Model Railway Show
Lavenham Church's First Model Railway Show takes place on Saturday 16 May 2026
It takes place in the setting of one of the finest and largest parish churches in England, with layouts of all kinds, in a range of scales, regions and countries (with special focus on East Anglia), together with trade stalls. Refreshments will be available.
Layouts
A variety of layouts will be on display, including the following:
Long Melford Junction
00 Gauge Layout, 1950s/60s
Inspired by childhood memories, this layout models the Stour Valley Line in Suffolk during the late 50s to early 60s. Featuring a fully interlocked, 45-lever working signal box, semaphore signals, and a replica signal box diagram. See the historical routes and train movements in action!
Peter Rednall - Brent Eleigh
009 Gauge Layout
Brent Eleigh is a small village lying between Sudbury and Bildeston in West Suffolk. Following the 1896 Light Railway Act, a line was surveyed by Colonel Stephens to link Hadleigh with Long Melford with the intention of developing the agricultural economy of the local area.
The railway was never built but this layout represents a narrow gauge version of what might have been. With a little tweaking of the route, a junction has been modelled at Brent Eleigh to allow
trains to diverge to nearby Lavenham.
On leaving the station the ‘main line’ loops and crosses over itself in Himalaya Darjeeling style to gain the necessary height to carry it out of the valley and onto higher land for the journey to Long Melford. Most of the buildings adjacent to the station are modelled on those in the village though a great deal of licence has been taken in relocating them.
The model is set in springtime in the early 1950’s by which time the company has acquired a variety of both steam and diesel motive power together with rolling stock from other lines which have closed. Road competition has yet to make serious inroads though cost cutting measures are being enforced.
The layout has appeared in January 2020 OO9 News and July 2020 Railway Modeller.
Bassett-Lowke Society
Vintage O Gauge Layout
Hornby Railway Collectors' Association
O Gauge Layout
Peter Boyt - 'Crickey it's a Shed'
Scenic tramway layout, 00/H0 Gauge
Presented by ex BSE MRC Chairman Peter Boyt, this fictitious tramway has a 5 road shed with hand made working traverser: a Faller Helter-skelter and roundabout. Peter has a very interesting and varied collection of more than 60 working trams - see which ones he brings along today.
Ron McCaskie - French AchO Layout
HO Gauge
Seb Reeve
00 gauge Layout
Bryan Panton
Lego Layout
Graham Wilkins
16mm Narrow Gauge Layout
Rev Simon Pitcher
Hornby Dublo 3-rail Layout
This page will be updated with more details about layouts and trade stalls as they are confirmed - please complete the form below if you would like to keep you informed of developments.
Admission is by ticket by one-hour time slots. Adult admission £7.00, family tickets £12.00.
Please note that a ticket for admission between 9am and 10am (for example) guarantees you entry between those times, but does not restrict access later in the day - you will not be kicked out at 10am, and indeed a wrist band system will be in place so that you can leave the church and re-enter (if you wish to seek refreshments in the village for example) during the rest of the day. We merely wish to ensure that we do not have a big rush at one particular time during the day.
Click here to buy your ticket for your preferred time-slot now to guarantee entry. Tickets may be available on the door, but entry cannot be guaranteed unless pre-booked.
Replica Station Signs
We have commissioned full-size replica stations signs (in plastic) in the Eastern Region blue for the stations that were on the Bury St Edmunds to Long Melford line (including Lavenham of course), and we are please to offer the chance to order these now for £56.25 each. They will be available to order at the show as well, but the price will be more if you wait until then!
