Southsea Model Village

12/09/2026

WE’RE OPEN ALL WEEKEND!

It’s Kite Festival weekend on Southsea Common so if you’re heading down, why not make a day of it and pop into Southsea Model Village before or after.

The trains are running, the village is looking cracking and Dinny Darren’s getting involved in the Kite Festival too…

Unfortunately, nobody explained to him what a kite was.

He’s nicked 40 balloons off the carnival stall, tied them to his wrist and reckons he’s entering the “freestyle category.”

Last seen asking which way the wind was blowing and whether the Isle of Wight counts as out of bounds.

Open Saturday & Sunday, 10:30am–4pm
Pay on entry
Tickets available on our website.

A small world with a big heart ❤️

07/09/2026

Dinny Darren is still waiting for his Bombay bay delivery….fuming🤦🏼‍♂️ 😂

06/09/2026

☀️ THAT’S A WRAP ON SUMMER! ☀️

What a summer it’s been at Southsea Model Village!

A massive THANK YOU to every single person who has visited us, supported us, shared our posts, come along to our events and generally helped keep our little village thriving. We’ve had a fantastic summer and we genuinely couldn’t do it without you.

From now on, we’ll be OPEN WEEKENDS ONLY as we start getting the village ready for what’s coming next… 💀🎃

And then on 17th October, all hell breaks loose.

We’ll be opening for TWO WEEKS for our huge Halloween event:

💀🎃 SKELETON INVASION: THE VILLAGERS FIGHT BACK! 🎃💀

Last year the skeletons invaded.

This year… the villagers have had enough.

We’ve got some absolutely ridiculous plans for this one, and over the next few weeks you’ll start seeing a few teasers of what we’ve been working on.

So for now:

OPEN WEEKENDS ONLY
HALLOWEEN STARTS 17TH OCTOBER
TWO WEEKS OF SKELETON INVASION: THE VILLAGERS FIGHT BACK

Thank you again for an incredible summer.

Now give us a few weeks to turn a perfectly respectable model village into complete Halloween chaos. 😂💀

A small world with a big heart. ❤️

06/09/2026

MEET JAMES

We first met James in slightly unusual circumstances, when Benny, his family dog, managed to get himself stuck in our walls and caused a bit of a rescue operation.

Not long afterwards, James asked us if there was any chance of a weekend job at the village.

We gave him a chance.

And what a decision that turned out to be.

James is just 14 years old, but since starting with us he has been absolutely unbelievable.

You will NEVER find him sitting around staring at his phone waiting to be told what to do. He’s always cracking on, asking what needs doing or finding something useful to get stuck into.

And it genuinely doesn’t seem to matter what we throw at him.

Miniature work.
Big maintenance jobs.
Building things.
Painting.
Creating new scenes.
Using tools.
Helping around the village.

He’ll have a go at absolutely anything.

Here he is today, casually making lamp posts for the village. At 14.

I’ve worked with plenty of people twice his age who don’t have half his work ethic or willingness to learn.

The best thing about James isn’t just what he can already do. It’s that he wants to learn how to do more. Give him something he’s never done before and instead of saying “I can’t do that”, he’ll have a crack at it.

That’s an attitude that will take him a very long way in life.

His parents should be incredibly proud of the young man they’re raising.

We certainly couldn’t ask for more from him.

The only problem?

We wish we could have him full time. 😂

Keep doing what you’re doing, James. At 14, you’re already showing some adults how it’s done.

05/09/2026

Well this was a nice surprise!

Southsea Model Village has been named one of Britain’s most charming model villages by The Telegraph!

And we’ve come in at NUMBER 6!

The article describes us as a “nostalgic slice of seaside Britain” and even gives a shout-out to our ever-changing scenes, new additions, the Craft Room and, of course, Thomas the Tank Engine.

Considering we’re just a little model village tucked away on Southsea seafront, being featured nationally alongside some of the best-known model villages in Britain is pretty bloody cool.

We’ve put a huge amount of work into the village over the last year, constantly adding new scenes, buildings, characters and plenty of our own slightly questionable sense of humour

So it’s genuinely lovely to see Southsea Model Village getting some national recognition.

Number 6 in Britain. We’ll take that!

Although obviously we think they accidentally put a 6 where the 1 should be.

A massive thank you to everyone who visits, follows, shares our posts and supports our little village.

