Preliminary work gets underway on the Old Grammar School

From March 2014 until Spring 2015, Coventry Transport Museum is undergoing a major £8.5m redevelopment project, which will transform and re-energise the museum, enabling us to tell the story of our City's proud motoring heritage in a world-class, innovative new way.  As part of this project, which is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and European Regional Development Fund, we will be redeveloping our neighbouring Grade I listed, 12th-century Hospital of St John, which became a Grammar School in the 16th century, and is known now as ‘The Old Grammar School’.  This will be brought back into public use as an exhibition, education and events space.

Whilst the work is not due to begin in earnest until the end of March 2014, preliminary work has already begun on the Old Grammar School, particularly with regards to the vital matters around conservation, which must be undertaken when dealing with such an old building.

We thought that visitors to our blog would be particularly interested to read about the archaeological excavation which took place at the end of January 2014.  Following an initial exploratory dig in June 2013, the archaeology service of Warwickshire County Council (Archaeology Warwickshire) established that enough items of interest existed within the building to warrant this full dig in January.  This meant excavating the high floor level in the former chapel down to a similar level as elsewhere on the ground floor

The dig took place in the chapel room, where the concrete floor was removed, revealing evidence that a wooden floor had once existed within this room, and some rotten joist remains were found. This meant that as soon as the concrete floor was removed, the archaeologists immediately began to find items of interest, almost on the surface.  This included old slate pencils and marbles, probably lost through the boards of the floor by schoolboys of centuries ago!



Many of the items found were pieces of clay smoking pipes, some of which even had the maker’s names or initials stamped onto them.  The archaeologists explained to us that they can date such pipes with a good degree of accuracy by using the size and shape of the pipe bowls to determine their age.  Because tobacco became more affordable through the ages (at least until very recent times!), in general the smaller the pipe, the older it is likely to be.  The pipes found in the chapel are thought to be from the late 1600s and early 1700s - quite an amazing thought.

Other finds included a number of ‘jettons’ or ‘reckoning counters’ – coin-like objects used in the calculation of accounts.  Jettons would have represented a value, by means of their position on a reckoning table (or cloth) also known as an abacus.  These items are thought to date from the later 1500s to the early 1600s, as their use probably ceased soon after this period.  Single copper coins of Charles I and Charles II were also found along with a copper token of Robert Bedford, a local businessman who was mayor of Coventry in 1650, and several lead tokens. 

The relatively large number of coin-like objects strongly suggests that schoolboys were playing games with them and used whatever counters they could get hold of.  Several small objects made from animal bone (a common material until the invention of plastics) seem almost certainly to be ‘apple-corers’, again probably belonging to pupils at the school.  These seem to date from the 1600s and 1700s (17th and 18th centuries).

We were also excited with the discovery of pieces of glass from the original stained glass window, some with painted designs and others which were red and blue in colour.  The windows would not have been the only decoration as glazed and patterned fragments of floor tiles from one of the building’s medieval floors (probably a 14th-century one) were also found.  A mortar surface exposed, 1.4m below the original floor level of the dig (in a test-hole to see if any medieval floor level survived) would have been the base for such a tile floor, showing how much the level had been raised within the chapel.  The question of why the floor was raised so much is still not certain.  All we do know is that it was not due to dampness or flooding as the deepest excavation was still dry even after the wettest January since records began!

The finds from the dig have now been taken away by Archaeology Warwickshire staff, to Warwick, where they will be cleaned and examined.  Some of the finds, such as the pottery, will be sent off to specialists.

As well as a large number of finds, the reduction of the floor level revealed a buried medieval feature within one of the walls.  This was a sandstone piscina, essentially a small basin in which a priest would wash the communion plate and chalice after a service.  The water used for this was considered sanctified and was often used for the poor and the sick (appropriate for a hospital).  The piscina is a useful find as it proves that this part of the building was used as a chapel and it was already believed that it was once the chapel of St Katherine.  The buried walls of the building were still covered by layers of medieval plaster and whitewash.

