AN intricate diorama depicting The War of the Worlds was just one of the creations that held visitors to the Great Western Brick Show spellbound over the weekend.

Tiny Jacobites battled against the English and miniscule corsairs played out scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean for the crowds at the Steam museum. There were models of the Houses of Parliament, space ships from Star Trek and even R2D2 from Star Wars put in an appearance.

Show co-ordinator Martin Long, who spent much of the time demonstrating computerised Lego Boost models to entranced audiences, said one of the main attractions was the fact that exhibitors brought different models every year.

None of them were glued and all would be broken down to be turned into something else for next year’s event.

A new feature was a brick pit that allowed young children to play and build as well as admiring other people’s work.

“We wanted to make sure they could come along, enjoy themselves and do some building,” he said.

“It has been a lovely weekend. We always have friendly families here and it is always good to see return visitors.”

The computerised kits he was displaying were introduced in August as a way of encouraging children aged seven to 12 to learn programming – or coding.

“For that age group nowadays it is really important that they are learning to code,” said Martin, who is president of the Brikish Association.

“We’ve really enjoyed showing it. Everyone has been loving it and we’ve had some really positive feedback.”

Children’s charity Fairy Bricks, which helps to brighten the lives of youngsters undergoing hospital treatment by donating Lego sets to the wards, was at the event raising money and several of the exhibitors had built models at its request.

Stuart and Naomi Crawshaw spent the first day of the event putting together a huge model of the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars. It took them roughly seven hours

“Lego has always been part of my life,” said Stuart. “I still have some stuff from the early 1970s. We all grow up with it.”

He added that the pieces from the 70s still worked with modern Lego sets, something that could not be said of many toys or computer games.

The family event is marking its 15th anniversary and this year included the opportunity to help create a giant mosaic from 100,000 bricks, competitions and workshops.

Denise Potts from North Swindon had brought her partner Steve and their young children. “We’ve got Lego at home from when we were children and our kids love playing with it, especially my little girl. She’s always making houses.

“Bricks are great for encouraging their creativity and the problem-solving skills.

“Some of the models here are fantastic. The War of the Worlds scene was incredibly intricate,” she added.

Mike O’Sullivan was with his son Harry. Both are fans of the bricks.

“We made a beeline for the new robotic stuff. I can’t believe how advanced Lego has got since I first played with it as a kid in the '70s,” he said.