YouTuber Michael Scott with his latest model of Bradford Cathedral set to join his Chadwell village
Michael Scott, of Burley in Wharfedale, has his own YouTube channel 'Chandwell', and he calls himself the 'Mayor of Chandwell' a fictional 1.148 scale N Gauge model layout of West Yorkshire Town he has named 'Chandwell' set in 1993.
He has been commissioned to build a scale model of Bradford Cathedral as his latest project ahead of the cathedral opening its doors for Heritage Open Days this September.
He has been commissioned to build a scale model of Bradford Cathedral as his latest project ahead of the cathedral opening its doors for Heritage Open Days this September.
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00:00Welcome to Chandwell, my name's Michael and I'm making this N scale model of a rundown West Yorkshire town set in 1993
00:07I'm also making a model of Bradford Cathedral
00:10And after 50 hours of drawing, cutting, sticking, folding
00:14I've finally got the serial packet mock-up
00:17This mock-up is intended just to make sure that I've got the general proportions of the model right
00:21and that I know how it's going to go together
00:23It also helps me spot any errors that I might have made in the drawing
00:26so I don't have to redo the whole thing after I've made it
00:29So now I've got 12 long months ahead of myself
00:32where I'm going to turn this into a real model worthy of Chandwell
00:40I've been building Chandwell itself, my main model, for about 5 years
00:43and I've been talking about it on YouTube
00:45showing people how I go about making it
00:47but also telling silly stories about the town of Chandwell itself
00:51Chandwell is a fictional town based upon real parts of West Yorkshire
00:55I use it as inspiration just to make a good model
00:58by modelling what I see, basically
01:00and Chandwell is a name that was made up out of the names of my children
01:03so it's just become a town in its own right
01:06Chandwell, it's a model railway layout, it's an N scale model railway yet
01:10so it started off as an excuse to play trains with my kids
01:12but it's become so much more as I try to model it into a real looking model
01:15In the model I wanted it to look as real as I possibly could
01:18and I thought to do that, it's best to just model what I see
01:21So I started with the new Beehive pub in Bradford
01:25I then made some parts of Shipley, some parts of Ilkley
01:28and just basically all around me that I see, I try to make real models, real places
01:32So in September the Cathedral are running a Heritage Open Day
01:37which is where people come into the Cathedral and see the heritage of the beautiful building
01:41and they saw my channel on YouTube I think
01:44and they wondered if I'd be prepared to make a model of the Cathedral
01:47I couldn't do it in time for September because there's about 12 months worth of work there
01:51but alongside my YouTube channel and with Maggie, the Director of Education and Visitors
01:56we're putting together several videos that will watch me over time
01:59making the Cathedral and also learning about the Cathedral, the building itself
02:02This is Chandwell, it's a fictional town, it's an N scale model railway
02:07and all of the buildings on it are based upon real buildings in and around Bradford
02:12So for example this bit down the front, although it's got fictional frontages on it
02:16it is actually based upon Shipley, next door to the Crescent Hotel which is in Ilkley
02:21and various other buildings, every single one of them are based upon buildings
02:25near where I live in West Yorkshire
02:27So this is Chandwell's Royal Scott Hotel
02:30but it's actually based upon the Midland Hotel in Bradford
02:33and I think anyone who's got off the train at Bradford Foster Square
02:36should recognise that as the Midland Hotel
02:38complete with its tower and its large ballroom windows
02:41So this little row of buildings is based upon Shipley
02:44I think this is the Old House at Home pub, although I've made it into a pub and two buildings
02:48and this is the Shimla Spice, which in Chandwell is known as Jasmine Tandoori
02:54So the Earl Chanfield Hotel, which is what it's called in Chandwell
02:58is actually based upon the Crescent Hotel in Ilkley
03:01and I think if you've been to the bottom of Brook Street in Ilkley
03:03you should recognise that one quite easily
03:05So this is Chandwell's Old Town Hall, which is now a nightclub and a bed shop
03:09but this is actually based upon Sorby Bridge Town Hall
03:12and I think that should be quite recognisable, which was a bank
03:15and then next door we've got the Wesleyan, I think it's called Chapel House in Ilkley
03:19which in Chandwell is a car parts supplier now called Revs
03:23So this is Chandwell's Indoor Market
03:25and I think anyone who's ever seen it should recognise, love it or hate it
03:29Shipley's Clock Tower