Help Beaulieu Break a Record!

Help Beaulieu Break a Record

Best known for its collection of iconic cars, the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu is putting out an appeal for cars of a different kind. As part of a Guinness World Record attempt for the Longest Line of Toy Cars, Beaulieu is asking for donations of toy cars, in order to smash the current record of 9,795, set in Guatemala last December.

The attempt will be held in the grounds of the Beaulieu attraction with a continuous line, one kilometre long, of at least 10,000 cars placed end to end, starting and finishing inside the National Motor Museum. After the record attempt, the toys will be sold and the proceeds donated to Naomi House & Jacksplace hospices for children and young adults.

Sainsbury’s is supporting the appeal, with collection boxes in 21 stores in the South coast region from Monday 10th February, to enable their customers to donate toy cars. Local schools are also joining in the appeal and there will be boxes in Naomi House charity shops.

Sainsbury’s spokesman, Phil Bridgwater, said:” This is an ideal event for our customers to get involved in, supporting a charity everyone can relate to. Sainsbury’s customers never fail to rise to a challenge and I have no doubt they will speed their way to the number of cars required.”

To qualify, donated cars can be of any type designed to be played with by hand including cars, lorries, tractors and quad bikes, but not large enough for children to sit on.

Toy cars can also be donated by visitors to the Beaulieu attraction and children who bring two or more toy cars during February half-term and on the day of the record attempt, can enter for half price. The attempt will take place on Bank Holiday Monday, 5th May.

Katie Hamilton for Naomi House said:  We would like to thank Beaulieu, Sainsbury’s and other sponsors of this Guinness World Record attempt. We are sure everyone will want to be part of it and are delighted that Naomi House will benefit.”

Waste management company, Biffa has provided all the collection boxes and Chandler’s Ford based Quayline Digital has printed 22,000 advertising leaflets free of charge.

For more information and listing of collection points visit: www.beaulieu.co.uk/recordattempt

Bluebird Cn7’S Original Nose Panel Loaned To The National Motor Museum For New Land Speed Record Breakers Display

Original nose panel with the Bluebird CN7

The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu has become the proud custodian of the original front nose panel from Donald Campbell’s famous World Land Speed Record Breaker, the Bluebird CN7.
The Malcolm Campbell Heritage Trust has offered the item on loan to the museum following its donation to the Trust by Stadco Ltd Coventry, formerly Motor Panels Ltd – the original manufacturing company that worked on the CN7.

In a presentation in the museum, in front of the Bluebird CN7 itself, two nephews of Donald Campbell, Don Wales and Peter Hulme, handed the panel over to the Chief Executive of the National Motor Museum Trust (NMMT), Russell Bowman. Two representatives from Stadco, Paul Jaggers and Neil Holloway, were also present to witness the handover.

The panel, displaying the Union Jack and US flags alongside the Bluebird insignia, is the original nose panel from the Bluebird CN7, damaged during the world’s fastest ever survived car crash at the Bonneville Salt Flats in 1960 in a land speed attempt prior to Donald Campbell’s 403.1mph record set in the car in 1964 at Lake Eyre, Australia.
Following the crash, the CN7 returned to Motor Panels for a redesign, including the addition of a tail fin to stabilise the vehicle at speed, and during the repairs the panel was removed and replaced. The old, damaged nose panel spent the next 50 years in various places on the Coventry site at Stadco before its recent donation to the Malcolm Campbell Heritage Trust.

Since receiving Stadco’s donation, the Malcolm Campbell Heritage Trust has loaned the panel to the National Motor Museum, which has housed the Bluebird CN7 since the late 1960s, for a brand new Land Speed Record Breakers display.

Don Wales, nephew of Donald Campbell, said: “We are very grateful to Stadco for returning this special panel to the family. It is an iconic piece of land speed motoring history and we are delighted to be able to loan it to Beaulieu for the new Land Speed Record Breakers display being unveiled next year.”

Expected to launch in Spring 2014, the museum’s new display will feature four iconic World Land Speed Record cars, including the Bluebird CN7, Sir Malcolm Campbell’s Blue Bird 350hp, Major Henry Segrave’s Sunbeam 1000hp and Golden Arrow, accompanied by new high definition images and archive film footage.

The panel will join a number of other rare land speed artefacts that will be showcased alongside the record breakers themselves.

NMMT Chief Executive, Russell Bowman, said: “We are delighted that visitors to Beaulieu will be able to see the original panel alongside the car itself, helping us to illustrate the determination exhibited by Donald Campbell and his team to overcome major setbacks and achieve his 1964 record. We are very grateful to Stadco and the Campbell Family for this loan.”

Digging Up The Dirt at Bucklers Hard

From Saturday 14th July to Sunday 22nd July an archaeological excavation will be taking place at Buckler’s Hard as part of the Festival of British Archaeology 2012.
The dig, managed by Wessex Archaeology in partnership with the New Forest National Park Authority, will focus on exploring World War II activity on the Buckler’s Hard waterfront, and will be undertaken by volunteers under the supervision of the New Forest National Park Authority Archaeologist.

Members of the public are invited to watch and can even join in and try their hand at archaeological excavation. All the necessary equipment will be provided, and there will be professional guidance and onsite training available for those who haven’t done any excavation work before.

It is hoped that the dig will establish the presence of World War II activity through the digging of several trenches, survey work on the concrete slipway and waterfront, finds processing and recording work.
Buckler’s Hard is an 18th century shipbuilding village on the banks of the Beaulieu River, where ships for Nelson’s fleet at Trafalgar were built. It is well-documented that during World War II the village played a strategically important role. Initially, the concrete slipway was installed so Buckler’s Hard could be used as a repair and service centre for motor torpedo boats. However, as the war progressed, the village became the base for ‘Operation Quicksilver’ – a deception plan in which dummy landing craft were built for mooring on rivers and harbours in the south-east to fool the Germans into thinking any invasion would take place in the area around Calais. Segments of ‘Mulberry Harbour’ were also built there, and Buckler’s Hard was used as a major departure point during the D-Day landings.

The excavation activities will run daily from 9am – 4pm, with refreshments available to purchase from the Captain’s Cabin Tearooms and the Yachtsman’s Bar at the Master Builder’s House Hotel. Members of the public who wish to watch or join in with the dig will be required to pay admission to the Buckler’s Hard visitor attraction and can park for free in the Visitor Car Park.

Admission to Buckler’s Hard includes entry to the Maritime Museum, which tells the story of Buckler’s Hard from its early beginnings as a failed sugar port, through its heyday as an 18th century shipbuilding centre, to its role during the war years. For more information, please visit www.bucklershard.co.uk