Derbyshire man builds LEGO version of the Lake District

Jon Tordoff is from Milford in Derbyshire but he loves the Buttermere area of the Lakes so much that he decided to recreate it in the mini bricks. 

The LEGO set with clouds

He is working on a scale of 1:3125, with his LEGO landscape representing 21 square miles from nearly 160,000 separate pieces. 

To reproduce the area around both Buttermere and Crummock Water, Jon used standard 40 cm square baseplates, each made up of 2,500 studs. 

He went as far as downloading Google Earth maps of the area, separating each of them into a grid of 2,500 squares. He then matched the topography of the land with the appropriate bricks - green for woodland, grey for stone, blue for water and so on. 

LEGO set viewed from above

All of the pieces were purchased either from LEGO or eBay. He called the task 'painstaking,' especially as the highest fell in the region High Stile required him to build about a dozen platforms to match its height.

Once finished, Jon displayed the project at his local pub The King William. 

The view from Buttermere

Jon said that it was a 'labour of love' based on his passion for the Lakes.

"It's tranquil, unspoilt - there's only one road that takes you there. I love the towering fells, the woodland and waterfalls, and I also feel as if I'm in true Wainwright country. I can never go there enough," he said.

READ MORE: Train model set for auction at 1818 Auctioneers near Milnthorpe

"I'm chuffed with it. Something I need to point out though is that it is an artistic impression. It's not 100 per cent accurate in terms of topography but it's as near as you can get using LEGO. Just don't plan your walking route on it."

He does have one more ambition for the project.

"I would love it if my creation could be displayed in the Lakes itself," he said.

"I'm also keen to expand the LEGO Lakes so it includes Borrowdale, and after that, who knows?"