Haynes Motor Museum (23 June 2002)

In the second of our joint ventures with South Central, we had a trip down to the Haynes Motor Museum at Sparkford (near Yeovil).

After some encouraging advance interest, it was a little disappointing to have just 8 cars arrive at Fleet services from the two areas combined. Still, that made it easier to keep the convoy together on the way there. We took the easy route, straight down the M3 and A303 - and the weather was good enough for a top down drive!

We arrived in time for 'elevenses' (coffee and cakes), setting us up well for the rigors of looking at hundreds of cars! As there were 10 of us in the group, we got a group discount and entry for a mere £5.00 - bargain.

First impressions were not too favourable; the car park was quite small and the restaurant didn't look like it could cope with the sudden arrival of a coach load of enthusiasts (it was bad enough having 10 of us all demanding coffee). However, once we got inside the museum, all reservations were quickly overcome. It really was excellent, a great layout, most cars in pristine condition and more and more halls to explore as we went along. Two old American cars particularly caught my eye, and everybody else's, but I won't spoil the surprise for those of you who haven't yet been there!

There were comments along the lines of 'it's better than Beaulieu' from people in the group and I can see their point. Although it may not be so well known as some other motor museums, this one is definitely to be recommended.

After a couple of hours wandering around, everyone was starting to feel tired, so we moved on to the shop and indulged in a little retail therapy :-) After a bite of lunch, we headed back in the sunshine along the more picturesque route of the A30, with cars peeling off as they approached home.

Bob Pain