Statfold Barn branches out into road transportation
THE private Statfold Barn Railway near Tamworth, in Staffordshire, has broadened its horizons beyond steel wheels – with the opening of a new road transport museum.
For many years, Graham and Carol Lee have been collecting transport heritage and developing a narrow gauge railway network alongside their farm and seed oil business.
For years, Statfold Barn’s renowned treasures were known only to enthusiasts enthralled by the displays of locomotives that Graham rescued from around the world, restoring many of them to working order. However, in 2017, Graham set up a trust to oversee his collection and successfully open it up to a wider audience, with quality accessible facilities to attract the public.
The new museum aims to further that ambition. Housed in a large multi-functional covered space, one side of the new museum hall houses a display of Statfold’s collection of steam traction engines and lorries. The other side is being developed in partnership with Transport Museum Wythall, home of the Wythall Miniature Railway (featured in issue 293), which previously provided free heritage bus links at Statfold events. Inside, touchscreen displays enable visitors to discover the exhibits’ stories.
For the museum’s opening day, five restored vehicles from TMW were on show inside, with two more vintage buses outside again providing free rides. It is planned that more interchanges of vehicles with TMW will take place on at least an annual basis.
Established in Wythall, Worcestershire, in the 1970s, TMW showcases the story of public transport in the City of Birmingham and across the greater West Midlands conurbation, and has a collection of 90 buses spanning a century.
TMW chairman Dave Taylor said: “We are proud to be working in partnership with the Statfold team in providing the public transport element of the exciting new museum and look forward to helping develop the displays in future years.”
More developments underway include trails for younger visitors to the attraction, as well as a miniature railway to discover the locality’s natural history.