Before the start of the Forum’s meeting on the 20th of January the members stood in silent memory of Albert Storey who recently passed away.
Our guest speaker was David Dalton from Bedale whose talk was titled The History of Meccano. Since inheriting his father’s old Meccano set as a boy David has been an enthusiastic collector of Meccano model kits and literature dealing with them.
The system was invented by Frank Hornby in his garden shed in Liverpool to amuse his sons. He patented the system in 1901 with the name Mechanics Made Easy and it gained great commercial success, eventually being renamed Meccano in 1907. David related the history of the company which continuously produced Meccano at its factory in Liverpool until the factory closed in 1979 except for during World War II.
Meccano is still available although its production has been owned by a number of organisations over the years since 1979. David had brought with him examples of the various model kits and loose parts, most obtained from car boot sales and auctions and refurbished by him if necessary. He also brought examples of models he has made, many to his own design.
At the end of the talk members showed great interest in David’s hobby, particularly in how he manages his large collection of construction kits and spares. Forum Chairman Mike Earle proposed a vote of thanks for a most interesting talk.