This was one of our informal quarterly meetings where our members showed off their latest Meccano creations.
At around 2:00pm we had a short committee meeting, followed by the Model Tour in which members were invited to give a short talk about their models — in particular their entries for the Secretary’s Challenge!
The Festival of Britain Secretary’s Challenge
For this Challenge our Secretary was inspired by the 1951 Festival of Britain or, more specifically, a free exhibition in the Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank celebrating its 60th anniversary.
The original Festival ran from May to September and, similarly, this exhibition ran until 4th September 2011. It featured photos, films, memorabilia, models, and a copy of a Meccano Ferris Wheel that was part of the Land Travelling Exhibition, which was for those who couldn’t make it down to London. Anyone with access to Meccano Magazines of 1951 will find an article in the March edition and an editorial in the August one.
So, the challenge was to build a model either from a 1951 (or 1950s) manual, or something from the 1950s. Alternatively, members could try to build a model of the Skylon or the Dome of Discovery from the original Festival site.