What Do You Collect? Tinplate Toys

A display of clockwork tinplate toys collected over 40 years, mostly British and German makes from the mid-1950s and 60s.

This display showcases a collection of clockwork tinplate toys assembled over around 40 years by a collector whose background as a mechanical engineer drew him to their mechanisms, many of which require repair. Most items were manufactured in Britain and Germany between the mid-1950s and the 1960s, beginning with a helicopter gifted by a colleague at Westland Helicopters. Visitors can see wind-up wonders ranging from helicopters and spaceships to a kangaroo and a circus monkey, noted for their bright colours and artistic detail.