that, sooner or later, their mutual interest in the erstwhile Great Western Railway and in model making would come together, and the result is Grindham.

This is our first foray into P4 modelling and from the outset we wanted to achieve the effect of a railway built in a landscape rather than a railway that has had the scenery added to it. So with Grindham, we tried to envisage the landscape formed in prehistory – the gently rising hill overlooking a natural valley. Now imagine the attraction of this high ground to the early inhabitants, and the Iron Age fort that was built there, commanding the growing trade route that utilised the valley. Then the relentless tide of the Roman invasion swept these people away, because the Romans understood the strategic importance of such a site and built a garrison here to give them command of the lines of communication. In time the garrison grew into a substantial town, named Carborundum, which flourished and prospered for a couple of hundred years. Then the Roman Empire finally crumbled and Carborundum was plundered and abandoned. Over time, the site’s strategic position attracted successive invaders - Saxons, Vikings and finally Normans - so that by the Middle Ages, the flourishing Market Town of Grindham had become established.

Sitting, as it does, across a major trade route, the town became a staging post and soon boasted a fine coaching house – the Grindham Inn – and continued to prosper until 150 years ago when the burgeoning rail network passed Grindham by and its importance and prosperity began to decline. The Burghers of Grindham waited in vain for the mighty Great Western to connect their town and made numerous depositions to both that company and the rival Midland Railway all to no avail. But, finally, during the last years of expansion of Britain's network, Grindham was finally connected by an over ambitious venture to build a rival line to established Great Western and Midland routes. Built initially as single track, the planned doubling never materialised and first working, and then ownership, passed to the Great Western. 

The model depicts Grindham in the period 1948 - 1965 when the railways had passed into the ownership of British Railways. 

Click on Guided Tour for a photographic tour or if you prefer click on Map to view the scenes individually. Exit will return you to the site map