Little people and little things 🙂
I’ve decided to go out on a limb here and stretch the Sunday Stills theme of Kids and Pets to include ‘things to do with little people‘, which just happens to involve a visit to a miniature world with my little granddaughter. I’m hoping that’s OK!
What is Cockington Green?
It’s a lovely landscaped garden in Canberra with a fascinating display of meticulously handcrafted miniature buildings from around the world, where you literally have the world at your feet!
I remember taking our three young daughters to these gardens in 1990 as we had just been to Tumbarumba for the first time – we’d agreed to a move from Newcastle to the local High School in Tumbarumba in late December 1990 (sight unseen) and decided we’d better go and have a look before moving everyone down there. Canberra was on the way and we stopped for a visit, the girls loved these gardens and miniature scenes even back then.
I hadn’t been back since then, so it was a treat to take my 5yr old granddaughter Emilia as I was looking after her for a few days in the school holidays. She loved it although she had been before when she was a lot younger. She was entranced with the beautiful flowers, the tiny houses and people, the push button train (she chased it around) and basically the whole display! This was a perfect age to take her.
The original Cockington Green Gardens display winds its way through superb manicured gardens and depicts many of the varied and colourful scenes of Great Britain that the Sarah family discovered and explored during an extended holiday to England in 1972.
Cockington is a quaint English village located in Torquay in the English county of Devon that the family enjoyed and fell in love with during their extended holiday. They subsequently named their Australian Tourism Award-winning business after this delightful and picturesque village. Source
I didn’t realise until my recent visit, that it was started in 1979, and has been owned by the same family for the whole time! The miniature scenes are handmade and have taken hundreds of hours to create all set amongst beautiful gardens. They are made to scale ranging between 1:10, 1:12, 1:18, 1:25. It’s just amazing to see the details in them.
Since I first visited back in the 1990s, they now have an international section which is fascinating – scenes from Peru (Machu Pichu), Argentina, Columbia, Croatia, Hungary, India, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain – just to mention a few. I felt like I’d been for a trip around the world!
The process for developing the international display commenced with letters being written to all High Commissions and Embassies in Canberra. Those who responded where engaged in detailed discussions to negotiate which building would best represent their country, a time-frame within which to construct, and last, but not least, from where the funding for the display would come. Source
It’s funny I’ve been to quite a few of these places in real life and looking back at our photo albums for this time, I took very similar photos back then!
Sometimes ‘it’s the little things that count’ and this phrase perfectly sums up our visit to Cockington Green. I hope you enjoyed your visit with me.
Sunday Stills – National Kids and Pet Day
Terris’ prompt for #Sunday Stills prompt is US based National Kids and Pets Day and her post Sunday Stills: #Pets and #Kids Make Life Exciting! is a delight of all things dogs, dogwood trees, birds and kids. I’ve taken a bit of a different direction – who me??
Why? Because I’m not in the US, I don’t have a pet and haven’t had any for years, and I really wanted to share some of my photos from our visit to Cockington Green Gardens in Canberra. I did include a kid in my post so I’m hoping it’s OK Terri!
Sometimes it’s just the little things that make you happy.
Have a great week and thanks for your visit.
Note: This wasn’t a sponsored post, I paid my own way 🙂
Recent posts you may have missed:
- A puzzle in cobalt blue #SundayStills
- Bonjour Noumea, it’s been a while!
- Autumn Colours in Tumbarumba
- Re-grouping as the years move on #SundayStills
- An Apple a Day and all that! #WOYP
All my Sunday Stills posts can be found here – I’ve been doing these for a while and enjoy the challenge it gives me each week!
You can also find Deb’s World in lots of other places – stay in touch by clicking any of the buttons below.
Everyone has a story to tell!
Deb is a young-at-heart & active 60+ blogger/retiree, after being made redundant from her 22-year career managing education programs in a men’s correctional centre (jail). She now spends her time reading, blogging, riding her ebike and travelling. Deb was awarded a Bravery Award from the Queen when she was 17 after a tragic accident – a definite life changing moment! She is married with 3 grown-up daughters & has 4 grandchildren. You can read more of Deb’s story here
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Wow…this is so cool. I think it would be so fun to visit.
