Michael Scott, of Burley in Wharfedale, has his own YouTube channel 'Chandwell', and he calls himself the 'Mayor of Chandwell' a fictional 1.148 scale N Gauge model layout of West Yorkshire Town he has named 'Chandwell' set in 1993.
He has been commissioned to build a scale model of Bradford Cathedral as his latest project ahead of the cathedral opening its doors for Heritage Open Days this September.
He has been commissioned to build a scale model of Bradford Cathedral as his latest project ahead of the cathedral opening its doors for Heritage Open Days this September.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Welcome to Chandwell, my name's Michael and I'm making this N scale model of a rundown West Yorkshire town set in 1993
00:07I'm also making a model of Bradford Cathedral
00:10And after 50 hours of drawing, cutting, sticking, folding
00:14I've finally got the serial packet mock-up
00:17This mock-up is intended just to make sure that I've got the general proportions of the model right
00:21and that I know how it's going to go together
00:23It also helps me spot any errors that I might have made in the drawing
00:26so I don't have to redo the whole thing after I've made it
00:29So now I've got 12 long months ahead of myself
00:32where I'm going to turn this into a real model worthy of Chandwell
00:40I've been building Chandwell itself, my main model, for about 5 years
00:43and I've been talking about it on YouTube
00:45showing people how I go about making it
00:47but also telling silly stories about the town of Chandwell itself
00:51Chandwell is a fictional town based upon real parts of West Yorkshire
00:55I use it as inspiration just to make a good model
00:58by modelling what I see, basically
01:00and Chandwell is a name that was made up out of the names of my children
01:03so it's just become a town in its own right
01:06Chandwell, it's a model railway layout, it's an N scale model railway yet
01:10so it started off as an excuse to play trains with my kids
01:12but it's become so much more as I try to model it into a real looking model
01:15In the model I wanted it to look as real as I possibly could
01:18and I thought to do that, it's best to just model what I see
01:21So I started with the new Beehive pub in Bradford
01:25I then made some parts of Shipley, some parts of Ilkley
01:28and just basically all around me that I see, I try to make real models, real places
01:32So in September the Cathedral are running a Heritage Open Day
01:37which is where people come into the Cathedral and see the heritage of the beautiful building
01:41and they saw my channel on YouTube I think
01:44and they wondered if I'd be prepared to make a model of the Cathedral
01:47I couldn't do it in time for September because there's about 12 months worth of work there
01:51but alongside my YouTube channel and with Maggie, the Director of Education and Visitors
01:56we're putting together several videos that will watch me over time
01:59making the Cathedral and also learning about the Cathedral, the building itself
02:02This is Chandwell, it's a fictional town, it's an N scale model railway
02:07and all of the buildings on it are based upon real buildings in and around Bradford
02:12So for example this bit down the front, although it's got fictional frontages on it
02:16it is actually based upon Shipley, next door to the Crescent Hotel which is in Ilkley
02:21and various other buildings, every single one of them are based upon buildings
02:25near where I live in West Yorkshire
02:27So this is Chandwell's Royal Scott Hotel
02:30but it's actually based upon the Midland Hotel in Bradford
02:33and I think anyone who's got off the train at Bradford Foster Square
02:36should recognise that as the Midland Hotel
02:38complete with its tower and its large ballroom windows
02:41So this little row of buildings is based upon Shipley
02:44I think this is the Old House at Home pub, although I've made it into a pub and two buildings
02:48and this is the Shimla Spice, which in Chandwell is known as Jasmine Tandoori
02:54So the Earl Chanfield Hotel, which is what it's called in Chandwell
02:58is actually based upon the Crescent Hotel in Ilkley
03:01and I think if you've been to the bottom of Brook Street in Ilkley
03:03you should recognise that one quite easily
03:05So this is Chandwell's Old Town Hall, which is now a nightclub and a bed shop
03:09but this is actually based upon Sorby Bridge Town Hall
03:12and I think that should be quite recognisable, which was a bank
03:15and then next door we've got the Wesleyan, I think it's called Chapel House in Ilkley
03:19which in Chandwell is a car parts supplier now called Revs
03:23So this is Chandwell's Indoor Market
03:25and I think anyone who's ever seen it should recognise, love it or hate it
03:29Shipley's Clock Tower