This work is just the very start of what will be a really important and exciting time for this fascinating 12th-century building, as bit-by-bit we carefully nurture it back to life as an important part of Coventry’s story.  We will keep you informed as work continues. 

For further information on the finds contact Dr Cathy Coutts, or Bryn Gethin at Archaeology Warwickshire, on 01926 412278.

Maudslay Lorry Restoration Update - January 2014

One of the major projects currently being undertaken by the Friends of Coventry Transport Museum alongside Museum staff, is the restoration of a 1916 Maudslay Subsidy Chassis.

The Friends of the Museum are recording their work on this project on a separate Maudslay Project Blog, but we asked Curator of Vehicles Christiaan van Schaardenburgh and volunteer Sara Johnstone to give an update of the project's progress over the last few months, for readers of this main Museum blog.  You can also read an introduction to the project here. 

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The engine has been beautifully restored and returned to the Museum workshop by Richard Peskett and has since been fitted to the chassis. It is refurbished, using most of the original material. Richard specialises in vintage vehicle restoration/maintenance so the Museum is extremely grateful for his contribution to this project.

When the bulkhead was being restored by Museum Technician Chris Strawbridge, it became apparent that a side rail of the sub-chassis had been bent at some point. Chris took great care to straighten it out. He said "It is our goal to restore the vehicle as authentically as possible. The lorry is one of a kind and no-one is left alive who would have built or worked on one.” He is therefore working from old photographs and research carried out by himself, Steve Gosling and Friends of the Museum to restore the vehicle as close as possible to how it would have been built in 1916.
The bonnet sides have been manufactured by Martin Robey Engineering Ltd, free of charge!  Martin and his team have done a fantastic job in making new engine side covers, because the originals were too far gone and could only be used as patterns. After preparation and priming, the refurbished strengthening bars were fitted using the same method of riveting as the bonnet top. 

 A new cab floor structure was also constructed with timber, reinforced with a steel strip. The workshop restoration crew used Whitworth nuts left over from the Thrust SSC tunnel construction!

A mock-up of the seat box was constructed, replicating all the vital dimensions and mounting points for the canvas roof hoops. This seat box mock-up will be shipped off to someone who will build the canvas for the top of the vehicle. This will enable them to work on the canvas roof at a more convenient height.
A new steering wheel has been cast to as near to the original pattern as possible, based on research done by Steve Gosling, who also made the pattern. The wheel casting is in the process of being fettled and smoothed in preparation for the rim to be powder-coated: this is so that the wheel will closely replicate the original finish it would have had. 

Steve Gosling with the new steering wheel

Steve has kindly offered to assist us in making many of the other small fixtures and fittings which the vehicle would have had, but are either broken or missing. As the majority of the vehicle’s components were damaged over time, his contribution is invaluable!
The Maudslay has been entered for the London to Brighton run for historic commercial vehicles in May, so we still have a lot of work to do before that date.
We will keep you posted.
Sara Johnstone

The Maudslay restoration team

Maudslay Records in the Coventry Transport Museum archive

Dave Butler, Archive Volunteer.

The Maudslay Motor Company was established in 1901 by Cyril Maudslay, whose ancestors had for many years owned and run the firm of Maudslay, Sons and Field, famous throughout the 19^th century as builders of boilers and engines for ships.  The motor company’s premises were at Parkside, Coventry.  Cars, lorries and buses were produced until the outbreak of the First World War, when the company ceased car production and concentrated on commercial vehicles.  In the early 1950s, production moved to Alcester and the Parkside premises were closed. 

Coventry Transport Museum has two Maudslay cars, a lorry and a bus on display, and some of the company’s records from the Parkside era are held in the museum’s archive.  Archive volunteer Dave Butler has been examining two of these records in detail.