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It was a fun few hours Kirstin 🙂
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I was in Canberra last year – very nice city!
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Yes it’s a lovely place to visit with lots of interesting things to see and do!
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This is looks like the perfect place to explore with (and without) kids. A great choice for the prompt.
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Thanks Donna, I enjoyed sharing this visit for the Sunday Stills prompt and I’m glad you enjoyed it too!
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This looks a very creative place to explore with children – fun!
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Thanks Mary. It was a highlight of my few days looking after my granddaughter!
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Oh wow! That sounds like such a fun place to explore. I am always impressed with any sort of detailed miniatures and how they create them.
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I know Joanne, the level of detail and time that must go into making them is amazing!
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Hi, Debbie – Cockington Green Gardens in Canberra is beautiful and a perfect feature for this prompt. When Creighton was small, we had a season’s pass to our local minature world (Cullen Gardens and Minature Village). It was a wonderful place to get outdoors, enjoy the scenery…and let little ones run around! Thank you for the reminder. ❤
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I’m so pleased my post was able to remind you of the fun you had with Creighton as a small boy Donna! I’m amazed at the level of detail and how well it all looks considering the age of Cockington Green , it’s obviously well looked after by the family.
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I’m glad you were inspired to share about this lovely display for “kids day” and to share your experience seeing it with your granddaughters, Debbie. What an amazing miniature display this is. Wow, the details. I’m sure everyone was enthralled walking around and seeing it. Wonderful memories for you all. And of course it’s OK, inspiration strikes from anywhere and that’s how our stories are told. I feel honored this was a story shared for Sunday Stills 🙂
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I’m just realising I’ve missed a whole lot of comments on this post Terri, so I do apologise!
It really was a lovely few hours spent with my granddaughter and taking note of all the details that go into these models. I’m glad I was able to pull this together for the Sunday Stills prompt and you’re right inspiration strikes and you just have to go with the flow!
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This is so lovely, Debbie. What a fabulous project and it’s beautifully set out.
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It has really stood the test of time Cathy, which I was pleased to see considering it’s been there for quite some time!
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How lovely and I’m impressed it’s still going strong. We had a similar place in WA but it closed down and went to wrack and ruin with nobody to care for it. I hope yours lasts into the future because it’s so delightful for everyone in the family.
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It’s still there and looks pretty good considering the age of the place Leanne. The gardens are kept beautifully and that helps keep it looking nice. It’s good for all ages as you say, what a shame the one near you closed down.
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This is perfect! My post also deviated as I only posted pictures of crocuses and sunsets but it was about something a grandkid said. I also said to Terri – I hope this is ok! I wonder why we don’t go to this fascinating spot when we were in Canberra with the kids. I’ve seen that exact white horse in England and yes I am sure some of the sites would look familiar to well traveled people. As to kids being fascinated – how could they not be! She looks like she had a great time. Thanks for sharing your “twist” as I think it is perfectly wonderful. Bernie
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We’re rebels aren’t we Bernie? Your post was lovely with that fabulous word and gorgeous photos. Yes I’ve seen the white horse in England too and several of the other places, so much fun! I’m so pleased to hear you enjoyed my twist 🙂
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I love things like that – what a great place to visit.
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It really was a fun few hours out with Emilia plus we had an ice cream in the picnic area!
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I think it’s wonderful this little village is still around. I remember places we took our kids that have been gone for years. I can also remember places I went as a little kid that are still here. It’s funny how those things go.
What a fun time to go with your granddaughter. My oldest granddaughter’s name is Amelia, and she just turned 15. It seems like only yesterday I was holding her little bitty 6 or 7 pound self. All my grands will be teenagers in the next couple of weeks! I don’t know how that could possibly have happened!
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Yes it was fun to see it again after so many years and it really is standing the test of time quite well Marsha, a bit like us 🙂 I know what you mean about them growing up so fast, Emilia is a lovely name and can be spelt lots of different ways. How cool that we both have a granddaughter with that name!
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