Weston-super-Mare may be best known for its miles of sand, its donkeys and its famous fun-filled pier but it also has three museums and they’re about as varied as they come. There’s the town museum, a scooter museum and the helicopter museum so there’s plenty of choice.
Weston Museum
The Weston Museum offers a different view of Weston and what’s more it’s free to visit and interactive. Visitors can try on old-style clothes, they can even don a swimming cap like the one worn by the town’s four-time Olympic gold medal swimmer Paulo Radmilovic or the hat worn by Beatrice Page who became the first female tram driver in the country when she stepped up to the plate in the war years. Alternatively, you can sit back and watch the old television newsreels of Weston in days gone by or experience Victorian pier life by having a go on some of the original arcade games.
There’s bound to be something to interest you; whether it’s the old-fashioned Victorian bathing suits or the original onesie – an all in one siren suit – which was designed to be easily slipped on in case of an air raid.
With easy to digest captions, visitors will be able to turn back the clock and explore North Somerset through the ages. Visitors can discover how Weston developed from a small fishing village to a thriving Victorian seaside town and sample Victorian life by visiting the adjoining Clara’s Cottage.
The museum also has temporary exhibitions as well as its permanent collections. There is also a café and museum shop. Learn more about it here.
Helicopter Museum
The Helicopter Museum is a guaranteed hit especially with aviation enthusiasts. It is the largest helicopter museum in the world featuring 80 of the flying machines. It is an Aladdin’s cave of flying history in keeping with the town’s rich aviation past and with so much to see the average visitor spends between three and four hours there. The museum is on the site of the former Weston-super-Mare airport, which, believe it or not, used to be home to the country’s busiest routes for short haul flights with its Weston to South Wales route. The famous Westland helicopters used to be a major employer in the town and the Westland Lynx G-LYNX helicopter, which still holds the helicopter world speed record, is one of the museum’s star attractions. The helicopter was made in Somerset and set the 249.1 miles-per-hour record over the Somerset Levels.
In addition, the museum holds a second record breaker in the shape of the Aerospatiale Dauphin which holds the Paris-London-Paris city centres speed record. There’s also the Queens Flight Wessex to admire which ferried the Royal family around. Museum visitors can also see the restored control tower pilots block while, on certain days, visitors can also book helicopter flights for a unique and never-to-be forgotten bird’s eye view.
Lambretta Scooter Museum
The town’s Lambretta Museum is one of Weston’s hidden gems. It pays homage to the famous scooter and houses more than 60 of them. It’s a private collection and visitor times reflect this but if you’re a scooter fan wanting a ride down Nostalgia Lane then it is well worth a visit. The museum is free but donations are appreciated.
Other local museums
Sticking with transport, The Haynes International Motor Museum, near Yeovil, houses more than 400 cars and motorbikes from the early days of motoring, right through the years. There’s plenty to feast your eyes on from vintage vehicles to the American dream and from Formula One to luxury and supercars.
The Somerset Shoe Museum has more than 1,500 shoes on show dating from Roman times to the present day. The museum is based in Street which is where Clarks shoes were founded and where they still have their headquarters today.
A must-see for every fashion-lover, the Fashion Museum Bath is home to one of the world's leading collections of historic and fashionable dress. Here you can see everything from sumptuous Georgian gowns to spectacular outfits by some of today's top designers.The museum is housed in the Assembly Rooms, Bath's most magnificent Georgian building, where guests used to gather to dance, drink tea, play cards and listen to music. Entry to the Assembly Rooms is included in the Fashion Museum ticket.
Oakham Treasures will have adults and grandparents exclaiming "I remember that." It is a museum that concentrates on everyday items from yesteryear and grown ups will see items that they may have used themselves or will remember their parents using! There are thousands of items, many displayed in traditional shops such as a sweet shop, grocers and a chemist to name but a few. There is also an impressive display of vintage tractors and farm equipment. The award winning attraction in Portbury, is very close to the Gordano service station on the M5, making it an easy day out from Weston.
The Somerset Rural Life Museum explores the county’s rural and social history. Visitors to the Glastonbury-based museum will explore rural life from the 1800s onwards and discover more about the county’s heritage including its landscape, food and farming, working life and rural crafts. It also has a magnificent 14th-century Abbey Barn.
The city of Bristol has got plenty of museums, many of which are situated in the harbourside area. There you will find Brunel’s SS Great Britain, which has recently been rated among the UK’s top museums. The world’s first great ocean liner has been lovingly restored to her Victorian heyday to provide an authentic voyage back in time. More daring seafarers can pay to climb the rigging to the 26m high viewing platform.
If that takes you back in time, you can fast forward into the world of science and discovery at the We The Curious museum. The Harbourside venue is a fun, interactive and informative place where you can walk through a tornado, get closer to the stars or immersive yourself in the experience of the UK’s first 3D planetarium.
Meanwhile, the M Shed museum, which is also based on harbourside in a former transit shed, is a free museum where you can explore more than 2,000 years of Bristol’s history. Alternatively, The Arnolfini arts centre is a free hit for arts fans and is dedicated to visual arts, performance, dance, film and music.
Bristol Museum and Art Gallery is an all-day long free attraction featuring galleries housed over three floors spanning ancient civilisations, human invention as well as exhibits from the natural world.
Elsewhere, the city’s newest museum, Aerospace Bristol, is now open and ready for boarding. It charts the amazing story of the city’s aerospace industry. There are planes to explore from the earliest days of aviation through to Concorde and beyond.
Heading South, Bridgwater’s Blake Museum is dedicated to the old market town and port it is based in. The museum is housed in a 16th century building that is reputedly the birthplace of Robert Blake who was Cromwell’s General at sea. The free museum is dedicated to the history and archaeology of the town and surrounding area. Its collections also include a currency section with Somerset bank notes.
For lovers of arts and crafts, The LT Gallery in Orchard Street, Weston-super-Mare showcases changing exhibitions of work in a variety of different media including painting, photography, drawing, woodwork and mixed media.
The Old Quarry in Weston is home to a thriving artists’ community and they present exhibitions. The Quarry Gallery in the Rowan Tree Room is open every Wednesday to Sunday from 10.30am to 4.30pm.
The Somerset Guild of Craftsmen is one of the oldest craft guilds in the country and its gallery in the city of Wells showcases the work of its 100 members county-wide. Its gallery in Broad Street features ceramics, metalwork, woodwork, jewellery, art and photography. Some of the exhibits can be purchased.
Wells is also home to the A2 Gallery which features works across fields such as marquetry, ceramics, jewellery, glass, woodturning, painting and printmaking.
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