Heritage attractions team up for prestigious festival

Three local attractions joined forces over the weekend of April 15th and 16th when Avoncroft Museum of Historic Buildings in Bromsgrove hosted the International Living History Festival.

Transport Museum Wythall’s 1967 single decker Leyland bus ferried visitors for free to and from Bromsgrove train station.

Passengers could be dropped off at The Norton Collection Museum on the Birmingham Road to visit the museum and then taken to Avoncroft. The shuttle service ran for the whole day with passengers of all ages enjoying the ride.

Avoncroft was an apt setting for the prestigious event as it is the home of more than 30 historical buildings and structures spanning 700 years. All have been rescued and lovingly re-built in rural Worcestershire.

With more than 300 re-enactors, the 19-acre site was brought to life with re-enactors from the Bronze Age to the Cold War.

Visitors were able to experience lots of hands-on activities, explore the historically themed market and delve right into the past over this unique weekend.

Bromsgrove’s Town Crier Kevin Ward was at the Norton Collection Museum to welcome visitors and share his knowledge of the museum, which is staffed by volunteers.

The Norton Collection Museum exists as a result of one man’s passion for collecting. Dennis Norton started his collection in 1949 and has never stopped. Over the years, Mr Norton has amassed a huge array of items that help recount the history of how we lived in times gone by. Many of the exhibits also help tell the story of Bromsgrove, the town he made his life-long home.

First opened to the public in 1980, Transport Museum Wythall has extensive collections of buses and battery electric vehicles with a cafe, shop and children’s activity area, plus a miniature railway that operates on event days and at certain times during the school holidays.

The museum is home to more than 90 buses and a large collection of battery electric road vehicles, including more than 30 electric milk floats and bread vans from operators such as the Co-op, Midland Counties and Birmingham and Handsworth Dairies.