Pub reopens complete with model railway above bar

A model railway has been restored to run above the bar

A 19th Century pub has reopened after more than 10 years along with the restoration of its model railway running above the bar.

The Great Western at Deppers Bridge, between Harbury and Southam in Warwickshire, closed in 2012 and has since been blighted by vandalism.

Last October, the building was purchased by businessman Shane Bland who has helped bring the G-scale (45mm) model railway back to life.

Siobhan Dodd, the pub's creative director and responsible for renovating its interior, said: "From the very start, this was a big passion project of ours, that if the pub was going to open, the train had to be reinstated".

She said many people had asked about the railway as the pub was renovated.

"If you had been brought up in the area, you would have been taken there as a young person, by your parents, nannies, granddads, aunties, uncles," she said.

"The G-scale runs around the ceiling of the front bar.

"I think it was erected in the 60s or 70s, but with the vandalism, and the closure of the building, it was all wrecked and taken down."

Ms Dodd said none of the three people now running the pub knew anything about restoring a model railway, but they got some expert help from a few sources and helped them "rebuild from scratch".

"One in particular, Colin, who is a G-scale expert, gave us very, very lovely amount of volunteer time...," she added.

"She's [the train] absolutely beautiful. And she's called Gwendoline."

The pub had been vandalised after it closed 13 years ago