Miniature engine collection brought to Dartmouth

A miniature engine collection has been permanently housed in Devon.

The David Hulse Collection of eight model steam engines from the industrial revolution has been housed at Dartmouth Museum.

The collection had been displayed at the former engineer's Staffordshire home and exhibited across the UK.

Dartmouth Museum said Mr Hulse's working models were based on "the most important steam engines" of the 18th Century.

Mr Hulse, described by the museum as "one of the pre-eminent model makers of our time", holds 17 patents for machines in the pottery industry.

It said he spent the last 50 years "building working models of the engines that powered Britain's industrial revolution".

Dartmouth Museum said: "In 1974, using the skills he had acquired as an engineer in the ceramics industry, he determined to construct in miniature what he considered to be the most important steam engines of the 18th Century.

"The result is a collection of working models of unparalleled accuracy and detail, which have won many awards and been exhibited in museums and exhibitions throughout the UK."

The engine models were packed into a specially designed packing cases and lifted into the museum by a crane.

The museum said it had already had inquiries from visitors around the world, including Japan.

Two exhibitions will open in October to "tell the story of the atmospheric steam engines that changed the world and their impact on Dartmouth and the lives of its people".

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David Hulse