Model village gets modern rebrand - complete with road-blocking eco-protesters

26 July 2023 , 16:03

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Models of protesters in the mini-village (Image: SWNS)

A model village has been given a modern day makeover with street protests, a new housing estate and children making TikTok videos.

Babbacombe Model Village portrays versions of Britain through the decades including the Globe Theatre, a modern high street and Stonehenge.

Now, the village has been updated to reflect contemporary life with the additions of protesters holding up the traffic and an “upcycling” initiative for its tiny residents.

Built within four acres of award-winning gardens in Devon, the miniature world ­showcases hundreds of uniquely hand-crafted model scenes, vehicles and people.

The village now even includes an “unaffordable housing development”, complete with show homes for people to peruse. Managing director Mike Rhodes said: “Right through its history the model village has always tried to portray contemporary life – with a touch of humour.

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A new-build housing estate at the updated model village (SWNS)

“The team come up with ideas all the time and then we have to decide what ones will work well in miniature – not everything does – which ones will work well for humour and which ones will resonate best with our customers.

“One problem facing model villages is that because everything is in miniature, people can easily walk by and miss so much.

“Adding more depth to the displays does slow people down and it also ensures that everyone will see something ­interesting, funny, strange, quirky to them.”

Adam Aspinall