Missenden’s Summer Paradise
12-17 August 2012
Six clear days of round-the-clock finescale modelling.

You know how much you can get done in a weekend, so imagine what you will achieve in a week!

BOOKING NOW OPEN see the Dates and Prices page

Now in its third year, Missenden Abbey Summer School offers an unhurried, relaxed atmosphere in which you work at your own pace on the project(s) of your choice.  With resident tutors of the calibre of Bob Alderman, Chris Langdon, Barry Norman and Tim Shackleton, a wealth of support and experience is at hand and the expertise of your fellow modellers forms an equally valuable resource.

If ever there was the perfect retreat for railway modellers, you may well have found it.

The modelling emphasis is definitely finescale, but gauge or scale is irrelevant.  Each year we welcome loco-builders and scenic modellers, tracklayers and weatherers.  Our goal is to enable you to take home a project that not only works reliably, but is well on the way to completion.  If you don’t have a sense of humour, though, you may find the relaxed, informal atmosphere hard to live with.

Time, space, opportunity . . .

Think of it – a week free of domestic interference, sponging kids, dogs that want walking, gardens that need attention and trolleys being pushed round Sainsbury’s. You’ll have your own workspace, your own agenda.

As well as the hands-on stuff there are also talks and demonstrations, plus a special private visit to Pendon Museum.

The 2012 event happens to coincide with goings-on in the former Stratford motive power district so we’ve declared an Olympics-free zone in our little modellers’ heaven (if desperate, TV is available in the privacy of your room or in the Abbey bar).

Click the image for an enlarged view

What else can we offer?

• We’ve been successfully running modelling courses at Missenden Abbey for 30+ years
• Missenden is revered throughout the modelling world for its high-quality accommodation in the rural Chilterns (smack on the proposed route of HS2!) 
• Excellent modeller-friendly food (with healthy options for the more cerebral)
• Just 20 mins from the M25 and readily accessible from all parts of the country
• If you live close at hand, you can join Summer School at reduced rates as a non-resident.

Booking is now open.  For details on price and how to book, see the Dates and Prices page.
Spread the cost. Because of changes in the law concerning the retention of card details, this facility is no longer available for the Summer courses.  You will need to either contact Bucks CC to set up a direct debit or save a regular monthly amount!

Wives and partners are welcome, either just to stay at the Abbey for a break, or take part in any of the many courses that the Abbey runs during Summer School.  Details of other courses offered at Missenden Abbey Summer School should be available on the Missenden Abbey website and from the Abbey in February 2012.

Pictures of the first Summer School are available for viewing.

CLICK HERE

Feedback from previous Summer Schools:

‘I made more progress in a week at Missenden than I would have in a year at home.’

‘I would never have made a working locomotive if I hadn’t been to one of these courses.’

‘The best thing about Missenden isn't just the help from the tutors, but the little titbits you pick up from those working beside you.’

'I don't get breakfasts like this at home.'

'If I don't have exactly the right tool with me, there's always someone who'll lend me one.'

‘I may be a complete duffer but I love being in the company of people who really know what they're doing'

'I’m happy just to crack on with my own modelling but it's good to know the expertise is there all around you if you need it.'

‘Great fun, great company and a relaxing environment. What more could you need?’

'Thoroughly enjoyed my week's endeavours; achieved more than I have done at any other time; and the company was superb!'

'I would never had finished it without the help of the tutors and fellow modellers at Missenden Abbey'

'The summer school was enormous fun and and seemed to be over in a flash - thank you so much again for all you do to make all the Missenden gatherings so enjoyable and unmissable for us all.'

'Excellent, and very worthwhile. Can we do it again next year?'