It is a real place! It is a small village of around 500 souls. It is in South Northamptonshire, not far from the Market Town of Towcester. It is in the valley of the River Black Ouse, which a almost a stream at this point. It is an ancient settlement, mentioned in the Domesday Book and it sits on the Ironstone Hills, the local stone giving the buildings a lovely brown/orange colour. It is a very agricultural area, even now, and it's flower and produce show has and still does attract attendance from across the local area. Blakesley Hall, long demolished, was the home of the Bartholomew family. Charles Bartholomew constucted a 15 inch gauge railway between the station and his house under the tutilage of the famous model engineer Mr Bassett-Lowke of Northampton.
This is the 1950s map of the village. You can see village on the hill and the railway down in the valley. Towcester is on the right of this map and Morton Pinkney is to the left. Blakesley Hall is clearly shown although the minature railway cannot be seen, having been removed during the WW2 scrap drive.
You can find out more about this lovely village at
http://www.blakesley-village.co.uk/BlakesleyNorthants/Welcome.html
This map of the line puts Blakesley in it's context with the rest of the railway line.
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