an associated widening of leisure pursuits, and the rise of the Arts and Crafts movement that valorized handicrafts, saw a new constituency of amateur model engineers and experimenters interested in metalwork as a recreation. This was at a time when mechanical technology was seen as the driving force in rising economic prosperity. Articles and advertisements relating to model engineering began to appear in Amateur Work Illustrated magazine in the mid 1880s. With the rise of 'amateur' interest in conjunction with the working class mechanics who made models as apprentices, a new market niche was emerging, capitalised upon by Percival Marshall who began publishing Model Engineer and Amateur Electrician magazine in 1898 (now Model Engineer). Common interest in model engineering between men of lower, middle and even upper classes supported claims that model engineering had broken class barriers. However, a tradition that still persists is the use of pseudonyms in the model engineering press, as it was once considered inappropriate for professional gentlemen to contribute to "amateur" journals. Another reason was to disguise the fact that one contributor was single-handedly writing an entire edition of a journal on occasion, notably Edgar T. Westbury, who used no less than four noms de plume. Model engineering remains popular despite major social changes over the past century. Among these changes have been the elimination of steam power (still the most favourite subject for model engineers) from rail transport and industry; and the widespread de-industrialisation of Western countries beginning in the 1970s, along with a shift to consumer society and the introduction of a wide new range of competing leisure pursuits. These changes, along with the older age of many model engineers and decline of new apprenticeships, have prompted a long-running debate among model engineers whether the hobby will die out. Model engineers often join together to form model engineering clubs and societies. The first of these to form was the Society of Model and Experimental Engineers based in London, UK, in 1898, "along similar lines to the model yachting clubs" then popular. By 1948, "well over a hundred local clubs and societies" had been formed. Model engineering clubs and societies now number in the hundreds across the UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Netherlands, Switzerland and elsewhere. These clubs are a form of civil society organisation, which are a sign of healthy democracy and community cohesion. A major focus for many of these