Model trains and more at the Hornby Visitor Centre

• Written by: Lorraine
• Written on: July 30, 2015
• Filed Under: Activities, Broadstairs, Children, Days Out, Local Area, Margate, News, Ramsgate, Video

Anyone in your family interested in trains? Model train sets perhaps? Or what about Scaletrix? May we suggest you might like to take a trip to the Hornby Visitor Centre, currently situated between Broadstairs and Margate, at Westwood, in Thanet, East Kent, but now set to move to the heart of Ramsgate.

It’s a great day out for enthusiasts, young and old, but to be honest we think anyone would find it a highly enjoyable outing – educational AND fun! It’s near the top of our list of days out to recommend to our guests, who want to know what can they do in the local area on those days they’re not enjoying our beautiful sandy beaches.

Discover rare products from the Hornby archive including the Scalextric, Airfix and Corgi brands. Track the history of Hornby’s iconic model trains from Frank Hornby’s early home-made toys in sheet metal, through the development of Hornby ‘O’ gauge and Hornby-Dublo.

There’s hours of fun to be had checking out the spectacular and intricately detailed Model Railway and Scalextric layouts

Be prepared – the shop offers an extensive range of Hornby, Scalextric, Airfix, Humbrol and Corgi products, you might just find yourself tempted to make a few purchases while you’re there.

The Hornby Visitor Centre is open every day, from 10am – 4pm (October – March) and from 10am – 5pm (April – September) with free entry to the Shop and Café.

Hornby announced earlier this month (July 2015) that, having attracted 40,000 visitors last year to their out of town location, they now plan to move the Visitor Centre to new premises they have acquired right on the quay at Ramsgate Harbour. The news has been very well recieved – the Visitor Centre will be a wonderful addition to Ramsgate’s attractions.

The new location, with the harbour slipways, along with the nearby history of the seafront railway station makes the new site ideal. The move is a big investment for Hornby and indicates their confidence in and commitment to the area where the company began, more than 60 years ago. Visitor numbers are expected to greatly increase – and deservedly so, the Hornby story is a fascinating one, with broad appeal.

Ramsgate has been undergoing significant regeneration in recent years and this process of revival ,which the Hornby move will be a major contribution to, is accelerating rapidly – if you haven’t been to Ramsgate for a while you are in for a treat.

The town has the country’s only Royal Harbour – a delightful marina just a leisurely 40 minute seaside stroll, or a ten minute drive, from Viking Bay, the main beach in Broadstairs, where we have our holiday homes.

As well as looking at the pretty boats in the Royal Harbour and other existing attractions, such as the recently opened Ramsgate Tunnels, visitors to Ramsgate can now look forward to the Hornby Visitor Centre relocating to the town. We think that deserves a big WOO HOOO – or should that be CHOO CHOO?!!