Cockington Green miniature village

Leaving the coast at eight in the morning my passengers were moaning about the heavy cloud and how it looked as if it would rain. "Its only coastal cloud" I reassured them, "It will evaporate as we climb over the hills." How confident is that? And I don't watch the weather on the TV either! I believe in being positive and didn't want our excursion to be marred with moans! Perhaps my optimism did the trick, who knows, but the clouds did break up and by the time we reached Cockington Green on the north side of Canberra the sky was blue and cloudless - just look at this first picture I took as we clambered out of the car.Cockington Green is named after a National Trust village in the UK - a real village with very quaint cottages, most of them with straw thatching on their roofs. The Canberra Cockington Green has among its collection of miniatures a tiny replica of the name-sake village, however there are miniature villages and castles of places in many different parts of England.
The first time I visited this display was in 1974 and it was amazing to find that not very much had changed - there were the same characters and the same buildings - but they all were looking fresh and bright and the gardens are what make the place really special. The miniature grass that is used is amazing. The plants are chosen so that they do not dwarf the scale models but are colourful and complimentary to them.
What was new from so long ago was the international display. The shot I have included with this blog was taken from the miniature train (I am a big kid and have to take a ride on the train!) This collection covers so many different countries, sometimes there is one outstanding building represented and sometimes two but the detail on them is incredible.
Most of my photos are of individual displays or of details within the display but since I took over 100 I don't think you would appreciate me showing them all!
AJ