Introducing Don Blakeborough
Don Blakeborough was born North Island, on 27 January
1934. He was brought up on farms in Napier, Hamilton and North Auckland. He
first encountered Meccano as a boy of 12 or so, when he was attracted by an
advertisement in the local paper, the NZ Herald. He followed the usual route of
building up his boyhood collection with birthday and Christmas presents, to a No
7 or 8. There was no difficulty in finding Meccano: he recalls that Wiseman `5
in Auckland city, who once ran the biggest local Meccano Club in the world, with
500 members, kept a great stock of parts, sets and motors.
At school, his best subjects
were science and maths he would use his Meccano to present models to illustrate
scientific principles of levers and electromagnetism. He also had an aptitude
for woodwork but not for spelling: he claims to have been, and still to be, the
World's Worst Speller
After school Don was
apprenticed as a fitter and turner. In time, with his apprenticeship behind him,
he joined the traffic branch of New Zealand Railways. He spent all his latter
working life with the organisation, gaining the position of Yard Supervisor. He
retired in 1994.
He married Joyce on Christmas Eve in 1955. In 1960 or thereabouts, their growing family rekindled Don's interest in Meccano: his children were duly and properly induced into the mysteries of the hobby, and now his grandchildren are showing an interest. His special Meccano interests include historical aspects, and also clocks his ancestors were clockmakers over 200 years ago. Looking at more modern developments, he is interested in electronics and simulated hydraulics. Like many Meccanomen, he also collects stamps, he is interested in researching the Blakeborough family history; and he is active in the affairs of his local church.
Don was a Foundation Member of the Wellington Meccano Club (WMC), which was founded in 1976, and held various positions on the governing committee in the early years. In the same year, he started up a club newsletter, with the self- deprecating title of the WMC Rag. This initiative was originally intended for the WMC members, who at the time were meeting every two weeks, with a large proportion of youth members. But it had the added merit of attracting the attention of a number of `lone wolf' Meccanomen in New Zealand, as a result of which Don and other WMC members organised the first New Zealand Meccanomen `5 Convention in Wellington, in 1978.
From this first Convention of
about 15 adult Meccanomen, a Federation of Meccano Modellers was born and the
WMC Rag became the New Zealand Federation of Meccano Modellers Magazine (NZFMMM),
with Don as Editor. He stood down as editor in 1984. The Conventions have
continued on a two-year cycle, moving between the four New Zealand clubs
Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Manawatu Wanganui Taranaki (MWT). Don is
one of the few who have attended and exhibited at all New Zealand Conventions.
Over the years, Don became
known among his Meccano peers as a designer and builder of note. And his Meccano
interests developed, from building original models to include the collecting of
Meccano of all vintages, and then to the collecting of non-Meccano construction
systems. This interest led him to research, draw, write and publish two major
treatises. The first was Metal Construction Systems with Frank Beadle (UK),
first published in 1989. Before his retirement from New Zealand Railways he
began work on the Encyclopaedia of Meccano Parts; Volumes 1, 2 and 3 were
published in 1993. Then in 1994, `95 and `96 Volumes 4, 5 and 6 were published,
with updates following in later years.
Having helped to found WMC in
Wellington, Don moved to Wanganui in 1988, where he once again helped to found a
new club, the Wanganui and Districts Meccano Club in 1989 (later changed to MWT
Meccano Club). Once again, he held office from the club's inception.
