Windsor Castle | Helen Glynn Jones

Today is day sixteen of the 30 Day Writing Challenge, and the prompt is: Small Things.

It’s been a funny old week with lots going on, and I’ve just realised that I forgot to take a Wednesday Wander! I’m think perhaps this blogging challenge has thrown me off course a little – I tend not to schedule posts ahead, instead writing them as they come to me, just as I’m doing right now. So to all my regular Wednesday Wander readers, I do apologise and, as I forgot to Wander on Wednesday, I’ll take a Wander today instead. I’m not going too far from where I live, but it’s a place where many many small things have been put together to create something wonderful. This week, I’m wandering to Legoland.

Legoland is located in Windsor, probably best known as home to the famous castle belonging to the Queen. Legoland is a little way out of the main town itself – built in 1996 on the former site of the Windsor Safari Park, it was the second in the world to be built, the first Legoland being in Denmark.

And it’s a pretty cool place. There are rides and a water park, and all the usual stuff you’d expect to find at a theme park. But there are also loads of intricate sculptures all over the park, all made of thousands of pieces of Lego.

Apparently, if you have a desire to become a Lego model builder, you need to spend a lot of time studying maths. There are a huge amount of calculations involved in designing prototype models, then scaling them up to full size. An interest in art and anatomy is helpful too. Plus a love of Lego, of course.

You can see from the people in the photos how large the models are in relation to us. And I think they are amazing. I don’t know whether I have the patience to become a Master Lego Builder, but I have huge respect for those who do. Another amazing thing was the view from Legoland, looking out across Windsor. You can see the castle sitting up on a mound, then, further beyond, the London skyline. Almost worth the visit just for that.