There are places you go
That capture your heart
Places that call you back to them
Time and time again
Places you want to share with those that you love
Bekenscot is one of those places for me
I first heard about it on Show Me Show Me
In 2012
And set my heart on taking Esther and Wiliam there
Which we did
With a 4 month old Matilda Mae
Birthday Girl and Bekenscot Bear!
We went with our extended family that day
On David’s side
And have since been back just us
And with our extended family on my side
On Friday we returned again
Our family unit complete
Returning from a lovely holiday
Going back to Bekenscot
Feels like coming home
Bekenscot is a model village
Visiting there is like taking a Gulliver style step back in time
With streets are set in the 1930s
There are more than 200 buildings, 3,000 inhabitants, 1,000 animals, hundreds of vehicles and many models move right before your eyes. Stride down the High Streets and peek inside buildings – we’ve hidden hundreds of tiny details so take a second look!
There is something for everyone
For all ages
Our children aged just one to almost eight
All had such a lovely time on Friday
Even though our visit was shorter than we would like
Because it was such a hot day
For the time we were there
We were caught up in a land of stories
In history
In classic children’s literature
In our own imaginations
Bekenscot is a very special place to spend some time
A place to lose yourself
And have some fun
We walked around the miniature town three or four times
We always do
Racing round the first time
Chasing the trains
Slower the second time
Spotting animals
People
Play parks
Peeking in windows
Commenting on characters
Seeking scenes that mean something to us
From stories
Or through our own life
Each time we visit
The children see things a little differently
Depending on who we are with
What we have been up to
And in relation to stories we have read
During our recent travels
We have been listening to Ladybird Classic audio books
On our way to Beaconsfield we purposefully listened to Gulliver’s Travels
But what made me super proud of all our children
Was how they saw the other stories we had heard and read
In the village they explored
A fox hunt was from The Railway Children
A walled garden The Secret Garden
The big top was Galliano’s Circus
Complete with the tiger trailer
Where Jimmy befriends Ruby
We found Black Beauty
And his friend Ginger
We found the harbour from Over Sea, Under Stone
And a water wheel like the one at Bluestone’s Camp Smokey
I love their intertextuality
Their ability to mix up the stories they know
Make links between fiction and real life
And their love of making stories of their own
Bekenscot is the perfect place to inspire all of this
It is a place for stories and history
To talk about what life was when parents and grandparents were little
It is a rich place for learning and fun
I know that we will be going back again
To chase the trains
Share our stories
Ride the Ride On Railway
And play on the park
I cannot wait to see Edie toddling round
Looking in all the windows
And trying to open the doors
We punctuated our visit with lunch and ice cream
Both of which were delicious
And allowed us to shelter from the blistering heat of the sun
I asked the children if they still love Bekenscot
They all said that they do
With Bea suggesting that it might be more fun
If there were little people to play with
In the model towns
We then told Bea
What a friend has since told me
That at night
When no one is looking
Bekenscot comes to life
A magical place
For making magical memories to treasure
Bekenscot
