As it has been cold and wet since Christmas, Neil suggested that the Walking Group try something different and suggested The British Commercial Vehicle Museum at Leyland.
For those of you who don’t know, Leyland is south of Preston and is the home of Leyland Trucks and Busses. The company were also very involved in the manufacture of military vehicles from World War 1 onwards. More recent vehicles included Centurion and Chieftain tanks and then large transporter vehicles. The company is now part of Leyland DAF.
The museum is housed in a fairly modern warehouse type building quite near the centre of the town and comes complete with gift shop (not brilliant) and café (excellent, particularly the all-day breakfast!).
There is a lot to look at and we soon decided on 2 tours, one before lunch and a second look around afterwards. The volunteers working in the museum are all very willing to talk about the history of the vehicles housed here which range from a replica of the first motorised lawn mower to the Popemobile from the 1980’s visit of Pope John Paul.
Having lived in Tarleton for 30 years(ish), it was nice to see many local names on the vans. Websters furnishing, Hulls, one of the Sutton family, Ainscoughs and Hunters are all represented.
All the vehicles are beautifully presented and the museum as a whole is well worth a visit and, if like us, you are of retirement age, it’s only a tenner to get in.
All in all, a grand day out!