New home for model railway group

Members of the Heywood Model Railway Group are all smiles after moving to new, bigger premises.

The group, made up of around 40 members, began in somebody’s garage in Heywood many years ago, as the numbers grew the group needed new premises and for the last eight years Champness Hall in Rochdale has been their home.

After a long search to get back to Heywood the group have moved to a building on the Heywood Distribution Park.

Publicity Manager of the group, Richard Mann said: “We wanted to move back to Heywood for a long time, but we were often let down, we would see the light at the end of the tunnel and then have our hopes dashed.

“We stayed at Champness Hall for a long time but we were on the top floor and this is a hobby that is enjoyed by men of the retired age so getting there was difficult.

“The new site is on the ground floor, it is very spacious and it is much more physically accessible which means we can get more out of it.”

Mr Mann is confident the new site will also attract new members: “When we were in Rochdale some people from Heywood couldn’t make it at all, so now we are back in Heywood they have suggested they will come along.

“We would also like to attract some younger members, my 14-year-old niece currently comes along, she is the only girl in the group and the only young person.”

Speaking about the members’ reaction to the new premises Mr Mann said: “Everybody is very pleased, the move was stressful and with the amount of things we have we thought it would take until the middle of September to move it all but all the members were willing to help.”

The group members have 24-hour access to the new site, where as at Champness Hall they could only go on a Monday

The premises is currently home to a room with two big model railway layouts and various smaller layouts, there is also a meeting room and a library housing the groups literature.

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