Like many people who love classic cars, I am also drawn to other forms of classic transport, whether that be for land, sea or air. As such, I would happily tour a museum that contained nothing but trucks, yet having paid my £10 admission, the first vista that confronts me gives an idea of the variety that is on offer at this one. On the left is a 1952 Morris Cowley ice cream van, custom built by Winnards of Wigan and powered by a 1200cc sidevalve engine – just 42bhp, but you don't want to rush a good ice cream! Alongside that is a London bus, an AEC Regent III from 1952, one of over 4600 examples delivered. Between the Morris and the bus is a Leyland prototype gas turbine engine from the 1960s, and behind that a Fowler B6 showman's traction engine, a fairground giant that steam-powered a switchback ride via a dynamo over the smoke box.
The sheer size of the Fowler is quite amazing. The back wheels tower above my head, and with all the brass gleaming, it is quite a spectacle. But there are more relatable machines just behind it, starting with a Bedford Green Goddess. I remember lusting after one of these when they were decommissioned and selling for £2000 a pop, but common sense won out on that occasion. Continuing the fire engine theme, the Goddess sits alongside a Leyland E IS 5 built in 1920, and then a 1938 Merryweather, famous for its turntable escape ladder that could reach 100 feet high. This is the sort that you saw on with a hapless fireman swinging around on the end
