Royal Greenwich Together 2021
Report written by Les Chatfield for our Winter 2021 Newsletter
Saturday 21 August 2021
Charlton Park
Charlton
On 21st August I arrived at Charlton Park (the site of Together 21) after a smooth journey via two trains and buses from Brighton. I met Peter in the park. He had a very heavy carry-all which I placed on my shopping trolley and we made our way to the marquee.
Tim was already hard at work setting out the tables and laying power sockets. Chris Warrell arrived shortly after. Santiago was expected but home problems prevented him attending.
Our marquee
Models on show were a giant robot, floating wind turbine, and a very attractive 0–6–0 industrial locomotive built by Chris Warrell. Peter bought a rather Sentinel-like lorry and his neat hand-driven Meccanograph, while Tim showed his diabolo player, Spanish Knight, unicyclist and of course his spectacular Lightening Leap steady-hand game.
We soon had our models set up, except for myself. I had brought my Sussex post mill plus my vertical ball roller. Unfortunately my mill would not run and so Tim kindly loaned me his soldering iron to repair a broken wire (thanks Tim) and with that we were all ready for the opening!
This was the first public event our club had attended for almost two years. The park was divided into zones, with SELMEC being in the Kid’s Zone. Each area had a stage with a variety of acts, plus food and community stalls.
The weather was not great, with regular heavy showers, and for the first few hours we only had a couple of visitors. However this soon improved and a busy time was had by all, helped by visitors walking back from the Kid’s Stage in the adjacent tent. Tim’s ‘Make It With Meccano’ workshop was as popular as ever, as was his Connect 4 game and the unicyclist. My ball roller tower garnered some interest too.
Two models Made With Meccano!
In short, a very pleasant day which we all enjoyed, but felt our tent should have been closer to the main part of the fete. I would certainly like to help out there again with another SELMEC exhibition.