This is what I'm asking - Using only toy-town language,
how should wire a 555 chip, a micro switch and a
miniature solenoid to delay its operation for 60 secs
(the micro switch would only be flicked on and off as a
ball runs over it, en passant so to speak)
Anyone with the ability to explain this to a novice who barely
knows the hot end of a soldering iron, will be rewarded. In heaven.

 

Just a repeat in AZ language: A ball rolls over a NO SW triggering a 555 one-shot with a 60 sec delay; at end of delay, a solenoid is powered for an unknown time??

 

The datasheets and hundreds of tutorials about the 555 say that its maximum allowed output current is 200mA. They also show how to connect it.
But we do not know how much current is used by your solenoid. Maybe a powerful transistor is needed to drive the solenoid.

Also the voltage required by the solenoid is not known.