Snapshot of Stories

A year of celebrations marking the 150th anniversary of the birth of the inventor of Hornby trains, Mecccano and Dinky toys is getting under way.  Brighton Toy and Model Museum has been given a £34,000 lottery grant to celebrate the life of Frank Hornby.  “The toy museum, I would say, has got the finest collection of Hornby products to be seen anywhere, in the world,” said director Chris Littledale.  We have got a staggering collection of Mr Hornby’s trains in various sizes.”  He said the Hornby 00 Gauge railway was “a lovely thing – more than a toy”.  Frank Hornby was born in Liverpool in 1863 and began to manufacture toys, beginning with Meccano, in a small one-room factory in 1901.  The company’s HQ was at Binns Road in Liverpool for more than 60 years. It was later taken over by the owners of Tri-ang, whose factory was in Margate, Kent.  Frank Hornby became MP for Everton and a millionaire.  There is still a Hornby visitor centre near Margate.  Mr Littledale said Hornby was “quite a humble man”.  “He was one of these people who had ideas and he had this sudden idea that it would be educationally rather good to put together a geometric system whereby you could nut and bolt things together,” he said.  “The name Meccano was derived from mechanics made easy. He coined that phrase – it was very clever marketing.”  “Dinky didn’t come in until the 1930s, then Dinky toys were hugely popular right into the 1960s.”  By 1931 Hornby was the owner of a multinational business, MP for Everton, and a millionaire.  The anniversary year is being launched on Saturday night at the museum, which occupies Victorian arches in Trafalgar Street, underneath Brighton railway station.  The Heritage Lottery Fund grant will pay for new screens and interactive displays and educational resources about Frank Hornby’s life.  It will also fund a programme of events and activities, including festivals on Merseyside and Liverpool and a Frank Hornby week in Brighton.

Songs Played

Villages – The Pact, I’ll Be Your Fever
Girls Aloud – Something New
James Arthur – Impossible
Alica Keys – Empire State Of Mind (Part II)
Adele – Cold Shoulder
Foals – My Number
Madness – Never Knew Your Name
Four Tops – Reach Out, I’ll Be There
Phats & Small – Turn Around
Jersey Boys – Boys Don’t Cry
Sia – Taken For Granted
Jet – Look What You’ve Done
Morten Harket – Listening
Stooshe – Black Heart
Enrique Iglesias – Hero
“Rent” Soundtrack – What You Own  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rent_(musical))
LeAnn Rimes – Can’t Fight The Moonlight
Deacon Blue – That’s What We Can Do

80s Hour

Jacksons – Can You Feel It?
Simply Red – A New Flame
Shalamar – I Can Make You Feel Good
Simple Minds – Alive and Kicking
John Farnham – You’re The Voice
Pet Shop Boys – I Want A Lover
Johnny Hates Jazz – Turn Back The Clock
Kools and the Gang – Get Down On It