The first volume is an album of cuttings from various newspapers and magazines, covering the period from the mid-1870s to 1931.  We believe that it was kept by Walter Henry Maudslay who was the chairman and managing director of Maudslay, Sons and Field until the company’s demise in 1900, although a few items date from after his death in 1927.  A good number of these are articles about the company and its products – a fast crossing of the Atlantic by Maudslay engined ships, engines for new warships for the Turkish Navy, a small railway locomotive and of course the various cars.

As well as articles about the Maudslay
company, the book includes personal items
including drawings by younger members
of the Maudslay family.

Perhaps more interesting, however, are the numerous articles about the Maudslay family – weddings, births, funerals and obituaries, letters, and children’s poems and drawings.  The articles suggest that prior to the First World War the Maudslays had a comfortable position in society, being reasonably wealthy and moving in what we would describe as an upper middle class circle. 

W H Maudslay leased an estate in Ireland for a number of years, and several cuttings reflect how the political unrest, both local and national, affected this. During the First World War there are several references to family members and acquaintances in receipt of gallantry awards, although fortunately for the family no member seems to have been killed in action. 

The second volume is a similar album of cuttings, but this one appears to have been the Maudslay Motor Company’s official press cuttings file.  The cuttings in this volume concentrate on the company’s products, mainly the cars, but there are also a few articles on the engines which the company built for marine work.  Also included are several accounts of a journey in India and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) using a Maudslay car, which must have been quite an adventure in the early 1900s.

We’re hoping to feature some of these articles in future blog entries, so watch this space!

Women in the Factories during the Second World War

By Coventry Transport Museum Learning Development Officer Naomi Wilcox
 
Over the past months, staff at Coventry Transport Museum have been preparing for our summer exhibition, War Effort.  War Effort tells the story of the Shadow Scheme - a Government programme in the 1930s and 40s that saw the British motor industry turning over production to building aeroplanes, aero engines, military vehicles and other items for the war effort. 

As part of the research for the exhibition and surrounding events, Krissy (my colleague in the Learning team) and I have been finding out about women factory workers and their lives during this time.

Earlier this year we spent an afternoon at the History Centre at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, looking through past issues of the Midlands Daily Telegraph (later the Coventry Evening Telegraph). The articles penned and letters sent in, very often by the female workers themselves, are incredibly revealing about what life was like for women who worked in Coventry’s wartime factories.

Women played a key part in the success of the Shadow Scheme, and indeed in the success of Britain’s effort throughout World War II.

When we take school groups through the Blitz area of the Museum, we ask them if they know why we’ve placed female mannequins in our Shadow Factory scene. Inevitably they know that it’s because “the men were away fighting” and some have an idea about the conscription of men to the Army, Navy and Air Force. Indeed, in 1938 all men between the ages of 18-41 had to register with the government, and throughout the war were assigned roles in the forces. What many schoolchildren, and adults, don’t realise however is that in 1941 conscription was introduced for women too.

The second National Service Act obliged all single women between the ages of 20-30 to register for war work. By the end of the war, the age bracket had increased to 20-50, appeals had been made to recruit married women and mothers, and over seven million women were involved in the war effort.

Many of those women were sent away from their homes to work in the factories. 

As a result of the Shadow Scheme, existing factories had been re-tooled for war industry, and additional ‘shadow factories’ were built to help meet the demand. Thousands of extra workers were needed for the increase in production, and a good proportion of them would be women.
Young women who were sent to the factories could expect to receive a letter in the post informing them where they would be billeted. They would then be sent away to live in hostels, or with host families, and fulfil their new role. At a time when it was still typical for most women to live at home until they were married, this was a daunting (if ultimately liberating) experience for many.

In Coventry, hostels were set up around the city by the National Service Hostels Corporation. They were utilitarian buildings, meant to be simple and cheap to erect. The women shared basic dorms and were provided with meals which would be eaten in a communal dining room. Recreational activities were sometimes organised, and some hostels had games rooms where the women could relax.

As well as the hostels, many Coventry people welcomed workers as lodgers into their homes. An article in the Midlands Daily Telegraph, from November 1941 reports that “no fewer than 16,000 voluntary billets have been found in raid-devastated Coventry”. This was in response to the large number of people who flooded to Coventry to support the War Effort after the infamous air raid the previous November.

