A placement less ordinary at Grampian Transport Museum

My placement was at Grampian Transport Museum in Alford, Aberdeenshire, one of the area’s top visitor attractions.  The museum was founded in 1978 following a public meeting in Aberdeen, and it moved to its current site in 1983.  The museum operates seasonally from April to October, seven days a week and is largely self-financing.  There is a small full-time staff, but the museum relies greatly on volunteers to help with the 25,000 visitors per year, with same number attending the event days that are run throughout the season. 

The museum had only just opened when I began, and had had a brand new visitor reception area and increased exhibition space constructed during the close season.  A note to remember when working in an unseasonably cold April – the museum is a big open space, ensure you wear appropriate layers of clothing when arriving at 9am, it can take quite a long time to heat up!

This year the museum is very fortunate to have items from motorcycle racer, author and TV personality Guy Martin’s own private collection.  None of Guy’s collection have been on public display before, so they have attracted a large number of additional visitors, people traveling from as far as Liverpool to see them.  The exhibits have also been a huge hit on social media with posts by the museum (including my pictures) being shared over 12,000 times.

The ethos at GTM is very much “hands on”, everyone is expected to pitch in when required, and so the diary of functions planned for my placement was often subject to change at short notice.  During a hugely enjoyable four weeks I had many tasks including assisting with collections, marketing, events, exhibition set-up, photographing exhibits, press and even did a bit of cataloguing.  I catalogued entries for GTM’s SpeedFest event in July and I doubt I will ever have the opportunity to catalogue Ferrari’s, Porsche’s, Lamborghini’s and Aston Martin’s ever again!  (And no, there were no existing MARC records for them). 

I thoroughly enjoyed my four weeks, staff and volunteers were friendly and helpful and I gained a wealth of experience for the future, and I have been “signed up” as a GTM volunteer for future events. 

Neil

 Colin McRae's Ford Focus RS 

A visitor from outer space

 Goliath - the largest steam engine in the country (originally built for World War One)

 Guy Martin's motorbikes on display at GTM

 Guy Martin's Merlin Spitfire engine (fully working)

 The new GTM Visitor Reception

 Part of the World War One "Next of Kin" exhibition

 The Vickers Machine Gun from "Next of Kin"

 A line up of Porche's at "Drive It" Day

 The Norscot recovery lorries arrive for the children's vehicle rides, one towing the other.

The Land Rover "Toylander", built by the museum's Young Engineers