Birchwood is a small market town in the south west midlands, it is mentioned in the doomsday book as a settlement consisting of a hostelry and some cottages all of which have been demolished and replaced over the years some several times, a survivor is the 15th century church which can be seen behind the railway, this has always been kept in good order for the townsfolk. In early Victorian times a railway was opened from Birmingham to Bristol passing twelve miles away from Birchwood, the good people of Birchwood were keen to link up with this line and proposed to build one themselves, this was thwarted by two factors, the local lord of the manor who refused to allow the line to cross his land and lack of finance, the scheme was shelved and birchwood became a bit of a backwater. The line passed to the London Midland and Scottish railway at the 1923 grouping and British railways in 1948, it is shown here in our chosen period of late 1950s early 1960s when much of traffic was still intact and the line busy. Watch for the parcels stock still using the bay and the trains of goods vans which are taken up to the biscuit factory on its own siding under the bridge. We hope you enjoy the model the whole history of which is complete fiction but we bet you were wondering why you had never heard of birchwood biscuits. The layout is operated by members of Ilkeston (woodside) model railway club who will only be to pleased to try and help with any questions you may have.
