Newsome Mills: Modeller recreates fire-ravaged buildings

Paul Gregory said the model had taken him 100 hours so far

A derelict mill has been recreated by a railway modeller.

The model of Newsome Mills, near Huddersfield, which was ravaged in a fire in 2016, is the work of financial consultant Paul Gregory.

"I want to show people this is how it used to be - I liken it to painting in 3D. I hope I am trying to bring the building back to life," he said.

Mr Gregory said he grew up around the corner from the mill and remembered it during its 1960s and 70s heyday.

"I remember the looms going and the clock striking every hour. It was a massive complex."

Textile mills like the one at Newsome are fundamental to the history, culture and landscape of northern England, said Historic England.

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Newsome Mills, pictured here in 1996, stood at the heart of the village of Newsome

The mill has been recreated in great detail

Mr Gregory said: "I've built a few model railways; this is like a retirement project but I am still at work."

The model is made of sheets of plastic and is detailed right down to 12,000 miniature tiles individually stuck on the roof.

"I still need to weather it to get the effects of the rain and weather on to the stone of the mill," he said.

The Grade II-listed Victorian building was gutted in a fire in November 2016

The mill pictured in 2009, and the almost-finished model

The mill site is Grade II-listed and was a working woollen textile mill until 1983.

Flames tore through it in a suspected arson attack in 2016.

There is an outline planning application for housing on the site with Kirklees Council.

Mr Gregory said the model was also about social research and history

The model is built to the scale of 4mm to the foot