The Shuttleworth Collection By Maddie Warren
Website.
The website was really easy to find. It has 5 main attractions - The Collection, Swiss Gardens, Bird of Prey Centre, Jubilee Play Centre and Shuttleworth House. The website is quite eye-catching; it has a wide range of information on all of the attractions. Very helpful information includes contact details, Maps, and opening + closing times. The website now has a new online shop, where you can purchase books, china + glassware, confectionary, models, pictures + much more! Overall I would give the website a thumbs-up!!
Their website is: www.shuttleworth.org
Review.
The Shuttleworth Collection is situated on the Shuttleworth estate. It was fairly easy to find, just five minutes from the A1 at Biggleswade, Brown Tourist Board signposted.
My Family and I found the staff at the attraction kind, friendly and helpful. They were happy to help if we had any queries, especially at the Main Entrance/Shop and in the Café/Restaurant.
We did use the catering facilities on site. There was a wide variety of food and drinks in the restaurant. Including baguettes + sandwiches, coffees/teas, other hot + cold drinks, hot meals, salads. The Lady that served us was very helpful and efficient.
The Shuttleworth Collection is in Old Warden, Bedfordshire. It is world famous with all budding Aviation Enthusiasts. The Collection houses a priceless compilation of Aircraft from around the Edwardian era, to the Second World War. What is not so widely know is that the Museum also has a large collection of over 30 Veteran + Vintage cars, tractors, old coaches, and trucks. The day I visited the Collection was not very nice weather wise. It was pretty windy and rainy, but when we got there we found that the weather didn't actually matter, because all of the exhibits were displayed in hangers numbered 1-8. This meant that it was the perfect place to visit on a wet and windy afternoon!! (The Collection is also free to under 16s.)
Although I'm not usually interested in Aeroplanes + Aircraft, I did find the exhibit particularly interesting and very informative. It was also clean and well laid out. It probably wouldn't suit very young children although in hanger 1 there were a couple of interactive activities, including the ‘Airflow Effects' which was enjoyed by our family especially my younger brother and sister!! I also found hangers 3+7 very interesting as there were very interesting items from World War I. As well as a couple of planes, in hanger number 7 there were a number of old cars and motorbikes, laid out in what was supposed to be an old mechanics garage.
The Museum itself only took us a couple of hours to complete, but an idea to make it a full + fun family day out - especially if it was nice and sunny - is to have a picnic in the adventure park next door (Jubilee Play Centre) and to visit the Bird of Prey Centre and The Swiss Gardens, you can buy a combination ticket which allows you to get into all of these attractions.
I also learnt on my visit that the Museum is in fact dedicated to the life of Richard Shuttleworth, whose family actually owned the Estate. Richard's love and passion for Aircraft and car racing is what inspired his Mother to open the Collection 4 Years after his death when he was only 31. There are lots of Information Boards around the exhibit depicting his life and work.
A lot of the Aircraft is still in working order and are all maintained by Aircraft Volunteers who are fully trained engineers and pilots. They also put on several flying events throughout the year.
I noticed that the Attraction did include very good disabled access and clean toilet facilities.
On the whole I'd say that the Shuttleworth Collection and all the other attractions are well worth the visit!!