Motorbike gallery and steampunk celebration among plans for South Yorkshire Transport Museum

Lady Rowena Montagu Stuart Wortley explored some of the South Yorkshire Transport Museum’s 15,000 items.

She was also given a sneak preview of some of the future development plans, which will include the launch of a new dedicated motorcycle gallery later this year.

And Lady Rowena learned about new addition Hector, a class 76 electric locomotive which spent its working life transporting passengers and heavy goods between Sheffield and Manchester on the Woodhead line.

The museum, which moved to its current home in 2007, has 50 major exhibits including buses, bicycles, lorries and even milk floats.

Planned special days include marking the 50th anniversary South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive’s launch, an emergency services themed event and a celebration of all things steampunk.

Lady Rowena said: “It’s very clear that the museum has some very exciting plans for the future and I applaud the efforts of all the volunteers who have played their part.

“The museum is a great example of an organisation which is working tirelessly to preserve the past to ensure it can be enjoyed by the generations of tomorrow. I was fascinated to gain an insight into some of the preservation work which is being undertaken by the museum’s volunteers, and to learn about some of the challenges they have faced when restoring historic vehicles to their former glory.

“The museum is a wonderful asset for South Yorkshire and I hope that this unique resource will not only play a vital part in preserving some of the region’s unique transport heritage, but in doing so, it will help to inspire the engineers and innovators of the future.”

The museum has no paid staff, relying on its team of volunteers in preserving the region’s transport heritage.

Chairman David Tummon said: “Last year we saw a record number of visitors come to the museum, through our open days and outreach work with schools and I hope that through the work we’ve undertaken, coupled with the planned launch of our new attractions that there is lots to look forward to during the coming months.”

The museum is open to the public on every second Sunday of the month. Visit sytm.co.uk for more information.