5&9Models

An excellent choice of layout, I’m really interested to see this one take shape. A friend of mine is currently drawing up three LCDR brake coaches for etching which may be ideal for this project. Feel free to message me if you’d like further details.

Excellent work and a very attractive, purposeful looking wagon too.

5 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Lovely wagons. I agree, the 1870 has more charm. The other one looks rather modern 

 

I've found that sometimes my first build of something is actually better than the second one. Perhaps because I concentrate more.

Thanks Mikkel. Trouble is I built them both at the same time so I don’t even have that excuse! 

8 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Good to know that Jonathan enjoys his job, but I'm not sure the foreman is impressed with his work pace 

 

More world class modelling. Did you get a new camera already Chris? The resolution/sharpness is very good here.

Thanks Mikkel. No, sadly no new camera yet, still saving for a new phone which should do the job.

1 hour ago, wainwright1 said:

Hi Chris.

 

More food for thought - Beef on the hoof !

I wonder how often Jonathan has to get new clothes if he splashes that all over them ? It won't do his skin much good either.

 

Not got around to building my open cattle wagon yet and must get one of your newer early Brighton ones as well.

 

I did however apply the lime wash to the SE & CR wagons I built for my Hawkhurst layout.

 

It does add that authentic atmosphere to the models.

 

All the best

 

Ray

Ah yes, they look superb. As you say it does add a good deal of authenticity to the models. I haven't done my SER wagons as you can see but I did apply it to my early Brighton cattle wagon. It took a bit of courage slapping white paint all over a perfectly presentable model but it was worth it in the end.

Chris

25 minutes ago, C126 said:

Quite inspiring.  I hope to find time a.s.a.p. to trawl through your previous posts.  Wonderful work.

Thank you C126, much appreciated.

1 hour ago, wainwright1 said:

At a later date I found out that the pub, the Sultan, had received another floor and had a a two storey cellar ! How do I know that, well our club's first club room was in the crypt of St Augustine's Church, Lynton Road, about five minutes walk from the pub and we used to frequent it on a Friday night after our club sessions.

 

Thanks Ray,

I do wonder if the greyhound had a cellar as well from when the frontage was at ground level. You can see from the attached, taken from the minutes of the Bricklayers Arms Extension Committee held at the National Archives in Kew, the massive compensation William Rolls received. Apparently in todays money his £2310 would be worth in excess of £287,000! William Peirse received a fair chunk too, about £62,000 in today's money. 

My version of Greyhound Place. I've not included some of the features in the old photo as they were later additions/alterations post dating my era which is c.1845.

This photo was taken before I added the bridge road and railings, and before the whole lot was added to the layout.

1 hour ago, wainwright1 said:

Wonderful atmosphere Chris.

 

I must have a wander around the Pages Walk area, have not been around there for ages.

Then there's Upper Grange Road and Greyhound Bridge. Most original features gone now I think.

 

Interesting choice of name William Rolls for the gent in the cab. As I recall, part of the Bricklayers Arms site was built on the Rolls Estate (hence Rolls Road) and the family was connected to the Rolls Royce car manufacturers. Although I believe that the Mr Rolls in connection with the car business died fairly young.

 

Keep up the good work.

 

All the best

Ray

 

 

Thank you Ray. Yes, it was all demolished in the 1980s, the Upper grange Road is now called Dunton Road, Greyhound Place, the pub and the bridge all long gone.

Well done for identifying William Rolls, he is indeed from the family you're thinking of. They lived at the Grange (hence Grange road), William Rolls owned much land and property in Bermondsey around the Bricklayers Arms site. He owned The Greyhound pub but was not landlord, that was William James Peirse.  Rolls received a significant amount of compensation from the SER for the inconvenience of having a bridge built right outside his pub, so much so that he was able to have it rebuilt so the public rooms were moved up to the first floor to be level with the rising road outside. He also owned a floor cloth manufactory on the Old Kent Road which suffered substantial fires around the time of the building of the railway. The b&w photo was taken in the 1960s, the Greyhound pub stood where the advertising hoardings are, they're basically pinned to what remains of the building. The photo of the Greyhound itself was taken around 1890-1910.

Thank you Phil, they're really interesting. These were built later than those on the Upper Grange Road (I believe by the railway to house employees). Architecturally similar but perhaps a bit larger. The b&w photo shows the houses to the left of The Greyhound pub just outside the boundaries of my layout. Unfortunately I can't include Pages Walk either as the layout is already pretty big and space is limited.

8 hours ago, Dave John said:

Superb attention to detail.

 

You have an eye for colour, that looks spot on to me. 

Thank you Dave, much appreciated.

