I love finding something great almost on your doorstep that you’ve ignored for years. We finally took a trip to the Model Railway village last weekend and it was a resounding success. Kids, young and old will have some fun here.
I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve said we must pop in for a look. The closest we got was some of the kids taking the road-train around Clon with their Granny last year. I decided to be brave and take all 5 with me to check it out properly.
It’s just on the edge of town past the GAA pitch on the way to Inchydoney. Lots of space in the car park which also acts as the start/end of the road-train. You are greeted by some lovely old carriages now doing duty as shop and cafe.
For the life of me I can’t remember how much it was in, but it wasn’t a hell of a lot. Baby got in for free. Our first stop was the indoor play area. Whilst very small (fitting into one single storey room), it’s ideal for wet days and all of ours had some fun there for 30 minutes or so. My only criticism is that with two doors, it’s too easy for a kid to sneak out. Maybe sliding bolts on half doors would make things a little bit more difficult for them.
We then headed outside and I was genuinely surprised by what I found. Lots of scale models of towns and train stations of the past in Cork. Bandon got pride of place and all were connected together by a long meandering electric model railway.
Each child found something different to occupy them. The 2 year old just ran around after the model trains. The baby checked out the models and the three eldest ran around, hiding, looking, and climbing.
The detailing on the model towns really is fantastic and it was a pleasure to see how The Shambles might have looked in the old days.
We finished off with a walk through the cafe and shop carriages and headed home happy after a good 1.5 hours of fun. All of the staff were extremely friendly and the whole place has a lovely feel to it. If you are in the area or just passing through, it’s a nice old fashioned relaxing way to hang out with your kids.
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