It wasn’t just the young, single women who ended up working in the factories. On many occasions young mothers volunteered to work as well. To enable those women who wanted to work, but who had young children at home, the government established a National Childcare Scheme, building nurseries where parents could leave their young while they went to work. Children would be cared for all day, and receive their meals at the cost of one shilling per day.

A letter from Mrs J.L. Jones to the Midlands Daily Telegraph from 24th August 1940 stresses how important these nurseries were;

“The problem of providing nurseries is urgent...Many hundreds of women with children are now working in Coventry’s factories; their children need to be properly cared for. Many hundreds more women would rally to the appeal made daily in your advertisement columns for women to undertake national work – if they were sure that their children would be looked after properly by trained people while they were at work.”

Looking after the children was just one of the concerns that some women had when considering work in the factories. Women reported the difficulty they had in getting to the factories and asked for better transport provision, and many spoke of the practical implications working hours had on food shopping – as one Coventry housewife put it in a letter to the Coventry Evening Telegraph “The goods I want to buy are either all snapped up by free women or the shops are closed!”

An article from December 1941 explains how some factories were trying to solve the shopping problem:

“In many factories women are allowed ‘time off’ to effect their essential purchases, and almost everything has been tried except the cure which might well be the most radical one – the opening of provision centres catering especially for the needs of women war workers.”

Another cause of frustration for women workers was that, for the most part, women were not paid equal wages. A letter to the editor, from a forthright Beryl Jones, on the same page as the quoted article above reads;

“Women are doing men’s jobs, and doing them well – equally as well as the men – but are they getting the same wages? No, not on your life, and who dares to tell me there is such a thing as equality?”
 
Throughout the war, women campaigned for this situation to be rectified, with some even striking for equal pay. Although reluctant at first, eventually the Unions allowed female membership and helped them negotiate better and more equal pay.

To encourage more women into the factories, Coventry companies created a Women’s War Work exhibition at the Central Hall, and held a procession through the City Centre which over a thousand women workers took part in. The Coventry Evening Telegraph described it;

“Coventry girl war-workers on Saturday afternoon showed their un-enrolled sisters how they ‘went to it’ for the national effort.

“They led a procession through the main streets of the town, dressed in overalls and gowns with ‘V’ signs embroidered on them, they rode on tanks and armoured military vehicles they had helped to make, and they sat at their machines, mounted on lorries, filing, riveting and drilling aeroplane parts as they went along.”

Although it is difficult to give an exact number for how many women worked in the Coventry factories during the war, it was certainly a significant amount. In 1939 the number of female employees working in the motor vehicle, cycle & aircraft industries in Coventry was 3,800; by 1941 this had leapt to 13,900 . This figure undoubtedly rose as the war continued, and doesn’t include the many more working in munitions and other factories.

What we do know however, is that without the thousands of women who were ‘sent to Coventry’, and to numerous other industrial centres, Britain’s shadow factories would not have been able to produce the enormous amount of war vehicles, aeroplanes, munitions and other products that were so vitally needed. While they may have faced challenges with transportation, childcare, food shopping and pay, these women none-the-less rose to the occasion, learnt new skills, put in long hours and much hard work to ultimately help Britain win the war.

To find out more about the Shadow Factory scheme and women's roles in the war effort:

* Visit the War Effort exhibition at Coventry Transport Museum, from 12th July 2013 to 5th January 2014

* Attend the special Women In World War II evening on Thursday 12th September
 
* Enjoy a lunchtime talk on the subject of Coventry Women In Wartime on Wed 9th October.

A surprise visit from a descendant of Charles Thomas Crowden

Members of Coventry Transport Museum's team of curatorial and archive staff are often called into the museum to meet visitors who have specific questions about the collection, items they wish to donate, or things that they would like to discuss about Coventry's motoring heritage.  Below, Curator Damien Kimberley describes one of his most recent calls:

A call from front of house staff last week turned out to be a nice suprise - that of meeting a descendant of one of Coventry's motoring pioneers!