Not bad for a load of tiny houses by the seaside!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/united-kingdom/britains-most-charming-model-villages/?fbclid=IwdGRjcAUJbZlwZG9mAWZkaWQWUN1p7UXHsER0f5tFmSFwDZcLc1mDOGV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR4AebQraX7sLttBkJXzadJDZZRiikZob40PDreYYPDLP1ITYG0SyHKKk0Dusg_aem_hx4hLXGdXUfnbp-vyJUH9A

These wholesome bastions of a bygone age make for an ideal day out, no matter how old you are

05/09/2026

HE’S UP!!!

Round 2 with Stay Puft and this time WE ACTUALLY WON.

No open zips. No standing around scratching our heads wondering why the bloody thing wouldn’t inflate. Just 25 FEET of marshmallow magnificence now towering over Southsea Model Village.

And looking at him up there, we’re starting to wonder…

Could this be the biggest Halloween decoration at any attraction in the south? 🤔🎃

Probably not.

Maybe.

We’ve done absolutely no research whatsoever.

But until someone turns up with a 26ft skeleton and ruins it for us, we’re claiming it.

He’s only up for a little test today before being packed away ready for Halloween, but bloody hell… you’re not going to miss us this October. 👻😂

STAY PUFT HAS LANDED IN SOUTHSEA.

And Halloween 2026 just got considerably more ridiculous. 🎃🤣

If you drive past and take some pics please tag us.

05/09/2026

🌞 WE’RE OPEN TODAY! 🌞

It’s the last weekend before all the kids are back at school… so squeeze one more day out of the summer before the uniforms, packed lunches and “WHERE ARE YOUR SHOES?!” chaos starts again. 😂

Have a wander around the village
See the trains running
Spot all the new scenes, tiny details and absolute nonsense we’ve added this summer
Have a go in our Games Tunnel
And enjoy a few hours down by the seafront!

And if you want some FREE entertainment, today is ROUND 2 of me and Kim attempting to put up the 25ft Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

After last time’s highly professional operation of leaving a zip open and wondering why the bloody thing wouldn’t inflate, we’re going again.

Will Stay Puft finally stand up?

Will we remember the zip?

Will two grown adults once again be defeated by an inflatable marshmallow?

All will be revealed. 😂

Open 10.30am – 4.30pm today.

No booking needed, just turn up… and give the kids one last outing before we hand them back to the teachers. 😂🙌

📍 Southsea Model Village
A small world with a big heart. ❤️

04/09/2026

😂 DUMB & DUMBER DO STAY PUFT 😂

Me and Alfie decided today was the day to give our 25ft Stay Puft Marshmallow Man his first test inflation.

How hard can it be?

Plug blower in.
Big marshmallow man goes up.
Job done.

Yeah… about that😂

After a fair bit of wrestling with approximately three acres of marshmallow, we nearly got him up.

Turns out we might have left a rather important zip open ffs 🤦🏼‍♂️

That’ll probably explain why the blower was giving it everything while Stay Puft looked like he’d had six pints of Stella and had given up on life.

We’ll call today a successful failure.

One thing we DID discover though…

HE’S BLOODY MASSIVE.

I knew he was 25ft when I bought him. I understood what 25ft meant.

Apparently my brain did not.

I may have slightly underestimated just how ridiculous this thing is going to look towering over a MODEL VILLAGE.

Attempt 2 coming soon…

This time we’re closing the bloody zip.

Halloween is going to be absolutely ridiculous. 👻🎃

04/09/2026

02/09/2026

THE PANTO HAS TAKEN OVER THE VILLAGE!

We had a slightly different bunch of visitors at Southsea Model Village today as the cast of the King’s Theatre Panto joined us for a press day!

And yes… putting a full-size panto cast in the middle of a model village went about as sensibly as you’d expect.

We welcomed:

Jack Edwards as Dame Trott
Shaun Williamson as Fleshcreep
Sean Smith as Jack
Joe Pollard as Silly Simon
Stephanie Aves as Jill
Catherine Saunders as the Spirit of the Beans

They spent the morning exploring the village, posing amongst the miniature buildings and generally making everything look even smaller than usual.

Brilliant to have the cast down with us and great to be part of the build-up to this year’s panto at the Kings Theatre.

We tried to get Shaun to perform his Barrioke in our worlds smallest disco but he wasn’t having any of it 😂

Thanks for visiting Southsea Model Village, guys. We had a great morning! 🎭🌱

A small world with a big heart.