Auction beckons for model-maker’s mighty Meccano masterpieces
A SELECTION of large scale Meccano models will go under the auctioneer’s hammer later this week.
The Meccano masterpieces include models of Tower Bridge, the Middlesbrough Lifting Bridge, a Glasgow Coronation Mk 1 tram car and two motorised steam engine models. The lots form part of the collection of 84-year-old award-winning Meccano model-maker Bobby Middlemass.
Although Mr Middlemass first played with Meccano as a child, it was not until 1986 he took up the hobby seriously. But now he and his wife Jenny are downsizing from their farmhouse in Aberfeldy, he is reluctantly letting the larger pieces in his collection go.
He said: “I was interested in engineering when I was at school but went into the family business instead. When I retired I became interested in Meccano again and started building the models which just grew larger and larger.
“The Tower Bridge model is 74cm high and 264cm long. That one and the others need a lot of space to display them properly. I thought about dismantling them. But the Tower Bridge took over five months alone to complete and has thousands of parts. It is mechanised and in proportion with the original.
“It won awards at national Meccano competitions. After all the effort I put into building it, I couldn’t bring myself to take it apart.”
Meccano was developed in the early 20th century by Frank Hornby. In the 1920s and 30s, it was the biggest toy manufacturer in Britain.
Mr Middlemass is a member of the Meccano Society of Scotland, which was established in 1984.
Building toys such as Lego and Meccano are enjoying a resurgence in popularity, and auctioneer Jonathan Taylor said there had been a lot of pre-sale interest registered in the Meccano models.
Mr Taylor said: “Bobby’s models have caused a stir and we have received a lot of enquiries about them.
“It is not unusual for Meccano sets to come up at auction and the older ones in particular do well. However, completed models on such a scale with moving parts are very rare.
“We have put a low guide price of £100-120 on the Tower Bridge but I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the selling price far exceeds that.”
Mr Middlemass added: “I hope they find a home with one of the new generation of Meccano enthusiasts.”
The models will go under the hammer at Taylor’s Auctions in Montrose on Saturday. whose film The Muppet’s Christmas Carol achieved ninth place with three per cent of votes.
Tom Hanks’s animation The Polar Express rounded out the top 10 with just 2 per cent of the total vote.