Grampian Transport Museum (Alford)

This is a really quick blog (more for the sake of our diary than for readers)...so don't feel obliged to read on....

On Wednesday, 21 October the children and I went to the Transport Museum as it had special school activities on including jeep/4wd rides for children in old cars...Well it was one of the few days it rained all day (in fact after two days of this rain Aberdeenshire is having some flooding issues - roads breaking up, tractor and driver swept off a bridge near River Don - all places within 1/2 hr of us). It was about a half hour drive to Alford and we got there about 10am.

On entering the kids were given different quiz/competition sheets to complete that would take them to various displays at the museum. The first thing we saw was a stagecoach - beautifully restored...the information regarding this coach said that the 8 passenger seats on the roof of the coach were half the price of inside seats. In the winter months it was most uncomfortable and it was not uncommon to find passengers on the roof frozen to death upon arrival at their destination. They had some models dressed in period costume along with trunks, baby cars (prams) and other odds and ends.

We also saw motorbikes, vintage cars (some very souped up ones - particularly a green Jag used in a James Bond movie with weaponry/armour on board), wagons, one seater sedans, a rickshaw, vans, snow plough, tractor engine, trams, bus, mail coaches, different bicycles (including a pentacycle - yes, a 5 wheeler).

This information stand details what weaponry was installed into the green Jaguar XXR above.

Many of the displayed vehicles allowed the children to climb onboard and have a seat or pretend drive. Matt and Sam sat on a pennyfarthing.

We saw an Italian made three wheeler Bubble Car and a couple of other three wheeled cars - we've even seen one on the road in Wales.

One unexpected item was a Mortier Organ made in Belgium in 1923. The carving and painting on the organ facade had been exquisitely formed (and restored) and the organ was huge and impressive to see. Even better the staff would make it perform on request. So of course we asked and the sound was fantastic. The organ uses perforated music (can see it in the photo below) and controls 92 keys (15 are stops and 10 operate percussion instruments). There were drums, tappers, saxaphone, piano accordion and other instruments including more than 400 pipes...

Some very old bikes - they looked very uncomfortable compared to what we have today.

There was a horse drawn open sleigh - now we understand the Jingle Bells line that goes 'on a one horse open sleigh'...



An old fire engine - looking very shiny and newly painted.

I took the photo of the black two seater car (the one that's out of focus) as it was called the Joanna II.

The children had a great time finding the answers to the puzzle sheets and exploring the old vehicles - I had to drag them away at 2.30 to get home in time for gym...

We didn't get to see the 4wd and jeeps driving on the track outside because the weather was so bad but the day was worthwhile nevertheless.

Actually, we also saw the old fashioned blue Police Call Box - a phone box that enabled calls to be put thru to police, ambulance or fire brigade. The information next to the box said that the Call Box were also used as holding cells for 'alleged criminals' until the police arrived (and no, it was not bigger on the inside - ML).

There was also a Chitty Chitty Bang Bang look alike.