Sam Medworth’s Page

I was then 6 years old, and had been introduced to Meccano by my Dad 3 years earlier when he used to build me simple models from his childhood nickel set 2. I was very pleased to receive a set 0 in light red and green for my 4th birthday, to which I added sets 0a and 1a using my pocket money. In those days you could build up to a set 10 in instalments by buying these add on sets.

My Dad was a woodwork and metalwork teacher, and his pupils occasionally used to bring him odd Meccano parts, sometimes rescued from dustbins by their dustman fathers!  The trouble with this collection was that there were none of the "interesting" parts in brass that make more complicated mechanisms possible. However, this box accompanied me when we lived in temporary accommodation for 9 months; this kept me from going mad with boredom as a ten year old!

In later teens my interests veered towards geology and then biology, in preparation for a career in Medicine. I was parted from my Meccano during my studies, getting married and early parenthood, though it was carefully stored. However my wife re-kindled my interest when she spotted an advert for some second-hand Meccano in our local post office (sadly long closed).

This had a number of the parts I had been short of, so was instantly purchased. I remember making a model of Bertha, the factory machine that featured in a children's programme in the 1980s, for my young son. Around that time also, I heard of the annual exhibition of the SWMC in Long Ashton organised by Malcolm Hanson. In those days this was large enough to attract dealers, so my collection was extended further e.g. with a Ball Bearing (complete).