Forever England

The remarkable photographs in "Forever Engand" were taken at Bekonscot Model Village in Beaconsfield. Initially built by a London accountant to entertain his house guests, it opened to the public in 1929 and is the oldest model village in the world, welcoming close to 200,000 visitors each year. Now a world famous folly, it stands as a tribute to English eccentricity, humour, determination and craftsmanship. Its particular charm is that it presents a vision of England firmly rooted in an idyllic 1930s timewarp. Yet it is its quirkiness that Bailey has captured so stunningly. In wonderful tableaux of everyday life he creates an extraordinarily rich and powerful sense of character and atmosphere. Bekonscot's miniature population of 3,000 people and 300 animals becomes real, their lives frozen in time, as we are carried back to an England we all know and long for - an England of our imaginations - when life was simple, secure, unchanging.