Cotswold Motoring Museum

Over het museum

The museum opened in 1978 in the Old Mill at Bourton-on-the-Water. Its founder, Mike Cavanagh, was a private collector who had built up his collection over about twenty years while living in South Africa. His first piece was a 1929 Brooklands Riley bought in 1959, and his first enamel advertising sign, for Pegasus Motor Spirit, was found tied to a gate in the Eastern Cape. When he returned to England in 1978 he shipped everything home and found the disused mill for sale, which suited the collection well.

The listed building dates from the 18th century. It was first a mill driven by a water-wheel on the River Windrush, later powered by steam and then diesel, and stopped milling in 1949. It then served as a store and shop for a farmers’ cooperative until the early 1970s and stood empty for some years before the museum moved in.

Mike Cavanagh retired in 1999 and sold the museum to the CSMA Club, which since 2016 has traded as Boundless and still owns it. The collection remains the core of the displays and reflects the founder’s personal tastes. Today seven galleries show more than 60 vintage and classic vehicles, over 45 motorbikes, caravans, pedal cars, toys and thousands of items of motoring memorabilia, including more than 800 enamel signs. The museum is also known as the home of Brum, the small yellow car of the children’s television series, whose adventures began and ended inside the building.

Hoogtepunten

• More than 60 vintage and classic cars in seven galleries
• Brum, the children’s TV car, with a Brum that children can sit in
• Toy collection from pedal cars to board games
• More than 800 enamel advertising signs from the founder’s collection
• Replica early garage and blacksmith’s workshop, and a gallery of 1960s and 1970s memorabilia

Vaste collectie

• Cars, motorcycles and caravans – Seven galleries of vintage and classic vehicles, more than 45 motorbikes, caravans and a replica early garage, telling the story of 20th-century motoring.
• Toy collection and Brum – Pedal cars, bicycles, model aircraft and board games, together with the original Brum from the children’s television series.

Opgericht

1978

Beheerder

Boundless (Motoring & Leisure Services Ltd)

Toegangsprijzen & kortingen

Members of Boundless, the owner’s membership club, enter free with one adult guest and up to five children if they show their membership card. Discounts are offered for large groups.

Toegankelijkheid

• Rolstoeltoegankelijk
• Lift: geen informatie
• Aangepast toilet: geen informatie
• Gehandicaptenparkeerplaats: geen informatie
• Hulphonden welkom
• Tastmodellen / voelbare objecten: geen informatie
• Rondleidingen in gebarentaal: geen informatie
• Informatie in eenvoudige taal: geen informatie
• Audiodescriptie: geen informatie

Access is available throughout the museum, and Bourton-on-the-Water is mostly flat, which suits wheelchair users. SEND bags are available for neurodiverse visitors. Well-behaved dogs are welcome. Visitors with mobility needs or special requirements are asked to phone the museum.

Kinderen & gezin

Erg geschikt voor kinderen & gezinnen

• Doe- en voelstations

The museum describes itself as a family day out with a toy collection and the TV car Brum, including a special Brum that children can sit in. SEND bags are available for neurodiverse visitors.

Bereikbaarheid & parkeren

The museum is on Sherborne Street next to the war memorial on the village green, in the centre of Bourton-on-the-Water just off the A429, about halfway between the A40 and Stow-on-the-Wold.

Service & horeca

• Museumwinkel

The gift shop sells Brum souvenirs, toys, model cars, magnets, mugs, tea towels and postcards.

Evenementen & zaalverhuur

Het museum heeft hierover geen informatie gepubliceerd.

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