Atwell-Wilson Motor Museum – Calne, Wiltshire
I have spent a lot of time the past few months trying to find decent locations for regular Slip&Grip breakfast meets again. We have a 2nd World War airfield for July 15th so get signed up for that, its located between Malmesbury and Tetbury, thanks to those who have already signed up via our website.
Our location for August, date tbc, will be located at the Atwell-Wilson Motor Museum in Calne. This is a museum that I once visited when I was about 10 and its certainly moved on since then.
The Museum is run by a charitable trust and a group of volunteers who devote themselves to maintaining and improving the site. It’s a beautiful location tucked away on the edge of the Wiltshire town. I headed over last Thursday to be greeted by many friendly faces, the directors had kindly got together to meet me and discuss a future meet as well as show me round.
I got half way through making a brew before I forgot about it and got lost in the stories these guys had to tell and the history this site has to offer. Now I haven’t taken any pics of inside the museum because I’m writing this post to push you guys to go over and take a look yourselves.
The museum was started in 1981. As you turn on to the drive it just looks like a quaint little bungalow but as you turn into the parking area you are greeted by some rather large storage barns and a retro filling station…fantastic!! First impressions are this is any petrolhead dream home, tiny little house and then a massive area to play with and appreciate cars.
David and the other guys are keen to see more footfall in the museum and at just £7 per person its an absolute bargain, you could easily spend several hours with the family here. There is also plenty of space for chilled breakfast meets in the show field and they have a room in the bungalow for AGM’s. If you run a small club they do reduced entries for bulk bookings.
The museum is perfectly sized with an array of cars, motorbikes, toys and memorabilia on offer. Some great scenes are strewn through the garages with a good mix of British, European, Japanese and American cars and motorbikes. A brief look around and my quick favourites are a lovely first generation Toyota Celica and Gen 1 Honda Civic. There are Jags, Austin’s, Mercs, Triumphs, the list goes on.
Another highlight alongside the retro fuel station which should be great for photos at our August meet is the little lean too out the back. Its just looks like a 30’s iron sheet shed but it actually belonged to a famous Austin race car tuner from the early days, his name slips my mind at the moment but they are in the process of re-creating his actual workshop with an Austin race car in it.
So the gist of this post is keep an eye out we will have a meet here in august where we will have the show area for parking, we can do our usual get together and chat, look round the museum and grab a brew. Entry will be £3 to get on site, £3 for museum entry and brew prices tbc. All proceeds will go straight to the trust that looks after the Museum.
If you run a car club and want to do a meet at this fantastic location you can contact the museum direct. Or if you fancy a trip out with the family get over there and take a look around. They will also be hosting there annual classic and vintage show there on July 15th, it’s the same day as our breakfast meet but we may look at taking a convoy over there after as its not far.
These guys have put time and effort into preserving automotive history and I think we should all show our support and take a bow to people like this. The passion for all things automotive is under constant threat so we should all preserve it in our own ways whether that’s owning your own classic or paying to look round a collection.
