Stop nine · Back by the way in

The High Street

Back by the way in, the high street faces the main line, from Marks & Spencer to the Crown and Anchor, with a level crossing where a red Routemaster waits for the gates.

Round the corner, behind a row of mock-Tudor houses, stone is loaded into hopper wagons beside a builder’s yard.

Gold markers point out small details. Select one to read about it.

Model level crossing seen from above, with a red double-decker bus near the white gates, stone cottages on the left and a cinema and shops beyond the tracks. — The red Routemaster, on route 202 and carrying an Esso Golden advert, waits at the closed level-crossing gates beside a row of stone cottages. Across the line stand the ABC cinema, Post Office and National Westminster Bank.17:21

Model street beside a double railway line, with a pale blue box van and a white sports car stopped by a lollipop man, and shops across the tracks. — A lollipop man holds up his STOP CHILDREN CROSSING sign beside a Griff. Fender van, while boys in red caps gather by a gateway. Across the railway lies the high street.17:20

The lollipop man

Across the tracks from Marks & Spencer, a lollipop man holds up his sign to the traffic, and a boy in a red cap salutes him from the pavement.

Look closer

A boy in a red cap stands to attention and salutes the lollipop man as he holds up the traffic, a little moment Grandad set up by the kerb.

Model high street with a brown steam lorry carrying barrels outside a row of shops and a pub, people on the pavement, and railway tracks in the foreground. — A brown Whitbread steam lorry loaded with barrels stands in the road, with Laura Ashley, the Bradford & Bingley and Hamilton’s along the row behind.19:39

Model high street of brick and stone shops beyond a double railway line, with a pale green coach, a white van and a steam lorry in the road. — Across the main line, a Grey-Green coach waits at the bus stop by Marks & Spencer while a brown Whitbread lorry loaded with casks stands by the Crown and Anchor.19:23

Model lane between two cottages leading to a road where a red double-decker bus passes white level crossing gates, with a green pickup truck waiting. — A red London Transport double-decker stands by the level crossing gates, a green and cream pick-up waits at the junction, and a postman walks the path by the hedge.19:23

A model street of mock-Tudor houses in front of a red-brick factory with a sawtooth roof, and a grey gantry crane over yellow wagons beside a dark tunnel. — A sawtooth-roofed factory with a tall brick chimney stands behind a street of mock-Tudor houses, while a grey gantry crane rises over a line of yellow wagons by the tunnel mouth.17:19

Round the corner

Behind a row of mock-Tudor houses, a gantry crane loads stone into hopper wagons at the foot of the rock face, beside a builder’s yard and a sawtooth-roofed works.

Look closer

Look into the dark mouth of Grandad’s tunnel and you can see right through to curving track lit up at the far end.

A model Tudor-style house with a small garden and pavement in front, a red pillar box and figures, a car transporter in the foreground, and a factory and builder’s yard beyond the railway. — A Tudor-style house stands on the front road, with the factory and builder’s yard beyond the line. An elderly couple share a garden bench, a man runs for the pillar box and another walks his dog.19:39

A model builder’s yard with a yellow dump truck, bulldozer and cement mixer, a red excavator by a heap of stone, and a grey gantry crane over lines of wagons in the quarry sidings. — A red excavator digs into a stone heap by the quarry sidings, where a gantry crane stands over lines of wagons. In the builder’s yard wait a loaded dump truck, a bulldozer and a cement mixer.19:40

A model builder’s yard with an orange tipper, a green road roller, a cement mixer and a yellow bulldozer behind a wire fence, in front of a red-brick mill and a sawtooth-roofed factory. — A sawtooth-roofed factory and a tall red-brick mill stand behind the builder’s yard, its lorries, roller and bulldozer lined up by the fence. The Leg & Pullet pub is painted on the backscene.19:41

Grey stone cottage roofs in the foreground, a white minibus on the road beyond, and a railway with a yellow cinema and tall town buildings behind. — Looking over the slate roofs of stone cottages to a Variety Club Sunshine Coach on the road, with the railway and the ABC cinema beyond.19:24

Model double railway line with a dark blue van and a cream and maroon coach in the foreground, and a row of shops, a pub and a red-brick warehouse beyond. — The high street seen across the main line, from Marks & Spencer and Whitakers Chocolatiers to the Crown and Anchor, with a Restmor van and a coach on the road in front.19:39

Model street of mock-Tudor and tile-hung houses with white picket fences and people on the pavement, and a factory, chimney and gantry crane beyond the railway. — Mock-Tudor and tile-hung houses stand behind white picket fences, with neighbours out on the pavement. Beyond the railway rise the factory roofs, a tall chimney and the gantry crane over yellow wagons.17:18

Looking down on a model Tudor-style house and garden beside a curving railway, with a builder’s yard full of lorries and machinery and a quarry beyond. — Seen from above, the Tudor-style house and its garden sit in front of the curving main line, with the builder’s yard, its lorries and plant, and the quarry sidings beyond.19:40

Model street of two detached houses behind white picket fences, a blue newsagents beside them, and a railway with yellow wagons and a crane beyond. — Beyond the rooftops, two Tudor-style houses stand beside Cartwright’s newsagents, while a cyclist passes on the pavement and a line of yellow wagons waits on the track behind.19:23