For some reason I was missed off the Queens New Years Honours list. However, one name known to many model engineers was there. John Wilding has been awarded te MBE. ----------------------- A clockmaker who has spent 40 years documenting the skills of his trade so anyone can enjoy it has become an MBE. John Wilding, 82, learned his skills serving an apprenticeship in London where he said he "did it the hard way". He then spent four decades making clocks and photographing the process in a workshop at his Sussex home. Most clocks were now made in factories abroad, but traditional timepieces had appealed to him "because of the quality of the workmanship", Mr Wilding said. He said his books were aimed at amateur engineers and added: "A lay person could make them." "When I started there was so little information on how to make a clock, I thought it was time it was made public. Lights and cameras "Every clock I make has a book on how to make it." With 40 books to his name, Mr Wilding has published a book a year. He said they covered "most of the basic clocks", and he had taken about two or three months to make each one. But he added: "I have to keep stopping to set the camera and lights and take the photographs." Once the photographs have been taken, Mr Wilding's work continues with the production of the engineers' drawings and the job of writing the entire process up. John Wilding learned his skills serving an apprenticeship in London He said: "At 82, I don't think I shall be doing a lot more in the workshop. I have produced my last book. "Very few mechanical clocks are handmade now. Most are made in factories in Germany. "No-one wants the bother of servicing and maintaining them, and everyone wants them to be quartz and radio-controlled, so there is virtually no maintenance - you change the battery every now and again, "But these are traditional clocks that have been made for the past 200 years. "And I do it because the quality of the workmanship appeals to me." Mr Wilding, of Petworth, West Sussex, who will continue to work on updating earlier books, was recognised in the New Year Honours list for services to clockmaking. Alan Stepney http://www.alanstepney.info Model Engineering & steam engine information pages -- Binary/unsupported file stripped by Ecartis -- -- Type: image/jpeg -- File: _42399447_clockmaker2_203.jpg MODEL ENGINEERING DISCUSSION LIST. To UNSUBSCRIBE from this list, send a blank email to, modeleng-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" in the subject line.