UK Museums: Avro Heritage Museum, Woodford
Avro Heritage Museum, Woodford
The Avro Heritage Museum, close to Stockport and Manchester in the north west of England, is a fun aviation museum for children and adults alike.
History
The site of the museum is the former Woodford Aerodrome, which opened after World War I.
The Avro company was based here and produced a number of military aircraft for World War II. These included the Avro Anson, Avro Lancaster and Avro Shackleton bombers.
Post-war the Vulcan jet was also produced here. The original Avro company was founded by A V Roe (1877-1958) who chose the site for flying and testing his aircraft.
The company merged into Hawker Siddeley Aviation in 1963.
The site was eventually sold in 2011 by BAE Systems and is now being redeveloped mainly for housing. The museum opened in 2015.
Exhibits
The main building is on two floors with aircraft also on display outside the facility.
The centerpiece of the museum is is a full scale replica of a Lancaster R5868 "S" Sugar. Visitors can actually enter the aircraft and experience what flying the plane must have been like.
Aircraft on display include the Avro Type F, the nose section and cockpit of an Anson G-AGPG, the nose section and cockpit of a Canberra WK118, the cockpit of a Vickers VC10, a replica of the Roe 1 Triplane and the Vulcan B.MK2 outside the museum. Inside the museum is the cockpit of another Vulcan B.MK2.
Original photographs, wall panels, model aircraft, uniforms and original aeronautical equipment help to explain the history of the company and the men and women who made and flew the aircraft.
Volunteers are on hand for explanations and also to instruct you on using the flight simulator to take off and land a virtual aeroplane.
The ground floor includes the museum shop with a range of Avro product related goods including books and model planes.
On the second floor is the Vulcan Cafe for coffee, tea, cake and light snacks.
There is also a growing research facility on site.
Access - Getting There
Avro Heritage Museum
Woodford Aerodrome
Chester Road, Woodford
Stockport, Cheshire SK7 1 AG
Tel: 0161 877 534
www: avroheritagemuseum.co.uk
Hours
Open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday during British Summer Time (BST) from 10 am - 5 pm.
Open every Friday, Saturday and Sunday during Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) from 10 am - 4 pm.
The museum is also open on Bank Holidays excluding Christmas and New Year.
Admission is currently 9 GBP for adults and 5 GBP for children aged 11-16.
There is a supplement fee to enter the cockpits of aircraft.
Public Transport
During redevelopment work there is no pedestrian access to the museum. Thus the museum is best visited by car. Free car parking is available.
The 42B Manchester-Woodford bus stops outside the museum and also close to Cheadle Hulme Station. There is no Sunday service.
Poynton is actually the nearest train station, but there is no public transport to the museum from here.
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