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Woman keeps legacy of 1970s model village alive

Neve Gordon-Farleighand
Jack Maclean,in Scratby
Jack Maclean/BBC Jane High a woman standing outdoors in front of a wooden fence. She has wavy brunette hair and is looking directly at the camera and smiling. She is wearing a black and cream coloured T-shirt and has a chain necklace round her neck.Jack Maclean/BBC
Jane High said she is proud of the model village which makes people smile

A front garden has become a quirky local tourist attraction after a woman inherited a 1970s homemade model village.

Jane High from Scratby, near Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, was gifted the village four years ago, has continued to add to it and now has more than 20 tiny buildings on display.

High gave the models a new lease of life after they were originally in Alan Sewell's north London garden before he died.

She said: "It just makes people smile when they come past — that's what it's all about. It's kind of a little hobby and it's just taken over."

Jack Maclean/BBC The model village with about 20 tiny properties in Jane High's front garden at her home in Scratby. Within the picture there are many miniature figures that populate the scene. Jack Maclean/BBC
While she was not into dolls as a child, Jane High painted some of the miniature figures in the Great Yarmouth model village

High said while she was not into dolls and doll houses as a child, she turned her hand at painting model figures many years ago.

"I used to paint the figures for the model village in Great Yarmouth and that's where I think I got the love for it.

"I absolutely love the model village in Great Yarmouth — that's where it started."

Jane High A composite image of two pictures of close up parts of Jane High's model village in her front garden. One the left is an outdoor music concert with small figures standing around, sitting on benches and performing on a stage. On the right is a woman hanging out washing on a small washing line and another woman walking nearby pushing a pram with two babies inside and a dog curled up in a tiny dog bed.Jane High
The model village is made up of a number of scenes and buildings to which Jane High continues to add to

The village was said to have originally been built by Sewell who made moulds, concrete houses and a church to display in his garden.

Following his death in 2006, the village was inherited by his daughter and moved to Great Yarmouth and High recalls passing by it every day.

"I thought 'I'd love to do something with that [but] it needs a bit of love and attention'," she added.

High met Sewell's daughter "by chance" and it was decided High was the right person to rehome the village.

Jane High A miniature church as part of a model village. There is a funeral ceremony playing out with the figures including a coffin being lifted from the back of a hearse. Jane High
The model village arrived at High's house in Scratby dismantled and she worked to rebuild it, including digging up part of her front lawn

The village had to be dismantled before it could be moved and High then took a summer to put it all back together.

"It was all over one summer. The garden had to be dug out for the concrete roads to be put in.

"Everything we dug out we put in a big heap and that became the hill for the church."

With more than 20 tiny buildings, the miniature village plays out numerous scenes with a 1960s garage, forge and windmill.

Like any decent seaside town or village, it has its very own fish and chip shop.

"It's unconventional. You have things that don't really go like dinosaurs and Doctor Who figures and Daleks but that's because the kiddies keep coming over."

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