The Cotswold Motoring Museum is a museum in the

Cotswolds The Cotswolds (, ) is a region in central-southwest England, along a range of rolling hills that rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jur ...

village of

Bourton-on-the-Water Bourton-on-the-Water is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England, that lies on a wide flat vale within the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The village had a population of 3,296 at the 2011 census. Much of the village ...

Gloucestershire Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean. The county town is the city of Gl ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It features motoring history of the 20th century.

Collection

The museum's collection includes cars, motorcycles, bicycles, caravans, and motoring memorabilia of the 20th century. The museum's toy collection includes pedal cars, bicycles, toy cars, buses, aeroplanes and other vehicles,

model kits Model building is a hobby and career that involves the creation of physical models either from kits or from materials and components acquired by the builder. The kits contain several pieces that need to be assembled in order to make a final mode ...

meccano Meccano is a brand of scale model, model construction system created in 1898 by Frank Hornby in Liverpool, England. The system consists of reusable metal strips, plates, Structural steel#Common structural shapes, angle girders, wheels, axles and ...

built into vehicles and structures, wooden and metal vehicles, and penny

tin toys ''Tin Toy'' is a 1988 American computer-animated short film produced by Pixar and directed by John Lasseter. The short film, which runs five minutes, stars Tinny, a tin one-man band toy, attempting to escape from Billy, an infant. The third sho ...

. The collection also includes the children's television star Brum that is featured in the first two series and opening titles. The museum also features in the show's opening title sequence as Brum leaves the museum, where he is on display, and heads into the Big Town. It also features in the closing sequence as well, when Brum drives back into the museum.

History

The museum was founded in 1978 by car collector Mike Cavanagh, who also features in '' Brum''. In 1999 Cavanagh sold it to the

Civil Service Motoring Association Boundless by CSMA (formerly CSMA Club and previously the Civil Service Motoring Association) is an experiences club that helps public sector workers get the most from their free time. Established in 1923 (when it was the Civil Service Motoring ...

, a not-for-profit organisation, who continues to run it.

Awards

In 2003 the Museum won the Heart of England Tourist Board's Visitor Attraction of the Year, and in 2004 they won the Museums and Heritage Award for their interpretation project "Big Ideas for Small Children".

References

Notes

External links

Official website
Automobile museums in England Museums in Gloucestershire Motorcycle museums in the United Kingdom Driving in the United Kingdom Toy museums in England Museums established in 1978 1978 establishments in England {{UK-museum-stub