John's model legacy

A collection of miniature hand carts and barrows created by a Black Country-born engineer is to be displayed in a museum for them to be admired by a wider audience.

The 31 exhibits which were painstakingly handmade by John Meanley are to be given pride of place at Walsall Museum for the first time after staff spotted an article in the Express & Star about his work.

Mr Meanley was a member of The Guild of Model Wheelwrights, a national body, and took up the hobby after having a go at repairing his son John's childhood toys.

The collection was his pride and joy and he spent many hours beating and rolling metals, and carving minute knobs of artists' clay and shaping wood to create it.

His widow Anne, aged 86, said she was delighted to be invited by the museum to show off the colourful collection, which includes a fishmonger cart and Covent Garden fruit and flower stalls featuring tiny parts made from wood and clay.

Mr Meanley, who died aged 84 in 2003, had often displayed the items at community fairs and guild events.

The collection was most recently on show at Much Marcle Steam Rally, and at Acton Scott Farm Museum, both in Shropshire, and at a fundraising event at Bentley Methodist Church, Walsall.

The collection will be showcased at Walsall Museum in October.