As material builds up it is obviously high time I added in a new page here!
Some of my fellow modellers know me for Space models – others know me for my trucks, but lots more know me for my cranes. It is a continuing obsession – and why not? Legend has it that Frank Hornby, Meccano’s creator, was inspired to make his first primitive set by seeing local cranes: Meccano is an ideal medium in which to reproduce them.
It was back in 1982 that I first went to the then great annual Meccano show that met in Henley-on-Thames’ Town Hall at the end of summer each year. That marked my discovery of the adult hobby and my entry into serious modelling. One of the models which fascinated me then was a dockside crane built by Eddie Oatley – and I was, well, hooked!
Since then I have made a whole set of my own following various prototypes, though dockyard and shipyard cranes remain my favourites. Other pages here will show a current project – but this strange obsession means that I rarely miss a chance to check out a new dockyard if one offers itself. This summer I was able to visit Falmouth in Cornwall, UK, and spent a very happy time there overlooking a very active shipyard. I have up-loaded the results to Flickr: you can see them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/46060578@N03/sets/72157630310364680/ along with others from my travels.
Watch out for more on this topic here – and in the mean time here are some to keep you going!
dovedaler 