WE dread to think what someone might find if they went trawling through the undergrowth in Swift Half’s garden.
But even the relics among the discarded cans to be found there might not beat the 200-metre abandoned model railway 35-year-old Lauren Grundy discovered in the garden of her new home in Derbyshire.
Grundy has become a social sensation, racking up over 14,000 followers, after posting about her find and vowing to restore the track.
Lauren and her husband had been aware of a small amount of the track appearing from under the bushes when they viewed the four-bedroom house, but the full extent of the railway has been a complete shock.
“We’ve found around 150-200 metres, at a guess, and it could be more, as there’re a lot of double lines you just can’t see at the moment,” Lauren told Yahoo News UK.
“I’m still uncovering more. I’ll find some tracks buried in the mud.
“I think because the garden’s full of trees and because it hasn’t been maintained for so long, the leaves are falling and it’s composting, and every year it’s getting a little bit deeper.
“It’s like I’m excavating it. Every time I find more and think the track might be missing, I find it further down in the mud.”
The former owner was an elderly man called Frank Hammersley who was passionate about model trains, according to the report.
He lived alone after losing his wife and child and the property suffered from neglect before his passing around 30 years ago.
Lauren is now restoring his beloved track to its former splendour and is hoping to name a station or train after him in his memory.
Finding odd things in a new house is far from unusual, according to the Northern Echo around six per cent find a secret passage or door, but wigs, artificial limbs, false teeth and even ashes are all common finds for homeowners.
King Charles even has a secret passage at Windsor Castle as Swift Half revealed here.
You can check out Lauren’s journey to restore the miniature railway here!