 I found Martin Tapsfield standing by our 1898 Crowden motor carriage, and he soon revealed himself as the maker's great grandson! The car, and descendant, related to Charles Thomas Crowden (1859-1922), who arrived in Coventry around 1896 to work for both the Humber Cycle Company, and Great Horseless Carriage Company at the newly opened 'Motor Mills'. Crowden was first works manager at the GHCC, but from 1898 started up alone at Leamington as a motor manufacturer.

Since meeting Martin, he emailed through this lovely sepia print of the Crowden family in a GHCC model - Martin told me that one of the young girls is his grandmother.

The photograph below is one that we already had in the archive - as you can see, Crowden is again the driver, in perhaps the very same vehicle?

 
To find out more about the Great Horseless Carriage Company, the Motor Mills and many more of Coventry's pioneering transport companies, visit the Coventry Transport Museum Wiki.

How a Wolverhampton Music Hall could hold the key to part of Coventry's cycling heritage

Coventry Transport Museum Curator Damien Kimberley is currently working on his third book about the Coventry transport industry - having already published titles on the motorcycle manufacturers of Coventry, and more recently the city's motorcar companies, it is now time for him to tackle the biggest and most complex project of all – the cycle manufacturers. 

Rowley B. Turner on a Michaux-type velocipede

For his latest book, which Damien hopes will be completed and published during 2014, he has taken on the mammoth task of trying to give an account of every cycle manufacturer that has ever existed in Coventry.  Damien has been researching these companies 'on and off' for about eight years, but work on this book has really ramped up over the past few months. 

As Damien describes below, this ambitious project is already leading him down surprising (and often frustrating) avenues of research:

The production of bicycles in Coventry is where it all began; the motor industry developing off the back of it, and eventually, displacing it altogether.

Bicycle manufacture began in the city in late 1868, when Rowley B. Turner brought a Michaux-type velocipede from Paris to the works of the Coventry Sewing Machine Company (CSMC) at King Street. Rowley was the CSMC agent in France, and nephew of Josiah Turner, one of the CSMC managing directors. After much deliberation, he convinced his uncle and fellow directors to accept a large order to manufacture copies of the Michaux machine, to sell back in France. The CSMC then had to change their articles of association, and changed the title of the business to the Coventry Machinists Company (CMC), and the manufacture of bicycles ensued. The CMC have been widely acknowledged as the first company in Britain to mass produce bicycles.

The Coventry Machinists Company

Prior to this, Coventry had been famous for making ribbons and watches, amongst other things, yet these trades had been in steep decline over several years and many citizens were on the poverty line. The production of bicycles was fantastic in terms of creating employment, yet it did not develop as quickly as some may assume.

Many men who were engaged at the CSMC at the time of the introduction of Turner's French velocipede, gained experience and knowledge of this new trade, and left to establish their own cycle manufacturing businesses. However, this was not instantaneous, and many maintained the manufacture of sewing machines also – a product with which they were far more familiar.

James Starley was one of the first to leave the services of the CMC, soon joined by William Hillman, and at St. John’s Street in 1870 they created the ‘Ariel’ bicycle – a machine that drew many improvements on the Michaux model.

Other ‘machinists’ found interest, and steadily, over the next few years, other businesses were founded in Coventry for the purposes of making bicycles. By 1877, there were a reported ‘nine’ companies in the city engaged in bicycle manufacture. By 1884 there were eighteen companies, and at the industry’s peak during the 1890s...well, I haven’t quite made my mind up yet.

Basically the industry boomed, not just in Coventry which was the capital centre of cycle production, but in other towns and cities too. The reason for this explosion was the ‘safety’ cycle, perfected by John Kemp Starley in Coventry with his ‘Rover’ machine – a design which made the bicycle far more accessible. As a result, all existing manufacturers copied the Rover principle, and many new firms were established to do the same. Activity in Coventry was rife, with orders for thousands of machines made weekly.

