Welcome to York – Lego style!
Most of the famous landmarks are here – York Minster, Clifford’s Tower, the City Walls, and Shambles, as well as a Viking ship and a steam train.
All created with great ingenuity out of countless plastic bricks.
It’s the inspired work of resident Chris Moor – and he’s hoping that Lego could take it up and turn it into a set that people will be sold around the world.
But he needs our help to put York on the global Lego map.
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Chris, who’s 57 and from Dringhouses, got his first Lego set when he was five or six. “It was a little police boat, and it actually floated! I absolutely loved that,” he told YorkMix.
But as he got older, he was more into Hornby rail sets.
Lego re-entered his life when he and wife Jan had twins Alex and Eloise, who are now 19. “I was very happy to buy them proper Lego and encourage them to be creative and to play with the Lego. We had a lovely time.”
That “reignited something”. “I started obviously exploring all the new wonderful sets that were then available, which were a lot more sophisticated compared with back in back in my day.”
How to help
Chris has entered Historic York into the Lego Ideas programme.
For it to be considered as the next Lego set, he needs to get 1,000 supporters soon.
To help, go here, take 30 seconds to create a Lego account, and vote for Historic York.
Add a comment too – they help to impress the judges!
Chris then came across the Lego Ideas programme, where people can submit their designs to the company – and the best and most popular ones get made into a Lego set to be sold around the world.
His first go was inspired by Neil Armstrong’s first footprint on the moon. Then Chris, who has a civil engineering background, “spent hours designing everything under the sun”.
One of his creations, Mobile Mayhem, was even selected to go on display at Lego House, the interactive museum based in the company’s home in Billund, Denmark.
He was inspired to create a miniature York a couple of years ago.
Chris said: “I just sat down with a blank sheet of paper and wrote a list of what I thought the most famous, interesting and most historic parts of the city were.
“Then I tried to figure out whether I could create them at roughly the same scale and make them look any good, so the Minster was pretty much the first one I started with.
“Clifford’s Tower was probably the next one, because if you’re into Lego at all, you probably are aware that curves and round shapes are quite tricky!”
He initially displayed Historic York at the Yorkshire Brick Show at York Racecourse in April 2024, and received much positive feedback.
“A lot of people wanted to take photos, and then they were asking me, can we buy it, or have you got instructions to build it?”
And that encouraged him to enter it into Lego Ideas here.
He thinks York would make a brilliant Lego set. “In the last five years or so, they have done sets for cities around the world, generally capital cities, but some others as well, particularly in America.
“So I thought, why should London get all the glory? And I think York is nicer than London. If nothing else, it’s small, compact, and Yorkshire folk are lovely!”
He said it would be “a dream” to have his design made into an official Lego set.
It would be a great souvenir for residents, as well as for the millions of people who visit York.
Chris added: “If you do find the time to support and vote for it can definitely happen. This is doable!”
