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Next story>>> Back to news index>>> Go home ! >>> 17-18 April 2010 Magic of Meccano at Kew Bridge Steam Museum
Even though Kew is not that far from where we live, it is a gruelling drive around the South Circular road – usually! But this weekend was to prove a pleasant change. Fortunately for us, Iceland decided to disrupt most of Europe’s airspace by allowing one of their volcanoes to fill our airspace with dust. Now I know that this was not much fun for those stuck in it but for us it was heaven sent. The venue is not far enough away from us to justify an overnight stay so this means a drive back and forth each day. Usually this is accompanied by a continuous muttering from ‘im-in-doors moaning about the traffic. Not so this weekend, no traffic! It just goes to show just how much traffic Heathrow Airport generates on a day-to-day basis – but for now I’m not complaining.
We arrived at the venue and unloaded our models. This time we decided to mount what we have been calling a plug and go display. After spending the past year or so displaying big models that need a lot of setting up we have been making smaller stuff this year. Being able to just turn up, place the models on the table and be ready to go is a real treat. It was now time to go and park the car, off-site, and get on with a look around the show.
As usual the show was fully supported and a good selection of models were on display. We were situated in the main hall on the Saturday and due to a bit of a misunderstanding we ended up being moved downstairs on the Sunday. This made no difference to us as it was easy to move and gave us some different neighbours to chat to so everybody was happy.
After setting up, I left Ralph to wax lyrically about our models and set of to see what I could find to shoot with my camera and Ralph's lense. After using it for the past year or so he has given up correcting me when I refer to it as my lense... The first thing to catch my eye was Tony Rednall’s Mr Mick-Karno The boozy biker..An impressive model that brought a smile to my face.
Moving on and I found Robin Schoolar showing off his latest creation a very nearly finished model of a most unusual lift Dutch lifting bascule bridge. The model is complete with railway track and has a very unusual skew lifting mechanism.
Frank Payne put on his usual impressive display of collected Meccano, which is always worth a look just to see what’s new.
Lots more photographs taken by Greg Webb of this years event can be found HERE. Sue.
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After showing the new Nano kits on spanner, George Roy contacted Ralph to let him know that he had managed to pick up some of the M&S kits last Christmas and offered to sell us the motor bike and digger that we had missed. The exchange of money for Meccano was to be made at Kew.
The deal was done and all parties were happy! The digger contains two of part number C323 in yellow, which, as far as we know, was the only time it had appeared before the release of the Nanos. 
Upstairs on the mezzanine, amongst another array of models I found John Rogers Sea lion II. The clean nickel parts and brass finished bolts really made this model stand out. Jim MacCulloch had his little Jeep model on display. One of those models that just captures the feel of the real thing. Based on a Meccano magazine model of the early fifties Jim has added a few more recent additions such as the steering wheel and the ¾ inch washers used to simulate headlights.
