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Man recreates home town from over 3,000 miles away

Gerry Lodge A model village which shows vintage cars driving through a recreation in miniature of the bottom of Guildford High Street, complete with barrier stopping cars going up the cobbled part of the high street. There are fairy lights strung between the buildings and model people walking on the pavements.Gerry Lodge
Gerry Lodge has recreated Guildford's High Street in his spare room

A man who has lived away from the UK for 38 years has recreated the Surrey town he still calls home in miniature from more than 3,000 miles away in the United States.

Gerry Lodge, 65, made a model of Guildford in his back room, buying most of it from model shops around the UK and getting the parts shipped to him in Billerica, around 20 miles north of Boston, Massachusetts.

The model, in Mr Lodge's spare room, shows Guildford's High Street, the former Dennis factory which built buses and fire engines in the town, and the walking spot Newlands Corner.

For Christmas he has decorated the miniature High Street with strings of lights and Santa's sleigh, made by a friend, flying past the moon.

Gerry Lodge A close up of a model hillside with vintage cars parked along with a small wooden stall and ice cream van. There are shrubs and trees and more rolling hills seen in the backgroundGerry Lodge
The model includes Newlands Corner, outside of the town

Mr Lodge, who grew up in Ash Grove, a cul-de-sac alongside the A3, said: "As it will never leave my back room I gave myself licence to include and do whatever made me happy.

"That was the key. This was to bring joy and make me feel close to Guildford.

"I've lived in America for 38 years but still look at Guildford as my home."

Gerry Lodge A view of the whole model which includes miniature red brick buildings, cars and a train seen running through it. There are hills rolling up to the left of the scene and churches are also seen while in the background there are clouds painted on a sky and the wall of the room behind the whole thing.Gerry Lodge
The model includes many sights of Guildford

He says he still loves standing at the bottom of Guildford's historic High Street and looking up towards the top when he visits.

"That never gets old," he added.

He began building the model after turning his spare bedroom into an office during the coronavirus pandemic.

Gerry Lodge A close up of a model which shows the red brick buildings of the Dennis factory along with signage and a model fire engine. In the background Guildford Cathedral is seen on a hill along with trees.Gerry Lodge
Guildford Cathedral also features behind the Dennis factory which was in the town

Though he had promised himself he would build a model railway when he retired, Mr Lodge said: "I decided not to wait.

"It was always going to be set in Britain which meant there was very little I could source out here.

"Most were purchased from various model railway shops around the UK."

Gerry Lodge A close up of the model village strung with Christmas lights and showing the bottom part of the cobbled High Street. There are mini market stalls and some buildings are clad in a Tudor style, with a Woolworth's store also seen in the scene.Gerry Lodge
The High Street has been decorated for Christmas

Mr Lodge said he had spent about £2,000 on the project, and probably still had a similar amount to spend on engines and controllers.

He said he first got the idea to build a model railway after visiting an antique shop in Plymouth, just south of Boston, when he saw an old Hornby mail coach.

"My father worked at British Aircraft Corporation in Weybridge, Wisley and then on Concorde in Farnborough," he added.

"So I will be building kits of various planes he was associated with and they can take turns flying across the town."

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