The Museum has now re-opened
It was great to finally get inside The National Motorcycle Museum after 14 months of closure. We have such great respect and admiration for the staff that work so hard to give us an excellent display time after time; therefore, we wanted to show our support to them on their first day of opening.
We had to join the queue behind the showman Peter Peacock (In the right corner above) who was keeping everyone entertained with his impressive display. He said that he was proud to show off outside the entrance to welcome visitors back after such a long time. He was so excited that he couldn’t keep still, strutting up and down for any photo opportunity.
James Hewing, the Museum Director said that they had worked hard behind the scenes to keep things well maintained; taking the opportunity to upgrade the lighting, which made a huge difference to the feel and look of the museum. The café has moved into the reception area, which in my opinion was much more spacious and welcoming.
On a lesser tone, he was disappointed not to receive funding from the Government during lock-down, seeing the funds going to more contentious and questionable causes. The only way to balance the books was to sell some prized machines and sadly let go some of their valuable staff.
Without doubt the museum preserves our motorcycle history and without it the world would be a darker place. The amount of local manufacturers within the West Midlands that have since faded away, were true trailblazer in innovation and design, which much of today’s engineering has been either based on or inspired by. These Cottage Industry Pioneers provided a work place for our families, so became part of our heritage and DNA. Personally hearing of the Government’s refusal for funding has left a sour taste.
The show must go on, so we are looking forward to our visit