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...
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...
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...
Welsh Culture Secretary Lesley Griffiths visited the National Slate Museum in Llanberis this week to see how redevelopment work is progressing. Welsh Government funding of more than £1m has already helped progress the redevelopment, including maximising museum space for collections and activities and ensuring there is appropriate...
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...
The London Canal Museum (LCM) has launched its new summer season of canal boat trips on the Regent’s canal. Booking is open now and the trips start on 28th March. This is the museum’s second season of trips made possible by a collaboration with the nearby Angel...
The Normandy Victory Museum, sub-titled the Musée de la Bataille des Haies (Battle of the Hedgerows Museum) is quite a large museum (2,000 m²) and is definitely worth a visit, especially around lunchtime, because it also has a large brasserie restaurant split into a bistro and pizzeria....
A new photographic exhibition, Echoes of the Blitz: Underground shelters in Ukraine and London, is opening at the London Transport Museum tomorrow (Fri 1st March 2024). The exhibition compares and contrasts 70 wartime images taken almost 80 years apart in the Tube stations of London and the...
The 100-year-old American steam logging locomotive, Mount Emily Shay No.1, travelled by flatcar to its new home, the Oregon Rail Heritage Center, on Thursday (15 Feb). The historic locomotive had been in the care of the Oregon Historical Society (OHS) for more than six decades when, in...
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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