The Mayor of Macclesfield paid a second official visit to the museum on Anson Road to attend the presentation by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) of a prestigious Heritage Award to one of the museum’s exhibits the JCB Dieselmax engine that broke the land speed record for the fastest diesel powered vehicle. The presentation was made by Colin Brown (the IMechE Engineering Director) to Dr Tim Leverton the Group Engineering Director & JCB Dieselmax Director.
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| Geoff Challinor to left, Mayor of Macclesfield in middle behind award plaque |
The ceremony was attended by 50 members of the local Council, IMechE members and Friends of the museum.
To allow people to see the award winning JCB Dieselmax engine display that had been loaned to the museum as part of their Diesel Story Exhibition, Dr Leverton agreed to extend the loan period to the end of October. The Exhibition has received high acclaim with many visitors coming specially to see it.
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| Presentation being made to Dr Tim Leverton |
Club visits, which have been booked throughout the season, continued up to the end with 26 US visitors arriving at the museum on their penultimate weekend. The group were making a whirlwind tour of England, organised by Model Engineer Magazine, and were on their way to York having visited the Model Engineering Exhibition in Leamington Spa the previous day. Early in the season the museum had received a visit by an American couple who were so impressed they had written to the Model Engineer Magazine to say the museum in Poynton should be a must visit during the UK tour.
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| Some of the US visitors to the museum |
The group were escorted round the museum by Geoff Challinor who explained about the museum’s history and run several engines including the early Crossley Atmospherics, the Atkinson, Gardner 4T5,
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| Geoff explains the working of the Gardner 4T5 before running it |
Gardner 4L2 and then a great many of the other engines before the group reluctantly got back on their bus. They were just sorry that they could not stay longer than the allocated two hours as it is hard to see everything in such a short time.
Geoff Challinor spent the last few weeks collecting more engines for the collection.
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| and yet more engines arriving |
Over the summer many engines have been added to the collection, the largest in Europe.
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| Crossley engine new this year |
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| more engines arriving |
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| preparing to plant 1000s of bulbs for the spring |
In preparation for next spring (when the museum reopens on Easter Sunday) eight volunteers spent two days planting thousands of bulbs at the bottom of the driveway to give a splash of colour as visitors approach the museum.
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| bulbs planted around the entrance |
The bulbs had been bought by a grant courtesy of the “Year of Gardens”.
The weather was extremely disappointing for the last weekend of the season but it did not keep the visitors away.
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| the car park was full both days |
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| Rally engines at the closing weekend |
Several engine enthusiasts brought along their rally engines to add to the atmosphere and on the Sunday over 15 rally engines were being run as well as many of the museum’s own engines.
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| model steam engines |
The museum was busy throughout the weekend with flywheels spinning everywhere you looked.
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| Geoff running an engine |
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| mirrlees engine being prepared to run |
As well as running engines the museum’s Craft Centre was operating both days with demonstrations of wood turning and forging. The wooden spoons, dibbers, spurtles and horseshoes produced were sold in the gift shop.
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| craft centre was in operation both days |
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| forging at the smithy |
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| turning wood for spoons and spurtles |
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| making horseshoes |
Overall the museum finished the season 13% up on visitor numbers. Over the past three years the museum has more than doubled the number of visitors it receives. Compared to the numbers recorded by other attractions in the area, and even around the UK, this is a remarkable achievement. The museum receives no monies from the public purse towards its running costs. As one visitor summed it up “the museum is run on a shoestring and fuelled by enthusiasm”. This nicely captures the spirit of the museum and the volunteers who work so hard to build it into the specialist museum it is today.
More photographs of the museum’s activities and details of opening times for 2009 can be found on their award winning website www.enginemuseum.org.
