The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu houses over 250 cars and tells the story of the motor car from its early beginnings right up to the present day.
Exhibits include some of the earliest examples of motoring to legendary World Record Breakers like Bluebird, ‘Film Star’ cars like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and rare oddities like the giant orange on wheels. For a different perspective of the historic racing cars, modern rally cars, British Superbikes and latest F1 machines, view the collection from a new mezzanine gallery designed to enhance the display.
Within the museum a 1930s garage has been constructed which is complete down to the last nut, bolt and rusty drain pipe. The garage is a complete fabrication but all the fixtures, fittings and tools are genuine artifacts that have been collected over a period of 25 years.
Over the next few days I will be showing a small number of the vehicles that are housed there.
Tags: Beaulieu, Hampshire, National Motor Museum, Vacation
Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.
Lord Byron
Tags: Cherie's Place, Cherie's Place Thought, Rainbow
Unfortunately The Vyne was covered in scaffolding when we visited. This was due to damage inflicted on the property due to severe weather earlier in the year. Parts of the property were leaking and in need of repair. The Vyne with its rich history is surrounded by gardens and woodland.
The Vyne is a warm red-bricked Tudor mansion built in the 16th century for Lord Sandys, Henry VIII’s Lord Chamberlain, which later passed into the hands of the Chute family, who cared for the house and estate for over 300 years. It was remodelled to its present configuration in the mid-17th century with the addition of a classical portico and summerhouse, firsts of their kind in England.
Visitors will encounter 500 year-old Majolica tiles, Renaissance stained glass, and exquisite wood carvings in the Tudor chapel and period linen-fold panelling in the oak gallery. The house holds treasures collected by the Chute family, including furniture, tapestries and paintings, Murano glass and silk wall hangings. Stroll through rooms once enjoyed by notable guests like Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, Horace Walpole, and Jane Austen.
The house is set in 13 acres of beautiful, relaxing gardens. Styles range from the formal summerhouse and stone gallery gardens with fine herbaceous borders, to the more natural wild garden and fruit trees of the orchard and walled garden. Nestled in the Hampshire countryside, The Vyne Estate also features acres of woodland with trails that pass by ancient trees, a medieval fishpond and the park pale. The wetlands attract an abundance of bird life. The rolling parkland grazed by cattle perfects the lakeside setting.
Tags: Hampshire, National Trust, The Vyne, Vacation
On our visit to Old Sarum we were treated with a fine aerobatic display from a plane that had taken off from the nearby airfield. It was only later, when I returned from my travels that I realised that it was possible to visit the airfield site. Maybe next time 
Tags: aerobatic display, Flight, Old Sarum, Vacation, Wiltshire
