Hi,

I am not sure where a 2021 Autumn Special has come from.

In the past with 13 issues a year one of them was called 'autumn special' and was part of the normal numbering series and these went to all subscribers.

With Covid issues were delayed last year, and from the March issue (out earlier this month) the aim is to have one issue each calendar month for the foreseeable future.

This means there is no plan for an 'autumn special' this year at the moment.

The 'Autumn Specials' have always been different to other 'specials' which rather than being issues of the magazine were associated one-off issues as Jason describes.

Despite the model engineering specials selling (very) well the overall market for these has declined, so further ones in the future are less likely.

Neil

The dates are correct as per the current timetable for 2021.

What has happened is the original timetable (from mid-2020) that had 13 issues on it has had the dates amended and the 'autumn special' marked as no delivery means it isn't being produced at all, i.e. not being delivered to the distributors rather than there will be one that isn't sent to subscribers.

For a little while now 1-year subscriptions are now being sold for 12 issues with the price adjusted to reflect this.

Neil

PC alert !!

One can no longer refer to a 'she' as a Miss or Mrs !! . . . I had my obviously drooping knuckles rapped by a Council employee for the same 'assumption' in a recent email, the said person got quite indignant that I replied Ms Brown (as I was unsure)

Btw, I just saw a flock of multi-coloured non specific gender sheep whilst walking, and almost tripped over a 'person access chamber' cover in the road

Hi Noel,

I'm sorry you feel this way.

We have faced some huge challenges due to the impact of Covid 19, and I've done my best to produce a magazine that is of interest to readers with the resources we have.

The MGB article was written by former editor Dave Fenner as was intended to bring readers up to date on some of his recent activities. Incidentally, a survey (from about ten years ago) showed that vehicle restoration was one of the more popular interests of MEW readers. I hope that one or two articles on the subject a year aren't too much for those whose interests are in other topics.

As Stan Bray recounted, MEW was spun off as an experiment but the focus on tools and techniques proved popular and attracted a new audience rather than just being more content for ME readers. Although our readership overlaps with Model Engineer (I think this is around 20%), we have many readers who are not interested in scale models, for example many who run small jobbing workshops. These readers expect a different blend of content and style. Also, we rarely go beyond a three-part article, while ME often has series that last a couple of years and this attracts a different sort of reader.

I don't think anyone should feel obliged to take both magazines if their interests are only in one of them, but don't begrudge the many readers who enjoy MEW for what it is.

Neil

Interesting, as I think MEW absorbing ME by publishing strongly edited model build series would be a far better idea! In the twenty years I've been reading these publications, I've probably bought a dozen issues of ME. To me it has enough material to be published quarterly, instead of the fortnightly pamphlet that is still, somehow, excessively padded. Unfortunately its traditional subject matter is now more suitable to forums and simple websites than a published magazine. This is true of lots of niche publications, as the decreasing number of specialist car magazines also demonstrates.

May I add my two-penorth.

Originally, ie back in the 80's, I bought ME, that being more or less what was readily available. Ok, there may have been Engineering in Miniature but I have never taken or read any issue of that particular magazine. Back to ME. Unfortunately for me, I have no interest in building model steam engines whether wheeled or stationary. Furthermore, some of the content of ME was quite technical and way above my head. You see, all I want to be able to do is to learn how to use, and get the best out of, the machines, and improve them as necessary. And if anything crops up, like a repair job, then I'll have ago at it. And so, when Stan Bray proposed, fought and won his battle, and produced MEW, similar to others here, I started to take MEW, right from Issue 1. Eventually I dropped ME and haven't looked at it since.

I would be most disappointed if MEW were to be dropped in favour of ME. or even merged with ME. You see, I look on MEW as an educational magazine which I don't think is what ME is about. Drop ME in favour of MEW doesn't seem reasonable either as I could see MEW having to take on a lot of long term projects mainly about building steam locomotives which would, for me be a waste of time. Resurrecting old articles, bringing old articles up to date, is ok by me because quite often there are long forgotten techniques therein.

So, to sum up then, please leave well alone. And in this respect, I think our Editor and the publishers have done a good job in keeping MEW going through the present trials and tribulations.

Thanks to everyone,

Peter G. Shaw

Edited By Clay Jones on 04/03/2021 11:46:43

Stan Bray, quite correctly, felt that MEW would serve a different market from ME, although there would be overlap in interest and readers..

The fact that both magazines have survived through these troubled times shows that those two, similar, but distinct, readerships still exist.

Some of the repeat articles in MEW serve a useful purpose in showing techniques, of which some newcomers had no knowledge. So those will have been of service, possibly not just to newbies.

Sometimes, repeated articles provide food for thought and inspire future projects.

And from the point of view of MTM, with lockdown, there have been fewer people allowed to walk to a shop to buy either magazine, plus the problems involved in distributing, inland, as well as overseas, so income will have fallen, and no doubt there will have been problems with staff being unable to meet and / or having to isolate.

So these are factors which probably account for a longer interval between issues, old articles being repeated, and new ones perhaps being fewer.

After all, if there are problems obtaining material or tooling, or even machines, the project may not come to fruition, so that no article about it can be written.

Hopefully, better times are ahead, and life, ME and MEW, will more closely approach what we regard as "normal".

Howard