One thing for certain when it comes to the UK is that our public transport isn't the best in the world. If you live in England or ever visited then you will understand the frustration when it comes to holding out hope that getting somewhere will be easy. And yes, I have a driving license and I could've made this journey by car but ultimately found that it would've been quicker to hop on a train, then bus and finally just a short walk. As it turns out I stand corrected but at least when you're driving, you have the security of knowing that you can get from A to B with no cancellations...
Earlier in August through the wonders of social media, I found out about a historic Williams car collection that was being held at none other than the Haynes Motor Museum, rumoured to be one of the best car and bike collections in the UK. It seems the fascination of Williams cars have drawn me everywhere since I had attended the Williams Fan Zone event just a month before (I have an article on this too, so do check it out!) Although it is situated on the other side of the country from where I live, 8 hours of travel for the whole day didn't appear to be that big of a deal as long as we started early. Organising a trip before I headed back to university was a must! And as it turned out, I had a very car-enthusiastic friend to join me for the day.
Not only 10 minutes after departure was where the troubles of public transport began. Delayed buses made us miss our connecting train and had to risk a 5 minute sprint to the tube in London and a 4 minute sprint to Paddington Station. I genuinely believed it was impossible and I would have to struggle with the stress of the journey rather than enjoying it much to my dislike. To my surprise, we ended up following our Underground tube into the station and thought we had nothing left to lose and in fact this was the earlier tube that would give us some more time. Our luck came by only having to run 5 platforms away, and we just about made it. At least I would now be in less of a panic when getting to Paddington Station, even if it meant skipping lunch.
Lo and behold, we got our train on time and had around an hour and a half to relax from London to Somerset which involved watching free practice for the Formula One Azerbaijan Grand Prix whilst educating my friend on the chaos of the championship. It was at this point I underestimated the change from urban London to rural Sparkford.
Call me impatient but the next bus to the museum would be just over an hour. Queue the further onset of panic as it was already 11am and we wanted to have as much time as possible. Taxis weren't an option so it was a case of staring over the countryside for as long as possible plus an extra 10 minutes due to more delay. The 20 minute journey around the thinnest roads I've ever seen definitely wouldn't have boded well with my cautious driving so it was a 50/50 as to whether public transport was ultimately the best sort of travel. Just a 15 minute walk along the side of an A road, a snapshot of a road sign directing people to the museum and we could finally see the red and grey modern exterior. Pictures just don't do it justice.
It turns out that 12:30 was the perfect time to arrive, and I guess missing out on our timeslot to get any sort of early lunch meant that we could enjoy what the museum had to offer so I opted for a very nice Cornish pasty and oat iced coffee. This is where you can totally appreciate the utter beauty of the entrance to the museum with various individual cars to sit in awe at, and the open plan interior made it seem even more beautiful.
Now it was time to begin: if I haven't made it clear already, there will be huge spoilers for the exhibit here if you're planning to visit and if so, then save this article for later!
You start off in a relatively small room displaying the various cars that John Haynes owned throughout his life, or at least the ones that had survived anyways. It also made me proud to know that Brands Hatch was one of his favourite circuits while also being me and my friend's local track. Along with this, you have many of the David Hayward models if that's more of your forte.
Acting as a type of prologue, the next room to enter would include many replica's of VERY old cars, like a replica of one of the first Mercedes models, from the late 1800's and early 1900's. It almost makes me determined to track down any real ones in some far off museums, that being said I've possibly hinted to one of my next trips currently in progress...
It was here that we met a wonderful bunch of volunteers at the museum that told us the story of the obscure looking Mercedes vehicle. I must admit my car knowledge isn't the best but it was so inspiring to talk to some people who have such a passion for old motors, and I mean REALLY old! They truly make the entire museum what it is by giving up their time to do something they love and we would get to speak to them further at the live car displays.
This is where I would talk further about the next room but by the time we explored half of it, the live car display was about to be put into action! There was an amazing lot of cars to learn about but the one that particularly caught my eye was the Ford Escort Mexico. I have absolutely no idea why but I loved learning about the history of the model and how they came to have it in hand, so assuming it is possible I will definitely be searching for some displays around the country further if it's even a thing! Other cars included a Tuk Tuk and a 40 year old Nissan Micra, which I also had the privilege of sitting in (very nice interior, matching my outfit perfectly as one of the volunteers put it!)
There are so many rooms throughout the museum to explain but there would be no way I would miss talking about the Red Room, fully loaded with classic cars of the shade and the historical importance of the colour. And red is personally my favourite colour so it had to be one of my favourite rooms throughout the building. Call me basic but I love the MX5 that was in there!
