On 14 August, the Museum’s long-awaited 30th Anniversary Celebration began. We had a full roster of activities and events running throughout the week for everyone to enjoy, no matter who you were or what you liked. It was great to see so many people coming to the Museum and getting stuck into everything we had to offer.
The collection took centre stage all week, with cars from every era utilised across the site. Cars on the Move saw a varied selection of vehicles on parade around the Museum grounds whilst our volunteers ran rides for visitors to show off what classic motoring actually felt like. Meanwhile, indoors, Bonnets Up, Doors Open hours were held, each day dedicated to a specific display in the Museum, offering the chance to see our cars from a whole new angle.
The lucky winners of the 30th Anniversary Raffle were buckling up for their VIP experience days throughout the week, too. All of them were passionate about the cars they rode in, and it was genuinely heartwarming to hear some of the stories they had that first put them in touch with these incredible machines. One of our winners, Hollie, was a massive fan of Harry Potter and relished riding in the Harry Potter Ford Anglia with her husband, Darren, a lover of all things classic Ford – a match made in heaven!
Our designated Access Day on the Wednesday was also a huge success. Here at the Museum, we’re proud of our commitment to making our collections accessible to everyone. This day was dedicated to showing the activities and initiatives we offer to allow anyone to enjoy the Museum, regardless of accessibility requirements.
We held Quiet Hours before opening and after closing to allow those who needed a quieter atmosphere to see the collection in peace. Our regular tours were replaced with Touch and Access Tours, allowing visitors to get close to and even touch the cars in our collection. We also had tactile activities in the form of our Object Handling workshops and Air-Drying Clay modelling in our Learning Space.
Outside, we had Young Driver running Driving Experience Taster Sessions, a stand from RDAC, showing off their important work in making mobility adaptations for cars and a Changing Places toilet, courtesy of RevoLOOtion UK.
There was plenty for families to entertain themselves as well! Our summer activities continued, with the craft activities and Colour Creator Trail available every day, and family tours with Dottie and Dougie the Car Designers running on Monday, Tuesday, and Sunday. During the second half of the week, our ever-popular Science Shows drew large crowds, as Professor Pickle and Doctor Pumpkin entertained hundreds of visitors across Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Within the Museum, alongside our latest feature exhibition, “Transitions: The Impact of Innovation”, we put up a display in the Welcome Gallery, “Our Story: 30 Years of the British Motor Museum”, featuring a range of stunning photos from the Archive. History buffs could also enjoy a variety of History Talks given by our volunteers throughout the week, covering everything from Land Rovers to Jaguar E-Types.
We ran two special editions of popular Museum events over the weekend of the
Anniversary Celebration. First was our 30th Anniversary Quiz Night, an evening of
1993 trivia and BBQ food in the stunning surroundings of the Sky Suite. Then, on
the Sunday, we put on a 30th Anniversary Breakfast Meet, bringing a range of car fans
to the Museum with their vehicles to chat and reminisce over a cooked breakfast in
the Junction 12 Café.
We hope you enjoyed the 30th Anniversary Celebration; we certainly enjoyed putting the activities together and running them. Whether you rode in a car or simply looked under a bonnet, you made the week a giant success for the Museum. Thank you all, and here’s to many more years.
.png)