So, by this point, I’ve yet to confirm just how many cycle manufactures existed in the city, and in terms of how many existed overall from 1868 onwards, you may be surprised to learn that I’ve been narrowing down a list of some 500 or so possibilities.

The research into these manufacturers, and potential manufacturers, has been extremely complex. Many companies were linked by individuals, whereby a partnership was once formed, yet someone may have then left the partnership and was replaced by another, therefore changing the company name.

For example, John Icely Warman, another of the original CMC school, first began a cycle business in 1876 as Warman, Laxon & Co. Then followed:
Warman, Laxon & Aslatt
Warman, Laxon & Youett
Warman Laxon, Youett & Co.
Warman & Co.
Warman & Hazlewood

Discovering exactly who some of these individuals were has also often proved to be difficult. Some were, as one would expect, experienced machinists, but many others had no knowledge of cycle manufacture, yet had the means to invest.


To date, the most frustrating company that I have had to research has been the Lion Bicycle Company, which were seen to have been in existence in Coventry in 1879. I know this because I found a reference in the 1879 Bicyclist Handbook with the company at Leicester Place, Leicester Street with the supporting text:

‘This company are working in the same premises that Singer first occupied and are building on the lines of the Humber’ and offering the ‘Lion no. 1, 2, and 3 ordinary machines.’

Fantastic, but there are suggestions that they made other, more novel machines also. In 1890, Harry Hewitt Griffin wrote:

‘These dandy-horse type machines were built by a cycle maker in Coventry in 1879 (trading as the Lion Bicycle Company, and afterwards proprietor of the chief music hall in Wolverhampton) publishing, on the back of his price list, a description of the machine’.

Now, I love being able to unravel a person behind a company, but so far this one has eluded me. In many ways I wish that Griffin hadn’t written this, or as he did anyway, why not give me a name? What if Griffin was wrong? What if it was Wigan, and not Wolverhampton?

Anyway, aside from the fact that I have now become a world authority of Wolverhampton music hall proprietors from 1879-1890, I cannot yet directly connect a single one to making bicycles in Coventry.

I’m not one to give up easily though, and should I ever discover who this man was, I’ll be sure to let you know. 

Damien often tweets updates about his latest discoveries - follow him on Twitter @DamienK73.

Daimler Double-Decker 366 restoration update 1

In February 2013, we handed over a 1940s Coventry Transport Daimler double-decker to local bus enthusiast Roger Burdett, on a restoration loan.

This vehicle, original fleet number 366, was built to wartime austerity regulations, and as with many such buses, required extensive renovation after the war.  As such, it was re-bodied by Roe Bodies in 1951 and continued to be used by Coventry Corporation Transport for a number of years, before being donated to Coventry Transport Museum in 1971.

Inevitably for a vehicle that is over 70 years old, and has had this kind of life, the bus is now in need of major restoration – work that we as a museum do not currently have the resources to undertake.  So when we were approached by well-known bus enthusiast and collector Roger Burdett, with the offer of completely restoring ‘366’, we jumped at the proposition. 

At the time of the loan, our Curator of Vehicles Christiaan van Schaardenburgh said:

“We are a very small team looking after a collection of well over 200 vehicles, not to mention hundreds of cycles and motorcycles, and we would never have had the resources to give 366 the attention it needs.   We are therefore really thrilled that Roger is taking this project on, with a view to getting this delightful and popular vehicle back on the road.  We have known Roger for some time now, and as well as being a great friend of the Museum, we have seen his work on similar projects and we know that he’s going to do a great job on 366.”

And Roger said:

“I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into work on this fantastic bus – next year will mark 100 years since Coventry Transport first put motorised buses on the roads of Coventry, and my aim is to have 366 ready to take part in the centenary events for that anniversary.”

