My last posting talked about 'touching the earth lightly' and some of the different forms this can take.Components were one of the things that I highlighted - items that can be readily dismantled and remantled are excellent in many ways as they can reduce transportation costs as well as being adaptable. They can be re-used for different projects and therefore have a fantastic 'cradle to cradle' profile.
So it was with great joy that I watched James May's Toy Stories last night, which focused on upscaling and updating the age old toy, Meccano.
With (mostly) regular parts, James, Atkins Bridge Engineers and a handful of students from Liverpool University constructed a full size, single person tilting bridge - all from Meccano.
It was a wonderful watch, and demonstrated fantastically what can be built from little components and how component design has been utilised in the Industrial World.
And (I believe) the Meccano was to be stripped back down after the project.
Just a shame it is now made in France instead of Liverpool... it could have been a really local project.
I did not watch last night's episode, but did see that of the previous week, on JM's plasticine garden at Chelsea Flower Show. Interesting how he has chosen Airfix (Sptifire), Harbutts (modelling clay) and now Mecanno, for they were indeed toys of his childhood. JM and our son, Ian, are old acquaintances, and the same age; and all these former manufacturers were a stamping ground for me when they were customers of the educational journals R. and I published, from 1967 until only ten years ago. Small world.
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