- Source: Cherry Hill (model engineer)
Cherry Hill (November 16, 1931 – December 4, 2024), born Cherry Hinds, was an English model engineer known for her detailed scale models of steam vehicles. Hill won the Duke of Edinburgh award nine times, the Bradbury Winter Memorial Trophy eight times, was awarded an MBE (Member of the British Empire) by the Queen of England, and other awards.
Life and work
Cherry Hill was born in Malvern, Worcestershire, England, on November 16, 1931. Her father, George Hinds, was an agricultural machinery manufacturer who began mentoring her when she showed enthusiasm for metalworking. In the Hinds household workshop, she learned machining skills and built her first models, including a scooter, warships, and aircraft. In that phase, Cherry received special mention for her Sunderland flying boat model in a model-making contest. While continuing her development as a model maker, she completed a BSC in math at the University of St Andrews. During her 60-year model engineering career, Hill built nearly 20 detailed scale models of steam vehicles, including Victorian models, which each took her approximately 7,000 hours to make. The parts in the models were all made from her metal stock, and the engines are fully operational. Additionally, her engines were made from scratch, every nut and bolt was made in her workshop, and a complete model took 7 years to make. Cherry Hill is considered to be one of the greatest model engineers ever due to her success in competitions.
An article written about her by the Craftsmanship Museum says that, "The uncompromising craftsmanship exhibited in Cherry’s work is a result of her attitude. She never accepts anything less than perfection." As her career progressed past its early stages, Hill started building unusual models, many of which were insufficiently documented or had no existing original copies. Due to the scarce information frequently taken from patent applications, Hill often had to use her design skills to overcome missing information and shortcomings in the original designs in order to make fully functioning models. Her favorite model was the Blackburn agricultural engine of 1863. Hill needed to be resourceful and imaginative in various critical components, including the crankshaft, valve chest and eccentrics, boiler, steering, and front suspension. The models made at the beginning of Hill's career were given to family and friends, but she donated her more recent ones to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
In addition to her acclaimed work as a model engineer, Cherry Hill also worked as a machinery designer for her family business McConnell-Hinds who made innovative hop-picking machinery. Cherry was also an inventor and had had several patents awarded to her, including the well known Crypton Synchro-check carburettor balancer (produced commercially by AC Delco), an air flowmeter device used for setting and balancing multiple carburettors on car and motorcycle engines.
Models
In the 1950s, Cherrie Hill began working on the Stuart Turner No 9 early 20th-century steam engine. She was ‘thrilled to bits’ after 18 months of work because she achieved her goal of getting the engine to work. The model won her a bronze medal at the International Model Engineering Exhibition. After that model, she built an Allchin Royal Chester traction engine, which won her a silver medal at the exhibition. However, Hill wasn’t satisfied and spent 7 years improving her replica after locating the full-size machine near Tonbridge, England. Later, she built a Stuart D10, a Burrell showman’s engine, and a red 1905 Merryweather fire engine, which increased Hill’s recognition among model engineering enthusiasts. These models were praised due to their obscurity, complexity, difficulty, and rarity.
Cherry Hill’s Blackburn agricultural engine of 1857 was a model of a machine built in a time when traction engine design ideas were in their early development, and many were impractical. As a result of the Blackburn agricultural engine of 1857 plans being insufficient, Hill had to create her own design to make her model work. That model won a gold medal at the Bradbury Winter Memorial Trophy and a Duke of Edinburgh's Award. Another exceptional model was the James Taylor Steam Elephant, partly because Hill designed and patented her own traction engine. That model also won a gold medal and the Aveling Barford Cup. A notable model of Cherry’s later years is the Nathaniel Grew ice locomotive, which was used in Russia to carry cargo across frozen lakes and rivers in the 1860s.
Some more of Cherry Hill’s award-winning models include the 1870 William Batho 25-ton road roller, the 1922 Burrell showman’s engine, the Allchin “Royal Chester” traction engine, the Law & Downie road locomotive, a 1931 Aveling & Porter road roller, and the 1931 Wallis & Steevens “Simplicity” Single-Cylinder Road Roller. Other models built by Cherry Hill include a 1936 Wallis & Steevens “Advance” Two-Cylinder Road Roller and the 1934 Savage Fairground Engines. Additionally, she built the 1881 Rouleau Compresseur à Vapeur Steam Roller, Andrew Barclay’s Traction Engine and Boring Engine (1862-1863), and the 1863 Blackburn Agricultural Engine. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers in London, England, has an exhibit where visitors can see Cherry Hills’ models.
Personal life
Ivor Hill, also a model engineer, first saw Cherry on the cover of the 1968 Model Engineer magazine; he was so enamored that he declared, 'I'm going to marry that girl'. He successfully courted her, and they were married and lived in the U.S. until his death. Cherry Hill died on December 4, 2024, at the age of 93. She was survived by her sisters Charmian and Rosalie, as well as their children.
Awards
Sir Henry Royce Trophy for the Pursuit of Excellence (1989 and 1995).
MBE (Member of the British Empire) award (2000).
Elected Companion of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (2004).
Honorary member of the Society of Model and Experimental Engineers (2004).
Awarded nine different gold medals at the annual Model Engineer Exhibition in London.
Awarded the Bradbury Winter Memorial Trophy eight times.
Awarded the Aveling Barford Cup twice.
Crebbin Memorial Trophy.
Awarded the Championship Cup three times.
Awarded The Duke of Edinburgh's Award nine times.
Joe Martin Foundation Craftsman of the Year Award (2017).
References
External links
The Remarkable Mechanical Models of Cherry Hill