Roger has now had the bus for a few weeks, so we asked him to give us a rundown of how the work is going:
“Unfortunately the cold weather delayed work on the previous vehicle in the restoration pipeline, meaning that we were not able to start on 366 as soon as we would have liked, however I am pleased to say that we are now full steam ahead, spending around 50 hours per week on the vehicle.

The engine appears to be very sound, other than a cracked engine block.  To avoid a total engine strip down, we are going to remove the engine in June and then trial weld the crack at my premises, using skilled welders who currently work on the vehicles.  If this is not successful, the engine will need to go away to a specialist.

We have taken the panels off the rear end, revealing the modifications carried out when turning the vehicles back to a bus from a mobile workshop.  I am still looking for an ‘in service’ picture of the rear end of the vehicle before work can commence.

Rear end minus panels, clearly showing original window shape

The side panels below the downstairs windows will be off by the end of April and then we will see how the ‘wrong’ downstairs windows are fitted.  The frames that are currently on the vehicle are actually from a later bus, so we will have to make a major decision about whether to retain them or fabricate replica originals.

Offside minus some panels, showing wood frame in remarkable condition for 60 years old.

As regards the interior, we have examined the floors, which show some wear and cracking of the lino, but I feel that we can repair-paint and polish.  The seat frames are incorrect for the body (we can tell because the seat legs have been put on supports upstairs, rather than being bolted to the floor) - but we will not be replacing them.  The seat trip moquette is as used/very similar to London Transport (LT) RF and RT models.  I have clubbed together with a number of LT vehicle owners to have a new run of moquette made, and this is due for delivery in mid-May.  This will enable to seats to be re-trimmed, but with vynide borders, rather than the original unobtainable leather.

We are transferring destination blind mechanisms and blinds from Coventry 94.”

Downstairs saloon with seats removed.

Well done to Roger and his team for making a great start on this massive project – we will bring you further news of the restoration as the project develops.

1960 Hillman Minx has a makeover

Many of you will remember the 1960 Hillman Minx, which was recovered from a garage in Coventry in February last year.  This lovely car was displayed in the Museum’s reception area for several months, exactly as we found it - ie very dirty and dusty, having been stood in the owner’s garage for around 18 years before coming to the Museum.

Since the vehicle came off display towards the end of 2012, it has been given a huge amount of attention over a number of weeks by Andrew Thomas, one of the Museum’s Historic Vehicle Technicians, and is now positively gleaming on the outside, as well as being in much better shape mechanically.

Having initially cleaned the Minx, Andrew found that the vehicle’s bodywork was, for the most part, very sound for a car of its age – but that it was affected by a large amount of surface rust on certain areas, particularly underneath.   Dirt and corrosion was also present throughout its systems – typical of a vehicle that has been standing for many years in a damp environment.

The detailed work that Andrew therefore undertook was to strip the rust from all affected areas, using a mixture of wire brushing and chemical rust removal, followed by treating the underside of the car with a mixture of WaxOyl and Dinitrol, to help to protect this area from further rusting.    He then drained the fluids from all of the vehicle’s systems, and repaired or replaced a number of badly corroded parts – such as those shown in the cooling system below. 

Having made all the necessary repairs and ensured the integrity of all of the vehicle’s systems, Andrew then started a process known as ‘inhibiting’ the vehicle, to protect it from any further corrosion occurring whilst it is standing within the Museum and not being driven.  ‘Inhibiting’ involves fogging each of the car’s systems with an appropriate vapour phase inhibitor.  This can be either water-based or oil-based, depending on which system is being worked upon.  The chosen inhibitor is introduced to the system in liquid form, which then turns to vapour over time.  This vapour sticks to the inside of each component and travels around within each system, coating every part with an anti-corrosion substance as it goes.  

Black brake fluid being drained before inhibiting.

This process is a very new one in the world of classic cars, having previously being mainly used on aircraft and military vehicles, to provide long-term preservation whilst they are in store.  We at Coventry Transport Museum have trialled inhibiting a number of parts on other vehicles, but this is the first time that a full vehicle has been treated in this way.   We are extremely pleased with how well this has worked so far, but of course the proof will be in the pudding when the vehicle is regularly inspected over the coming years.  One thing we do know - the vapour technique ‘reaches the parts that other processes can’t’! 

