Carlisle man creates incredible models using matchsticks

Carlisle's Michael Tolley has comfortably surpassed that in his 15 years of creating matchstick art. 

Earlier this week, Carlisle Castle shared images of the amazing model Michael created, something which took him around 400 hours to complete. 

The local creator has completed 68 works in total, 65 of which are to do with the border city, including but not limited to Tullie House, the Crown and Mitre hotel and a near eight-foot long model of Lowther Street, all of which are kept in his bedroom.

This model of Lowther Street is one of Michael's biggest creations (Image: Supplied)

Michael was inspired by Airfix kits he played with as a child, and around 15 years ago, he began his new hobby. 

He said: "I loved playing with Airfix models when I was a kid. Then somebody bought me some matchstick models and I just started doing my own thing. I've done 68 models up to now from churches to pubs and everything in between.

"About 65 of them have been of places in Carlisle and the other three are just on the outskirts, like in Penrith and Keswick."

The Crown and Mitre hotel in matchstick form (Image: Supplied)

However, Michael's next venture will take him a little further afield than Cumbria, after he was challenged to recreate the Taj Mahal by his grandson. 

Some of Michael's simpler models will take him 50 hours, while others could take as long as 400 hours, requiring a huge amount of patience. 

Michael said: "It's all about the little details that you have to put into it to make it stand out. I like to use my iPad to get a bird's eye view, which helps a lot to get all the angles right."

The recently-retired joiner buys matches in bulk, usually 10,000 at a time. His latest project, Carlisle Castle, took around 6,000 matches. He estimates that he's gone through 20 of the 10,000 match bags in his lifetime, resulting in a remarkable tally of two million matchsticks. 

When asked about potentially building Brunton Park, Michael responded: 

"I haven't done that. I keep telling everybody, how would you like to build 18,000 seats?"