The 'Meccano' trademark was first registered by Frank Hornby in Liverpool in 1908. However, his ingenious engineering construction sets of interchangeable pre-drilled metal components had been marketed under the banner 'Mechanics Made Easy' since 1902. As a Lancashire inventor and entrepreneur, he had a unique talent for understanding what appealed to inquisitive children and how to sell it to them. By the time of his death in 1937 he was not only very wealthy, but also responsible for three of the biggest names in British toys, Meccano, Hornby (1920), and Dinky Toys (1936). As a Lancashire politician he had a keen sense of public duty combined with the knack of getting the support of working people, becoming MP for Everton in 1931.

At the Museum of Childhood housed within the Judges Lodgings' Museum in Lancaster we have numerous examples of his models, from full boxed Meccano and Hornby Train sets, to individual di-cast Dinky Toy models of road, air, and sea transport vehicles, all made at the Hornby factory in Liverpool.

The item chosen here, the Thunderbolt, broke the land speed record three times between 1937 and 1939. Although the vehicle has no Lancashire connection, it was driven by inventor, engineer and racing driver Capt. George E T Eyston who certainly does. He was a pupil at the Jesuit school at Stonyhurst, now Stoneyhust College a co-educational Roman Catholic independent school at Hurst Green, Clitheroe.