We have been working with other transport museums around the world, to share ideas on how best to inhibit different types of museum-based vehicles, and we know that they will be pleased to see the results of this work on such an interesting vehicle.    We also hope to begin using this technique to protect systems on many other Museum vehicles over the coming years.

One part of the vehicle which we sadly have not yet been able to make-over is the front grill – as you can see from the photograph below this grill is very badly corroded, and would be almost impossible to repair to a good standard.  Instead we are hoping to find a replacement, rather than spending many hours on something that may not do justice to the rest of the vehicle.

---------------
See the difference for yourself, as the Minx will be back on display in the Museum’s reception from Monday 18th March onwards.  We’re sure you will agree, Andrew has done a fantastic job.

Alvis Saracen & Humber Pig acquired by Coventry Transport Museum

We recently acquired two military vehicles from the Imperial War Museum, Duxford – a 1960s Alvis Saracen FV610 and a 1950s Mk I Humber Pig, both of course manufactured here in Coventry, so we are really pleased to have been able to bring these interesting vehicles back home.

The Saracen (pictured above on the left) is an example of the first type of armoured personnel carrier to be made in the UK after World War II, and was part of a family of military vehicles being manufactured by Alvis, which also included the Saladin Armoured Car, the Salamander Fire Tender and the Stalwart High Mobility Load Carrier.

The Alvis Saracen would have carried a squad of 8 soldiers plus a troop commander and driver.  This model also has a high roof, allowing headroom for a Battery Command Post Officer and Technical Assistants to sit at a fitted table and use their plotting instruments.  It also carried fittings for a canvas awning at the rear and sides.

The vehicle is a modest 8ft wide – development and production of the Saracen was rushed to get them into service during the Malayan Emergency, and part of the specification was that the vehicles needed to be able to fit between rows of rubber trees in the Malayan plantations.

This particular example was first put into service with the 24th Regiment of the Royal Artillery, British Army of the Rhine, in December 1966.  It stayed in Germany until 1971, when it returned to the UK to be based at Ludgershall.  The vehicle was given to the IWM in 1982, where it remained until just a few weeks ago, when we brought it back to Coventry.  You may well recognise this type of vehicle from the 1980s, since they were commonly seen on the streets of Northern Ireland during the troubles.

As you can see from the video below, the Saracen does drive – the piece of film below was shot at Duxford when our Historic Vehicle Technicians Andrew & Chris went to prepare the vehicles for their return to Coventry.  Andrew is driving, (he is our resident military vehicle expert and has owned a Saracen in the past, so we thought he was the man for the job); Chris is his glamorous assistant at the start of the film, and camera work is by Curator of Vehicles Christiaan van ‘Spielberg’ Schaardenburg.

The MK1 Humber Pig is an armoured version of the one-tonne GS truck, and would have been used in riot control situations from the 1950s to the 1990s. 

 Mk1 Humber Pig

Humber GS Truck

The Pig shares many similarities with the Alvis Saracen, not only because it also saw service on the streets of Northern Ireland, but also because both vehicles have many parts in common, particularly the Rolls-Royce B-series engine on which both vehicles run. 
 
Little is currently known about the history of this particular Humber Pig, but we are working with colleagues at Bovington Tank Museum in an attempt to find out more. 

Unfortunately the Pig does not currently run, but it is hoped that with some work in the early part of next year, we may be able to get the Saracen to a point where it can be driven on the roads and taken to events – they will have to be local ones though, as it only manages 3 miles to the gallon!

Both vehicles are currently in Coventry Transport Museum’s off-site store - sign up for our email newsletter to make sure you receive details of the next Open Store Day.

With thanks to the Imperial War Museum Duxford for donating these two vehicles, and to Bovington Tank Museum for their invaluable help in sourcing manuals and information about both vehicles.