40 minutes ago, MikeOxon said:

Really good modelling - the 'Greyhound' looks splendid and Archibald Plummer is one of the most convincing model figures that I have seen.  I really enjoy these Victorian scenes.

 

I've fought for ages trying to compose header pictures - how it's cropped varies with the screen used to view the site.

 

Nowadays, I prefer using a phone rather than a camera for model photos.

 

Mike

Thanks Mike,

I agree about the phone camera. I may have to ask Santa for a new one!

3 hours ago, Mikkel said:

Magnificent, Chris. Victorian characters with a big V! 

 

William Peirse's establishment is superbly modelled. The Hackney carriage too. Are your horse-drawn carriages fixed to the layout? I would like to add reins to mine, but I normally store them in a box off the layout so am not sure how it could be done without breaking the reins. 

 

Just FYI: I'm curious to see the header photo, but it appears like this to me. I think the software 'crops' the top and bottom of the header photos.

 

Thanks Mikkel. The carriage is wired on with some very fine wire and a small amount of epoxy resin too. Hopefully it’s not going anywhere so it enables me to add reins and so on without fear of them being broken in handling. The wire is the fine brass stuff they put round wine bottles to make you think you’re getting much better quality than you really are!

Good point about the header photo. I edited it four times to try and get round the cropping, then gave up!

2 hours ago, kitpw said:

The sash windows have proper horns on the upper sashes....and locks!!! There's a lot going on at Bricklayers Arms, a bit of a treat for the Victorian enthusiast (and Solly is relying on the skill of the fitter if the lamp above his head is not to abruptly descend and put a stop to his bibulous progress).

 

Kit PW

Thanks Kit PW, I’m glad you like it. Lots done but loads more to do yet.

That looks excellent. The very definition of the ‘Craftsmanship/Clever’ icon! 

Well done! a very well deserved trophy. It was a pleasure to read your report which brought back fond memories. I used to be a member of Uckfield MRC (albeit some 35 years ago)! All familiar territory though as I spent the first 18 years of my life in Newick. Thanks for the write up and best wishes for the next trophy!

9 hours ago, Mikkel said:

 

Are your pens intended as holding pens, or also for trading?

 

Thanks very much Mikkel. Interesting point about the possible trading. The short answer is I don't know, perhaps there would be some sort of historical record if such a thing did go on. I had intended the pens to be holding pens for both incoming and outgoing stock, although I suspect the latter was fairly uncommon.

Bermondsey was the heart of the leather industry in London and, at its peak, the whole country. Therefore the pens would most likely be used for incoming cattle headed for the slaughter houses and tanneries. The pens would hold the stock until it was collected by whoever was responsible for taking it to the knackers yard.

They also handled sheep although whether that was mostly incoming or outgoing I don't know. I suspect the former as sheepskins were just as regular a product of the tanneries.

10 hours ago, Mikkel said:

I agree. In fact, once you get started on wagon kits the problem becomes how to stop again, so that other more dull modelling tasks can be done.

Like making endless fences for the cattle dock….! 

Thanks Mikkel. There has been a bit of interest but as you say, jumping from RTR to kit building can be quite daunting for some folks. I think a simple wagon kit is a good place to start though. It’s a bit like running your first 5k, a great achievement and two years later you find yourself entering a marathon…!

57 minutes ago, Richard Jones said:

I seem to recall that Keysers did a version of the LCDR/SECR covered van? - I have a couple hiding away somewhere......

The LCDR and SER vans were very similar but the most noticeable  difference is that the body either side of the door on the LCDR vans was divided into two panels, the SER into three panels.

5 hours ago, wainwright1 said:

Does this represent part of the large two tier stables which once existed on the north end of the Dunton Road bridge (nee Upper Grange Road) ?

 

Being a local lad, I can just remember the top storey features of this which were visible from the road. The view of the lower storey was limited to what you see off the bridge.

Hi Ray,

Thanks. I’ve used a bit of artistic licence with the stables as we don’t know what the original 1844 stables looked like. So I reproduced a range I have always been fond of at Camden. One of my other blogs shows the project more clearly.

Chris

That looks superb. If anything it could perhaps do with a bit of dirt and gunk between the base of the slab and the cobbles but it's such a minor point.

Excellent modelling, looking forward to more pics.

What no comments yet? This is superb modelling and deserves a bit more feedback surely?

the weathering and level of detail is fantastic. You've really captured a period and atmosphere, I can hear those flanges squealing!

Extraordinary work. Your creativity and problem solving abilities never cease to amaze me. Fantastic!

Isn’t it weird how the most prosaic posts can be the most useful? Thanks for the research and advice Mikkel. I need to make some droppings for the stables at Bricklayers Arms and generally add some dirt so this blog is very handy.