Always look on the bright side

Pendon Museum at Long Wittenham, Oxfordshire has just broken its own record for the largest number of visitors ever received on a normal opening day, with 286 people paying a new year visit on 2^nd   January. The Museum was featured at peak Christmas viewing time on BBC 2’s ‘James May’s Toy Stories’, one of a series of programmes about the nation’s favourite toys. The special episode featured model railways and an ambitious attempt to build a model railway track stretching 10 miles from Barnstaple to Bideford in Devon.

Pendon Museum was highlighted in the programme as it is world famous among modellers and railway lovers for its unique miniature landscapes and hand built model trains. Volunteer and Senior Modeller at Pendon, Roger Haywood, was shown on the episode reacting with amusement to James’s request to create a model in a very short timescale. Pendon models can take hundreds of hours to design, build and paint and they make up detailed landscapes that replicate 1930’s life in the Vale of the White Horse.

Simon Watney, Head of Marketing at Pendon said ‘I believe the high visitor level is down to a combination of the TV programme and recent marketing activity to raise awareness of Pendon as a local treasure and tourist attraction. We hope many more people will come along to see what Pendon offers, particularly those who live in the surrounding counties.’

What great news that a new generation of people are enjoying local museums, thanks to the BBC.