For decades, one Liverpool factory employed generations and made toys that are now "worth a fortune."
The ECHO recently took a look back at unseen photos of the Meccano factory on Binns Road which became one of the most famous names in the city. Now 160 years on from his birth, Liverpool's Frank Hornby is still remembered for inventing the popular Meccano and Dinky Toys, as well as founding the model railway company which still bears his name.
Hornby, who was formerly an MP for Everton in 1931, had no formal engineering training but to amuse his son created a toy crane that could be dismantled – which inspired him to get to work producing it for the mass market. The toy was patented on January 9, 1901 as 'Mechanics Made Easy' and it became known as Meccano in 1907.
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Hornby began to manufacture his own parts in a small one-room factory at 10-12 Duke Street. He later took on premises in Tuebrook before expanding the business and buying five-acres of land in the Old Swan area of Liverpool.
The Binns Road factory opened in 1914 and became the company headquarters for more than 60 years. ECHO readers have since been sharing their fond memories of Meccano, from Dinky toys to working on Binns Road and other sites in Speke and Aintree.
Maureen Mcgowan said: "This was my second job ,I loved working there in the middle of the 70s." Carole Bouchard Halliwell said: "My first job, loved it."
Sky Woggins wrote: "My dad worked there until it closed down, it broke his heart." Susan Warren said: "I worked there in the 70s, loved every minute of it."
Anne Langley commented: "I worked in the Speke factory, my first job aged 15. First worked on the ovens then on the line painting head lights, I even worked on the spray paint booths I didn't like that came home each day with different coloured hair. Happy times there."
Linda Browne commented: "I worked there, 1962, painting the headlights on the cars." James Welsh commented: "Wish I had saved my dinky toys today they are worth a fortune."
Dot Stanley said: "Worked Binns Road, was there 79 when closed down was very sad to see as there were lots of families worked there and all lost their jobs." Jonathon Wild posted: "My great grandfather, grandfather and late dad all worked there. Grandad (Albert Wild) was foreman of the toolroom from 1953 till it closed and I still have his original letters of when it closed down and what happened."
Ann Cross wrote: "Worked there loved it one big happy family." Steve Currie posted: "Mum worked there, I had loads of cars and Meccano sets, wish I kept them worth a fortune now."
Kathy Lake Rapson said: "My mum worked there x." Maria McGrath posted: "I worked there for many years."
David Liston wrote: "Some of the old machinery was in France is still being used up to this year was on the series when they built a Meccano Bridge at the Pier Head." And Jan Branigan commented: "I worked in the offices dealing with replacement/missing parts at Meccano in 1972."
Did you work at Meccano? Let us know in the comments section below.
Hornby's creations took the toy world by storm and he went on to become a millionaire, producing some of the most popular toys of the 20th century. During the 1920s and 1930s Meccano Ltd was the biggest toy manufacturer in Britain.
In its heyday, Meccano also had factories in Speke and Aintree as well as manufacturing bases in Argentina, France, Germany, the USA and Spain. Unseen for years, many will remember what life was like in the factory as it has been captured in these photographs.
Images show workers on the production line packaging products inside Liverpool's Meccano factory back in the 1970s. For many, these photos will stir memories of life in the factory from years gone by.
According to National Museums Liverpool, in 1963 there were 2,000 employees at the factory – of which 80% were female -and another 3-400 on staff. But a decline in profits led to a takeover by Lines Brothers in 1964 and the Airfix Group in the 1970s.
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The Binns Road factory finally closed in 1979. The ECHO previously reported how managers from London decided to close down a Liverpool "factory of dreams" late one Friday afternoon in November 1979 and planned to spring the news on staff as they were leaving for the day.
With nearly 1,000 people employed at the factory, the news would be devastating for many in the local community . But a large number of devastated and defiant employees refused to accept this was the end for the Meccano plant in Binns Road and took decisive action.
For the whole of that period it was a massive story in the ECHO, while the Thames TV documentary series Inside Business made a 30 minute programme on the closure of the factory and subsequent workers’ campaign. It was called Meccano: The Game Is Over.
Frank Hornby died on September 21, 1936 and while the Binns Road site has been shut now for over 40 years, its legacy in Liverpool and beyond lives on. Today, thousands of enthusiasts all over the world are still building Meccano models and running Hornby train sets and the Meccano brand is owned by Spin Master Ltd of Canada.
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