Museum of the Month, August 2004 - Coventry Transport Museum (01 Aug 2004)
Earlier this year The Museum of British Road Transport re-launched itself as the Coventry Transport Museum. This Museum boasts the largest collection of British road transport exhibits anywhere in the world has been extended and improved to include a sweeping new glass frontage and four major new galleries. This ambitious project at the heart of Coventry's city centre regeneration scheme, cost £7.5 million and has taken four years to complete. It's the first time a motor museum has ever been used for city regeneration. Millennium Place at the front of the Museum is a wide-open space where many motoring and other activities can take place. ... to read more click here
     
Museum of the Month - July 2004 - Canterbury Motor Museum (02 Jul 2004)
Cyril May, with his wife Beryl, have been in the motor trade for over 50 years. Behind their home, off Ashford Road, Canterbury, there is still a small garage business and alongside it, the motor museum building. Cyril jokes that it all started because he never threw anything away. Back in 1981 he gained planning permission to put up a building to house his growing collection of cars and motorcycles and he used to show these off to friends and customers. Soon it was suggested that he open to the public. That is when they both started to spend much more time at autojumbles, auctions and car boot events looking for material to put on show. They have a lot of friends in Australia whom they regularly visit and the collection features a number of signs, petrol cans, etc, from these contacts. There are at least 13 cars on show, plus a number of motorcycles and masses of automobile collectables. Within the museum there are some real surprises. ... to read more click here
     
Museum of the Month - June 2004 - Grampian Transport Museum (01 Jun 2004)
This must be one of my favourite road transport museums. As a Southerner I am only sorry that it is so far away, situated as it is some 23 miles North West of Aberdeen. The Grampian Transport Museum is a fully Registered professionally-run museum which tells the story of land, travel and transport in the Grampian region. ... to read more click here
     
Museum of the Month - May 2004 - Ramsgate Motor Museum (02 May 2004)
The collection from which the Ramsgate Motor Museum evolved was started by Terence Sharpe back in 1945 when he bought a De Dion Bouton for £30. He was very friendly with that great wheeler dealer Reg Taverner and things just grew from there. The Ramsgate Motor Museum opened some 20 years ago and since Terence's death it has been looked after by his brother, Dennis, with the help of the small trusty team of volunteers, all retired. ... to read more click here
     
Museum of the Month - April 2004 - The Motoring Heritage Centre, Alexandria. (01 Apr 2004)
I have often wondered how successful a motor museum would be if placed in a shopping mall or Factory Outlet Centre. This is exactly the location of the Heritage Motor Centre at Alexandria by Glasgow, close to Loch Lomond. There is a very good reason for it being here as the outlet centre has, as its façade, the front of the original ornate building which was the Argyll Works that was opened by Lord Montagu's father in 1906. This magnificent building was reputed to have been so costly that it eventually brought down the company. Is it still a white elephant? The success of the Heritage Motor Centre, in terms of visitor numbers, ebbs and flows roughly with the success of the shops. ... to read more click here
     
Museum of the Month - March 2004 - The Brattle Farm and Motor Museum (03 Mar 2004)
Visiting motor museums and private collections always brings with it surprises. The Brattle Farm Museum at Staplehurst in Kent is no exception. Brian and Anita Thompson are working farmers cultivating some 800 acres of arable land with their son William. Their hobby is collecting all sorts of agricultural memorabilia. They have barns of it, from horse shoes to stationary engines, ploughs to cream-making equipment, tractors to combines, and even a section on historic motor and push mowers. The farming part of the museum is well worth a visit on its own. A lot of the material was collected in the 1960s and 1970s and the museum has been open for some 25 years. ... to read more click here
     
Museum of the Month - February 2004 - Museum of Transport, Glasgow (01 Feb 2004)
This Museum is packed with exhibits of all sizes. It displays many road and rail transport items which have Scottish connections. As well as over 50 cars there are commercial vehicles, motorcycles and bicycles that are all dwarfed by the much larger railway, tramway and bus exhibits. The collections date from the 1870's and for 100 years were mostly based at the main Art Gallery and Museum. In 1988 they moved to their present site and the following year won the Scottish Museum of the Year award. It is claimed that this is Britain's most visited transport museum with over 500,000 visitors a year. Admission to the museum is free. ... to read more click here
     
Museum of the Month - January 2004 - The Albion Archive and Collection (01 Jan 2004)
In 1997 Brian Lambie retired from the post of Director of the Biggar Museum Trust (Lanarkshire, Scotland). He had been in charge of 6 museums and had been in post for some 30 years. His hobby interest has always been anything to do with the Scottish car and commercial vehicle maker, Albion. Now in his retirement he is working full time for the Biggar Albion Foundation. Why Biggar and Albions? John Lamb Murray, Biggar entrepreneur, farmer, architect and Civil Engineer, bought a Panhard-Levassor in 1896, only the second car to be owned in Scotland, and was very enthusiastic about motor cars and encouraged his son and son-in-law, both brilliant engineers, to join forces and go into business as motor car manufacturers. They founded Albion Motors in 1899 based in Glasgow but retained their roots in Biggar. ... to read more click here
     
The C M Booth Collection of Historic Vehicles (01 Dec 2003)
Chris Booth's Motor Museum is in Rolvenden in Kent. The title also includes the words "with emphasis on Morgan three-wheeled cars". Normally there are no less than 11 of these fascinating little cars on show, with others behind the scenes. This collection, however, is not just about Morgans. There is much more besides. ... to read more click here
     
Museum of the Month - November 2003 - The National Cycle Collection (01 Nov 2003)
When Karl Benz built his first car it was of lightweight construction, using tubes and lugs very similar to the cycle. Gottlieb Daimler's early creations were very much stouter and built on the horseless carriage principle. Gradually the two schools of thought came together. The bicycle gave us many things which we take for granted on the car - the pneumatic tyre, cable brakes, ball bearings, the tangent spoked wheel, the free wheel, the differential, chain drive as well as shaft drive. There is also the social aspect to the bicycle, which was the first road vehicle to give many individuals the freedom to travel on their own. ... to read more click here
     
Museum of the Month - October 2003 - Bateman's Motor Museum (01 Oct 2003)
Now for a real find - Bill Bateman's private museum collection near Coniston in the Lake District. A small private collection open only by appointment for club and society visits but complete with bar and refreshment facility! Its all great fun. ... to read more click here
     
The Lakeland Motor Museum (01 Sep 2003)
I have to admit that this museum is one of my favourites - it is full of stuff! The museum is situated in the beautiful surroundings of Holker Hall in Cumbria with its world-renowned gardens. This year is the 25th anniversary of the opening of the motor museum in the old shire stable block. ... to read more click here