Transport museums
Heritage Motor Centre
The Heritage Motor Centre, at Gaydon in Warwickshire has a wonderful collection of vehicles from the earliest days of motoring up to the present day. There is a huge selection of cars from the 50s, 60s and 70s. You can easily spend a day going round the museum and still not see everything. We particularly liked the 'Time Road' which shows how cars have evolved over the years.
The Heritage Motor Centre was originally a collection of British Leyland (Rover Group) cars. The collection now includes some Fords and Vauxhalls, including a 1968 Ford Cortina 1600E and a 1964 Vauxhall Viva HA deluxe.
See Heritage Motor Centre, Gaydon.
Cotswold Motor Museum
The Cotswold Motor Museum is on a much small scale to the Heritage Motor Centre. However, it is a fascinating place packed with motoring and transport memorabilia covering most of the last century. There is a collection of classic cars, pedal cycles, motor bikes and toys. The museum is also packed with transport signs from our motoring past, including AA and RAC sign posts, and advertisements from a host of long forgotten motoring products.
For younger children, the Cotswold Motor Museum is home to the BBC's CBeebies character, Brum.
The Museum is celebrating its 30th anniversary and is currently hosting an exhibition celebrating the year 1978. There is a car from the 70s and a collection featuring film posters, pop charts, television shows, clothing, sport and technology.
The Cotswold Motor Museum is in the beautiful Cotswold town of Bourton-on-the-Water. Once you have visited the Motor Museum, there is also a model village and a number of restaurants and tea shops to peruse.
See Cotswold Motor Museum, Bourton-on-the-Water.
Oxford Bus Museum
The Oxford Bus Museum at Long Hanborough houses a collection of historic buses. It is a trip down memory lane for anyone who has travelled by bus in the last century. You can go on board some of the buses and sit in the seats. If that is not enough to bring the memories back, you can even have ride on one of the buses. On the first Sunday of each month the Museum offers free bus rides on a historic bus through the Oxfordshire countryside.
As well as trip down memory lane, the Oxford Bus Museum is a great day out for children.
Besides the collection of buses, the Museum also houses the Morris Motors Museum, a celebration of vehicles built at Cowley.
Go to Oxford Bus Museum.