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MAG016 - Edition 2,000

  Hobbies Weekly

Hobbies Weekly was very popular magazine before TV had taken such a grip on our lives, a time before IKEA and MFI. My mother being an art teacher used to keep every copy and was forever referring back to them for ideas. Her favourite item was a nest of tables which she’d built in the sixties which was so well put together. It was twenty years later that I was asked to revarnish them and as I carried out this simple task (it took me a month !) I was surprised at the intricacy of the joints. I wonder how many people today would consider making their own table, not from a kit - very few I’ll bet. The areas covered in the publication were quite wide as this extract shows.

“An increasing number of bicycles are being converted into autocycles with the addition of small two-stroke engines of one kind or another. These engines are reliable and most economical to run, and are particularly useful to people (especially older folk) who must have some means of transport over a distance to and from work.”

The article goes on to explain the fitment of the engine (cost £20/£30) along with extras such as licence holders and registration plates. So as soon as you finish reading the Globe I want you all out in the garage with your spanners. If you can’t find an engine try using the motor from the hoover !!

In fact the company still exists today and you can find out more details by following this link

http://www.hobbies-dereham.co.uk/about.htm

Here you'll find details on the Hobbies handbook along with many other interesting items.