Derbyshire artist spent £4k building replica of the Lake District from 200,000 Lego bricks

A Derbyshire artist who spent £4,000 building a replica model of the Lake District out of 200,000 bricks of LEGO has seen his completed creation go on display for the first time.
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Jon Tordoff, 54, began constructing the 150 sq ft model of the National Park two years ago during lockdown as a way to relax at his home in Milford, Derbyshire.

But what began as a to-scale replica of Buttermere Lake soon went on to include Crummock Water, Derwentwater, Borrowdale and Honister Pass.

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The huge 14.5ft x 10ft artwork got so big for the keen fell walker's cottage home that he has never seen it all put together - until now.

Artist Jon Tordoff, has spent £4,000 building a replica model of the Lake District out of 200,000 bricks of LEGOArtist Jon Tordoff, has spent £4,000 building a replica model of the Lake District out of 200,000 bricks of LEGO
Artist Jon Tordoff, has spent £4,000 building a replica model of the Lake District out of 200,000 bricks of LEGO

The stunning creation has been public display for the first time at Belper Library.

Jon, a full-time artist, said: "It's the first time I've seen it all fully completed together so it's quite a special moment for me. It has got so big that it won’t fit in my tiny cottage fully set up so I'm looking for a permanent home for it.

"This has been one of the most painstaking things I have ever done but I'm delighted how it looks all put together in one place. I've gone to great lengths to make sure the topography is as accurate as it can but I wouldn't advise people to plan their walks by it.

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"It's a faithful representation of an area I absolutely love and I hope it inspires other people to visit the Lake District

What began as a to-scale replica of Buttermere Lake soon went on to include Crummock Water, Derwentwater, Borrowdale and Honister Pass. The huge 14.5ft x 10ft artwork got so big for the keen fell walker's cottage home that he has never seen it all put together - until now.What began as a to-scale replica of Buttermere Lake soon went on to include Crummock Water, Derwentwater, Borrowdale and Honister Pass. The huge 14.5ft x 10ft artwork got so big for the keen fell walker's cottage home that he has never seen it all put together - until now.
What began as a to-scale replica of Buttermere Lake soon went on to include Crummock Water, Derwentwater, Borrowdale and Honister Pass. The huge 14.5ft x 10ft artwork got so big for the keen fell walker's cottage home that he has never seen it all put together - until now.

"I was just one of those ideas in my head. I started with Buttermere which is one of my favourite spots - it is tranquil and I love all the fells, woodland and waterfalls.

"The project sort of became an obsession after that and before I knew it I was working seven hours a day on it. It got slightly out of hand and became a labour of love."

Jon, who is not married and has no children, planned the huge model by downloading Google Earth maps of the area and dividing them into a grid of 2,500 squares.

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He then purchased 200,000 bricks directly from Lego or eBay using green, grey, blue and brown to accurately recreate the area's famous picturesque landscape.

Jon worked for up to seven hours a day during lockdown and reckons he has spent 1,000 hours in total building the model across 60 different boards.

Jon was inspired by a visit with his young nephew to the Legoland Discovery Centre in Manchester as well as a Christmas present from his sister.

He plans to continue building the model to incorporate even more of the Lake District - including iconic landmarks such as Scafell Pike and Windermere.

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Jon has also applied to the Arts Council in the hope of getting funding to buy more Lego bricks to complete his mammoth project.

He added: "If I got the right funding maybe I could replicate the whole of the Lake District, who knows.

"My guestimate is that it's around 200,000 bricks - I never planned for it to get this big.

"It has probably taken 1,000 hours, I did 50 hours a month, around one-and-a-half hours a day. But in lockdown I was doing seven hours a day.

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“It's all square blocks but you can see the detail in it. It looks a bit like a pixilated picture that you’ve zoomed in too far on your phone.

“Most of the Lego was bought in lockdown. I bought one or two sets that I’ve had to leave the in the boxes.

“It's Crummock Water, down through Buttermere, down the Honister Pass, coming up Borrowdale and most of Derwent water. Keswick is just off it at the moment.

“As a kid I loved Lego. Then one Christmas she bought me a Lego set and after I went to Legoland Discovery I thought I could do something similar.

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“All the displays were great but were set on these papier-mâché landscapes so I wanted to make some Lego landscapes and it just grew from there."

Isabel Graham, senior director head of marketing at The Lego Group said: "We love seeing Lego fans expressing their never-ending imagination and dedication to design something as impressive as this.

"It's wonderful to see Lego bricks being used to help celebrate nature and areas of outstanding beauty that are meaningful to them."