Ships and Seaside Scenes in a Bottle

Jan 1962

Most people discard their empty glass bottles, but in the 1950s and 1960s, Ingoldmells man, John Phillipson had other uses for them.

John was a model-maker and used the bottles to display his models inside. What must have been his grandest effort came in 1962 when he made a model of the Derbyshire Miners’ Convalescent Home at Winthorpe, where he worked as a gardener.
He had long toyed with the idea of making such a model but was waiting for the right bottle to come along. And come along it did – on the crest of a wave, for John found the ideal specimen washed up on the beach.

After cleaning it up, inside and out, John set to work. The first step was to half fill the bottle with putty, onto which was placed strips of board to form the base. Sections of the building were them assembled in the bottle. John used only one tool for this intricate job – a long file with a sharp end on which to fasten the sections.
The replica of the Convalescent Home was complete with painted windows and doors, gardens with trees, made from sponge rubber, and lawns of green felt. A sea wall and of course the sea completed the quaint scene.

It was reported in 1962 that Mr Phillipson’s model was destined to be displayed at, where else, the Derbyshire Miners’ Convelescent Home at Winthorpe.

But, almost fifty years later, we wonder whether the replica still there?
We’re on its trail…

John also made other models which included the Cutty Sark and an American ship, though these were in glass display cabinets. He also used light bulbs, bulbs of motor-cycles and bicycle lamps, along with an old, large acid bottle in which he built a seaside and country scene.
Wouldn’t it be lovely if one of our readers could tell us if any of John’s models exist today?