The "From the Archive" section of the most recent issue of Railway Modeller magazine (July 2025) referenced a cottage thatching article by Allan Downes in the July 1975 issue. This brought on a flood of memories from that period when I was building my GWR branch line in N guage. His work was wonderfully inspiring even with only black & white photos along side his hand-drawn diagrams and plans. Fortunately, Railway Modeller has all of their back issues online and so I was able to read that article and an earlier one (February 1975) where he introduced the thatching technique.
In hindsight, what I really miss about this time and Downes's approach was the simplicity of it all. I knew no different. I built a whole railway station, goods depot, engine yard, and town using nothing but what a 14 year old could find and afford. The most expensive material I bought were the sheets of printed brick from the Totnes hobby shop!
I have a few, blurry photos of my layout. Saddly, I had to leave it all behind when my family immigrated to the US.
