John Nuttall
Sydney Whiteside
Bill Barker
MECCANO® is the registered trademark of Meccano SA, Calais, France.
A Brief History of the North West Meccano Guild
Martyn Brown
Michael Walker
The NWMG was founded at its Inaugural Meeting on Saturday 22nd September 1973 , by six founder members: Bill Barker, Graham Brown, Martyn Brown, John Nuttall, Michael Walker and Sydney Whiteside. Originally Sydney Whiteside was Chairman and Michael Walker Secretary. Early meeting were held at the home of Sydney Whiteside in Clitheroe, Lancashire and later at the Scarisbrick Church Hall, near Wigan. The secretary produced an in house newsletter called "Bits & Pieces" for members, and meeting reports for publication in the Meccano magazines of the late 1970s. This publicity quickly attracted the interest of other enthusiasts in the area and membership increased to around 40 over the next few years, mainly from the North West of England, North Wales and Cumbria.
The club held annual exhibitions from 1975, at various venues and reports on these will also be found in the late 1970's Meccano magazines. They were at Clitheroe in 1975 and 1976 and Wigan in 1977, 1978 and 1979. The hall at Wigan closed soon after the 1979 event and The Public Hall at Leyland was used for the 1980 Exhibition.
The First Exhibition in 1975, was an outstanding success, producing a handsome surplus for the club funds. Bill barker was then appointed Treasurer to look after the Guild's financial affairs. Sydney Whiteside passed away in January 1977, when Norman Mason took over as Chairman. Sydney's passing was deeply regretted and an obituary was published in the |Meccano magazine of Apr/July/Oct 1977. Norman continued as Chairman until 1980 , arranging the duplication of the club's Newsletters and also much pre-war literature for distribution to members. He was also responsible for much of the organisation and publicity for the three Wigan Exhibitions. All this hard work was rewarded by his appointment as the club's first President in October 1981. He held the position until he left the club in 1984.
The 1980 Exhibition was not a financial success, failing to attract the pubic in sufficient numbers, but the Leyland Public Hall proved to be ideal for club meetings which were moved there from the Scarisbrick Hall in 1982. This building closed in 1985 and meeting moved to the methodist Church hall, at Leyland, where they remain to this day.
The early 1980's were a period of change. Michael Walker had recently been appointed as Editor of the Meccano magazine, and chose to resign from all the clubs of which he was a member, to avoid any accusations of favouritism. Also Norman Mason felt the time had come to stand down as Chairman and give someone else a chance. Between them they had acted as Secretary and Chairman, produced the club's newsletters and meeting reports and organised all the meetings and exhibitions. This left a significant void to be filled. they were replaced by Alan Holman, as Chairman, Chris Taylor as Secretary and John Evans as Assistant Secretary. the fact that three people were felt necessary to do the work of the previous two is a tribute to the hard work put in by Michael and Norman in the early years. The new committee organised the 1981 Exhibition in conjunction with the Lancashire Traction Engine Club, at their annual Steam Rally, held that year at Haydock Park.
Again it was not a financial success and the idea of a large scale exhibition was abandoned in favour of several small exhibitions each year, in conjunction with larger events. In 1981 Chris Taylor resigned after only one year in office and John Nuttall took over as Secretary as well as Treasurer. Also John Anstey joined the committee as Exhibition Organiser, a position which he held from 1981 to 2003, arranging all the public events on behalf of the club for over 20 years. In 1982 John Evans resigned following a move south, when the distance prevented him from taking an active part on the committee. With john Anstey's appointment as Exhibition Organiser, the role of assistant secretary was effectively redundant and no new appointment was made.
The situation then stabilised, with only a few changes in the new 20 years. Chairman Alan Holman was replaced by Frank Smith in 1985. The role of secretary was passed to the Chairman a year later in 1986. when the club magazine, Bits & Pieces, was discontinued. Frank Smith has served as Chairman/Secretary ever since. John Nuttall continued as the Treasurer, until 1997 when the post passed to the current Treasurer, Neville Bond. John , as the only founder member, and having served on the committee continuously for 20 years was appointed as the second club President on his retirement as treasurer. He remains the current President. John Anstey left the club in 2003. Since then each event in the club's calendar has been organised by a different member, to spread the load.
The policy of holding several small Exhibitions at local events remains in force and we hold six or seven events each year in conjunction with local museums, steam rallies and charitable events in the area. Non members are always more than welcome to exhibit at any of our events. More details can be found on the Meetings page.
By John Nuttall ©2007-2009 John Nuttall.
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