After a warm welcome by two of the reception staff and being very ably helped with check in, members viewed a short introductory video show about the history and content of the museum. Next on the agenda was a short period for refreshments after the 1 ¼ hour journey which was most welcome.
We then met up with our volunteer guide, Michael Sands who would lead us on a 1-hour tour of the primary exhibits of the museum. Michael proved to be an outstanding guide who presented us with so much more information than we would otherwise have gleaned on our own. He was also wonderfully entertaining and amusing in his presentation style. Michael and the Questers so enjoyed the tour and had so many questions and answers during the tour that it lasted for just over 1 ½ hours. A wonderfully enjoyable and informative experience.
Most of the Questers then had an enjoyable light lunch at the Sunbeam Café on site. The food was good and plentiful and all staff were friendly and helpful.

After lunch Questers were free to re-visit any of the exhibits, halls or hangers that had caught their attention during the tour or to explore the few other parts of the museum that had not been visited.
It was an amazing experience to see actual motor cars, motor-cycles and aircraft directly associated with Brooklands and which had played a major role in the evolution of motoring and aviation in Britain over the last century and a quarter. Examples being the 24 litre, 12 cylinder, W engine Napier-Railton Special which holds the Brooklands track record of over 143 mph set in 1935, the Vickers Vimy which won the Daily Mail non-stop trans-Atlantic flight competition in 15 hours 57 minutes in 1919, the Harrier jump-jet which was used by the winner of the Daily Mail London Post Office Tower to Empire State building in New York record in 5 hours 57 minutes just 50 years later in 1969. And there were so many more fantastic exhibits to explore.
All those Questers who were on the outing, including the many ladies, were thrilled with the experience and felt it had been a most enjoyable outing which had been well worth while to participate in. Another successful Questers outing.
 
Cecil Rose

Once again, the AHA Group found itself in the position of having to cancel the above scheduled visit on Friday 22nd July.

Sadly, it seemed as though everything was against us! The weather was extreme for us Brits and we could not take any risks with some members who have health issues, in addition, two of group tested positive for Covid.

But we will not be defeated! There is no group visit for August, which has been our annual practise. We will be back for our September visit to Devizes, a tour of the Museum followed by a guided tour of the town. As per our normal procedure, we will be sending out details of this event.

Prepared by:
Rosemary Crumplin-Clark

Theresa Twitchell spoke, initially, about portraits she had taken recently of her grandchildren emphasising the need to vary the angle, shoot from below (and above) and be aware of the serendipity of ‘catching the moment’ illustrated by a capture of a furtive/cheeky look from the grand-daughter taken from above at just the right angle. Subsequent discussion prompted her to show some more photographs with some descriptions of how the photographs were taken – concluding with her favourite photograph of a rose, lightly sprayed with water using a black board as a background. This made the rose ‘pop’. It was interesting to view the varied preferences for the photographs that showed the differences in personal tastes!