The huge World War II underground site in a clay quarry at Mimoyecques was the secret location intended for several batteries of German ultra long range superguns, Hitler’s V3 weapon, aimed at London. The V-Weapon Programme The Third Reich’s propaganda ministry first mentioned a sinister programme of...
The London Transport Museum has a huge collection of fascinating vehicles, artefacts, documents and memorabilia covering, not only the technical history of London’s growing transport networks from the 19th century and earlier, but also many of the social changes that developed alongside them. The collection was started...
You could say, the Newark Aviation Museum is having a bit of a lie down! The museum has just been loaned the extraordinary Gloster Meteor F8 Prone, which has been on display at the RAF Museum, Cosford* for many years. The Meteor F8 Prone was built in...
If all is going as planned, the giant Iowa-class battleship USS New Jersey (BB-62) is on her way back down the Delaware River today, returning to her permanent mooring on the Camden waterfront after a 91 day visit to the Philadelphia Navy Yard for maintenance and repair....
The Omaha Beach Memorial Museum (Musée Mémorial d’Omaha Beach), focuses on the D-Day landings at Omaha and Pointe du Hoc. It’s not a particularly large museum (1400m²) but it is well laid out and has some interesting artefacts, documents and photos. It’s location, halfway up the Les...
Lightweight sports car manufacturer, Caterham, has opened its new factory. Still located in Dartford, Kent, the new state-of-the-art building will be home to Caterham’s production, engineering, motorsport and commercial teams. A multi-million-pound investment from owners VT Holdings – one of Japan’s largest retailer groups – will see...
For those who have been wondering what will happen to the 1,475 ‘Standing with Giants’ silhouettes of World War 2 military personnel currently standing on the slope in front of the British Normandy Memorial, Normandy*; the answer is, they will move to the National Trust’s Stowe Gardens...
It’s proper name, in French, is La Musée de la Percée du Bocage, which they themselves translate into the ‘British Breakout from Normandy Museum’. In our guidebook, we call it the ‘Bocage Breakout Museum’, which I think is a simpler name. The museum, which celebrates its 30th...
The Musée des Arts et Métiers (Museum of Arts and Crafts) in Paris is almost the French equivalent of the Science Museum in London, and it is absolutely packed with the most fascinating historic, scientific, mechanical, experimental and industrial exhibits. Be prepared to allocate plenty of time...
World of Volvo, the Swedish vehicle manufacturer’s new cultural experience centre, opens in Gothenburg on Sunday (14th April). The centrepiece of World of Volvo is 4,500 square metres of exhibition space, carefully designed to showcase Volvo’s innovations and commitment to “omtanke” – consideration – emphasising safety and...
The D-Day Omaha Museum is a small private museum packed with military items, uniforms and equipment that were gathered over a 50 year period by Michel Brissard, an enthusiastic military history collector who was born in 1945, the year WW2 ended. Now, the museum is run by...
A new display of ‘Jolly Roger’ flags flown by Royal Navy submarines is launched today (27/03/2024) at The Royal Navy Submarine Museum, Gosport. It will expand the museum’s previous collection of Jolly Rogers by including the earliest known surviving example and the museum’s newest acquisition, a Jolly...
A memorial garden in Senghenydd, which commemorates those who died in the worst disaster in the history of British mining, has been given the “recognition it deserves” and formally acknowledged by the Welsh Government as the National Mining Disaster Memorial Garden of Wales. The garden was officially...
Hagerty’s Festival of the Unexceptional (FOTU) celebrates its 10-year anniversary at Grimsthorpe Castle, Lincolnshire in July 2024. UPDATE 01/05/2025: The festival is back at Grimsthorpe Castle on Saturday 26th July 2025. Tickets are on sale now. I didn’t know there was such a thing, but I love...
This is a niche blog about technically-minded travel. It reflects my own interests in the mechanical, technical, historical, engineering, transport and military world.
COPYRIGHT © MECHTRAVELLER 2016-2025, including all images unless indicated otherwise.
