Sunday 8 December 2019

Cinders to Shale


There is a small museum not too far from where I live dedicated to speedway racing. Strangely, the owner only opens it for one day a year, but it's his museum, so his rules.


A while back I got the nod that it was time for the annual open day and, although I'm not a huge fan of the sport, decided to pop along and have a look.


As museums go, it's quite small. Entrance is by donation and you enter through a narrow corridor covered in advertising posters. 



Turn a corner and you are met with a large room absolutely packed with bikes and even more memorabilia the strangest of which must be the jam jars lovingly labelled and full of ash and cinders from particular tracks and specific races.


The bikes themselves are pristine and they are obviously well cared for, unlike a lot of exhibits you come across in much bigger museums. They range from the vintage to the modern and include names like Vincent and Scott who I didn’t know made such specialist machines.


All in all it was a pleasant way to pass an hour or so and I’d recommend it should you manage to hear of it’s next open day.


2 comments:

  1. This is an amazing museum even if you're not interested in speedway. A huge selection of bikes all in perfect condition. The "one-day-a-year" opening is weird and the jars of shale are pretty random.

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    1. I'm told that it also opens on random days throughout the year as well. Friend who is big speedway fan says that the owner will sometimes announce at race meetings that it will be open the following day.

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