Further along the museum, you will hit the Ferrari room which is a must-see for die-hard Ferrari fans like myself. Although the Formula One car wouldn't come until the next room alongside, it trails into incredible detail about how the company came to be along with its hardships and reiterated on 'The Story Of Ferrari' book that I own and only finished a few weeks prior to the visit. The odd controversial quotes on the wall makes it worthwhile too, just about demonstrating the arguably cold heart that Enzo held in his chest but exhibiting the unforgettable legacy that he's left behind.
Like I said, the Ferrari race car would come in the room alongside it. Michael Schumacher's F310 to be precise in the Hall of Motorsport; a room in where I held larger amounts of knowledge than on the old-fashioned road cars. After nearly mistaking the Camel Formula 3000 car for a Jordan Racing car (a heart-stopping moment but alas...), the rest of the room was ours to enjoy, literally. Where had everyone gone? Either way it was awesome to witness Graham Hill's Formula One car and embracing how much these cars have changed overtime compared to a modern 2024 competitor. In all honesty the most shocking thing in this room besides the latter point was that this room houses Prince William and Harry's actual go-karts from their childhood.
The main reason for my visit would still be yet to come with a few more rooms to go but at this rate, I was already mega pleased with what was on show already! This would just be the icing on the top of a very large helping of cake.
The Williams F1 Exhibit: I never actually got the opportunity to ask whether the FW17 was the same that they used in the Williams Fan Zone that I attended back at the start of July. If so, I've seen the same car 3 times but always as fascinating as the first; it will forever remain a mystery.
What's great about the 5 cars they have on display is that they range from a vast era of the 74 year Formula One racing history, from the FW14, aka. the Red '5' to the FW38. Or perhaps 5 and a half cars as they do have an unfortunate broken race craft of Pastor Maldonado. There's an entire wall displaying the tracks as of the exhibition's time of inauguration (no Miami or Las Vegas circuits here!) which really picked at my brain because other than racing itself, I'm head over heels for track layouts and how they can change throughout a weekend.
As well as this and a full length wall of notable Williams drivers past and present, is a viewing area for a short film depicting the fulfilling career of Frank Williams and the ambitions of where the team hopes to go. I, for one, am a huge supporter of Williams and I wish they can get back to their glory days once again as one of the oldest teams on the grid behind McLaren and Ferrari.
Just above this section is all about motorbikes, a staple of motoring and motorsport that I believe should get more love amongst fans. I remember seeing a huge range of 'Triumph' bikes at the Day of Champions just a month prior and it felt comforting to have a slight amount of knowledge about the brand when visiting the museum. However most of my expertise relating to MotoGP was confide to a single paragraph arranged in a presentation of all different types of bike racing: Isle of Man TT, Endurance, Motocross, Speedway, the lot!
I know a lot of people would expect me to talk about Richard Hammond and DriveTribe but honestly, I woke up that day having no clue what it was and what it was all about. And I apologise to these fans by saying this because it looks intriguing! It was great to see cars like Oliver which I'm sure people would love to hear me blabber on about but this just wasn't my forte. This isn't to say you can't enjoy it either because my friend on the other hand, was captivated by this section of the museum and was educating myself on the display!
However strangely enough, it was a different car that caught my eye in the final room with some of the most lavished and popular vehicles that are still widely collected today. This being the 1985 Toyota MR2 in one of the most stunning conditions I've ever seen as well as being in my favourite colour. I have a few friends interested in MR2's and one that actually owns a later model but this was something else. Some could argue that cars don't belong in museums which would make this entire article useless to this type of individual, but you can't deny that a car like this kept in this most pristine condition isn't one of the most beautiful things you'd ever see.
But ultimately I understand it is the volunteers that make this place so unique and it's heartbreaking to learn that not enough people know about this hidden place in the south of England. I think if you want to take one more thing away from this article, it is that you will find many opinions online that this would only take the average person around 2 hours to complete a whole walkthrough. Or you could listen to this in saying that you need to take that number and double it. Me and my friend ended up staying in the museum for a total of 4 and a half hours just admiring the adoring collection, even cars that neither of us thought we'd ever have an interest in but with extensive information to teach you about the history of the cars, it was interesting to learn about all of their quirks either in terms of design or use.
And considering the long journey it took to get us here then time needed to be well spent. It was only that one could hope the journey home wouldn't cause as much stress.
Add comment
Comments