Think of the petite world of dolls' house furniture and the last thing to come into your mind is Barry Harris.

The six-and-a-half foot tall carpenter isn't the sort of man you could imagine making one-and-a-half inch high models of Victorian meat grinders in his spare time. But appearances can be deceptive.

Barry, 55, spends up to 30 hours a week producing 1/12th scale versions of exquisite Victorian kitchen gadgets. Night after night of painstaking effort goes into making sure the creations he sells at craft shows work exactly the same as the originals.

Barry, whose garage in Hillview Road, Findon, has become his workshop, said: "When I display the stuff at shows people can hardly believe I've made it. It's a real labour of love. I go home every night and just get on with making it. You sort of go into your own little world when you are dealing with these fiddly little materials."

The word fiddly hardly does justice to the intricacy of Barry's work. Teapots, washing machines, whisks and soon even marmalade slicers - all with full working parts - are part of Barry's repertoire. Nothing from the 19th-Century kitchen seems beyond him.

But however hard he works, Barry cannot meet the growing demand. He said: "At one show at the Alexandra Palace in London I sold five meat grinders in just three hours. They are on the market for £125 each so that just shows how keen buyers are. Dolls houses are the biggest hobby in Britain these days and people are willing to pay for good stuff. The customers are getting more and more discerning, so you have to keep up the quality."

Barry has been a carpenter at Worthing Hospital for 26 years and has had an interest in miniature work for a long time, but he was pushed into the dolls' house world by accident.

He said: "I used to make half-size models of furniture for people's houses but the materials became too expensive after a while. Then about five years ago I had the thought of making stuff for dolls' houses. I love Victoriana and Victorian engineering so I would like to stick with reproducing stuff from that era.

"It's a sort of tribute really. They made stuff so well and with such pride, I'm just trying to do the same. I love all the old names. Everything then was advertised as 'magic', or 'marvellous' or 'superb'. The salesmen had such enthusiasm. My mother lives in Switzerland and we go and see her each year with the extra money we make from the doll accessories."

For the working parts, Barry makes gears as small as one-eighth of an inch in diameter, with up to nine teeth on each. Each meat grinder, the most complicated machine to date, takes 70 hours to make. He makes houses too, once spending two years on a commission for a friend.

Barry even has a little doll in the garage to compare with his models to ensure they look authentic. He said: "Things can go wrong, but I don't think of my hobby as frustrating. It's a challenge and a commitment I have to keep. I've never been one for sitting and watching the TV. I prefer to do something useful. My workmates all have unusual hobbies, so they don't think much about what I do."

Wife Hilary added: "What he does is absolutely brilliant. Barry is extremely talented." Barry's work will be on display at Hove Town Hall on April 9 and 10.

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