Shadow, my set was very similar to this one on e-bay, although I'm pretty certain the large panels with 'LMS' on weren't there. I think the sides of the cab had lower walls with 'LMS' on them. It was similar in colour - black and maroon.
Hannah wrote:I had some small clockwork toys as a child. I remember a penguin that waddled on the table (I think it could swim in the water too, but I'm not sure after so many years) and some animal for the bathtub. They didn't have separate keys though which probably was a good thing because the key would have gone missing within a few days. Or hours .
When my children were young, I bought them some little clockwork toys from Hawkin's Bazaar. One of those was a penguin, funnily enough, and they also had a donkey and a cowboy on a horse. They only cost about £1 each but we've still got them and they still work!
"Heyho for a starry night and a heathery bed!" - Jack, The Secret Island.
"There is no bond like the bond of having read and liked the same books."
- E. Nesbit, The Wonderful Garden.
Just remembered now that I actually currently own a clockwork toy with a separate key that my mum bought me from the Czech Republic many years ago. It's a tin Volkswagen Beetle and it's really quite cleverly designed. Underneath the bottom, the rear wheels are powered by the clockwork. But the front slides along on pivoted 'feelers'. And when one feelers should drop, the car drops onto a few millimetres onto a small hidden wheel sharply angled away from the others which will cause the car to change direction. The upshot of this all is that you can send it across a flat table and it won't fall off the edge. When it reaches the edge, it'll just steer away. Just tried it out now and it works fine!
Mind you, if I was a child and lost the key, I think I would be very annoyed!
I remember having a car like that one, Stephen. The centre hidden wheel was positioned at ninety degrees to the other four. I don't remember which model car mine was though - in fact it might not have even been modelled on a specific one.
"You can't change history as that won't change the future"
SUNNY STORIES CALENDAR 1947
First edition: 1946
Publisher: George Newnes
Illustrator: Joyce A. Johnson
Category: Sunny Stories Calendars
Genre: Mixed
Type: Books with Mixed Contents
" A kind heart always brings its own reward," said Mrs. Lee.
- The Christmas Tree Aeroplane - Society Member
Katharine wrote:
Don't worry if you lose the key - just do what several of Enid Blyton's stories suggest and find yourself a sycamore 'key'.
I had never hear of a 'Sycamore Key' before!
The Teachers World
Volume XXXII. Issue 1061. Evans Brothers. November 12, 1924.
Sycamore Keys (p 348) (7v X 4) (written 5/10/24)
Shall I teach you a spell you can use for yourself?
It's a secret I've kept for a year,
When I was very young I had a clockwork monkey that moved across the floor/table while playing a drum (the original idea for the Duracell bunny perhaps?). It worked well, apart from the fact that at times it lost its balance and toppled over. There was no problem about the key as I did not remove it but left it in the monkey's back!!!
Love the calendar page and poem about the clockwork train, Pete, but for some reason I'm now having visions of Wallace and Gromit...
(except this one was probably battery-powered, not clockwork )
Society Member
It was a nuisance. An adventure was one thing - but an adventure without anything to eat was quite another thing. That wouldn't do at all. (The Valley of Adventure)
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