Opening Times
The museum will be open
- Season
- Easter Monday to the end of August
- Days
- Wednesdays and Bank Holiday Mondays
- Hours
- 10.00am to 4.00pm
- Engines running
- Engines run from about 10.30am to 3.30pm
About 12 former steam engines running, plus several models.
Admission
Admission is FREE. Donations in the box are appreciated to help with restoration and running costs.
Car parking
Please use the free parking in the Garden Centre car park. The museum is in the large building at the far end of the car park.
Before you travel
It's as well to telephone before setting off: 01302 330430
How the engines run today
Unfortunately the site steam boiler accumulated a number of too-expensive-to-solve problems and was permanently taken out of service in 2021. For the foreseeable future the museum will have no steam, but many engines are still shown in motion:
- The Goddard & Massey beam engine runs by vacuum, effectively as an atmospheric engine.
- An electric-motor-driven blower delivers air through the former steam pipework at 500 millibar (7 pounds per square inch). This low pressure air system can operate seven engines, plus two others for a short period on request.
- Four engines are driven by electric motors: ‘Reliant’, the J Samuel White compound, the Sisson triple expansion and the Burton test engine.
Museum development work is continuing. Last updated April 2023.