It’s hard to imagine the U-boat war being conducted from a group of bunkers in the wooded grounds of a château just outside Angers, miles from the coast and the U-boat bases. But that’s exactly the point. The British raid on Saint-Nazaire in March 1942 (Operation Chariot)...
That’s a bit of a shock! It’s a bit like hearing the ravens are quitting the Tower of London. Yesterday, the National Motor Museum Trust issued a statement announcing that it has begun the process of identifying a new home for the National Motor Museum as its...
(And the rescue of a wounded American soldier) This roadside monument on a long straight stretch of the D31 road between the villages of Larchamp and Ernée in the Mayenne department of France, marks the point of first contact on 4th August 1944 between US troops advancing...
The Silver Raven, which started operating the official 40-minute ‘Tower of London River Tours’ on the Thames in March this year, is the UK’s first electric tour boat. She is one of the new generation of river craft on an increasingly greener artery through London’s heartland. “It’s...
The government says that work to remove the three masts from the wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery in the Thames estuary will begin in early September. SS Richard Montgomery was a WW2 American Liberty ship that dragged her anchor while waiting to unload her cargo of...
The Imperial War Museum (IWM) in Lambeth, South London is one of the world’s best known military museums, and the parent to four branches of Imperial War Museums: IWM North in Manchester, IWM Duxford near Cambridge, The Churchill War Rooms in Westminster, and HMS Belfast on the...
National Motor Museum engineers have successfully restored the World Land Speed Record breaker Sunbeam 1000hp car, in time for its planned 100th anniversary run at Daytona Beach in the USA next year. The restoration project has taken over three years, with many additional years of preparatory work....
Electric vehicle manufacturer BYD have just demonstrated their FLASH charging system for the first time in the UK. This could be something of a game-changer. As we all know, one of the main disadvantages of electric vehicles is the time it takes to re-charge. Despite improved charging...
The Great Central Railway and 5305 Locomotive Trust are celebrating the completion of a major restoration project on the National Railway Museum’s National Collection Class 33 locomotive D6535 – one of Britain’s most significant early diesel locomotives. Visitors will have the opportunity to see the restored locomotive...
Every four years, a fleet of solo sailors set off from Les Sables d’Olonne in France to sail their small 36ft yachts, non-stop around the world in the McIntyre Golden Globe Race (GGR), which recreates conditions as they were in 1968. Only this time they’ll have an...
The former Musée des 24 Heures du Mans (“The Museum of the 24 Hours of Le Mans”) has undergone a renovation and will be re-opening its doors on 28th May 2026, 16 days before this year’s 24hr race event, as simply M24 – Musée du Sport Automobile....
When HMS Victory‘s masts were removed at the end of April*, six 19th century coins and tokens were discovered under the foremast. Placing coins on the mast step before the mast is lowered, was a long-time maritime tradition intended to bring good fortune**. So it might have...
At this week’s Google I/O conference, Volvo Cars and Google have been demonstrating ‘contextually aware driving experiences’ using the latest advancements in AI in Volvo’s EX60 SUV. Making use of the Google Gemini vehicle camera integrated in the EX60, Gemini can (with the driver’s permission) see and...
The Fehmarnbelt Tunnel is a major European civil engineering project to lay an 18 km (11.2 mile) road and rail tunnel under the Baltic Sea between Germany and Denmark. (See The Fehmarnbelt Tunnel for overview.) Earlier this week, the first of its 89 pre-fabricated concrete tunnel sections...
This is a niche blog about technically-minded travel. It reflects my own interests in the mechanical, technical, historical, engineering, transport and military world.
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