If you’re taking a ride from Scarborough to York or thereabouts then Roy Workman can recommend a family-run motor museum...

Whilst having a few days away we were travelling through Thornton-Le-Dale in Yorkshire when I spotted an older type of front car wheel poking out between parked cars on a garage forecourt. We stopped and I went back to have a closer look. This garage had an assortment of cars on display dating from 1938 onwards.

I wandered back to the garage and to look at the vehicles on display on the forecourt. I then moved on to look into the showroom, where I spotted a 1955 AJS single cylinder motorcycle. ‘This is getting better’ I thought. Then I spotted a notice saying that they had a museum there and that the entrance fee was £2. I asked about having £2 worth when one of the lads said the boss had not opened it up today yet; apparently the museum does not open every day in the winter. However one of the chaps went and opened it up for me and switched on the lights.

What a nice surprise! What an interesting collection of vehicles, dating from 1918 to the 1970s. Dave, who works there, told me that they have 150 vehicles on display, including 40 motorcycles, along with lots of cars and commercial vehicles. There is also a collection of engines, signs, bicycles. petrol pumps, model aeroplanes and memorabilia, and loads of details of older vehicles. The motorcycles include some Triumphs and BSAs, and a barn-find Ariel twin. There was also a 1928 Peugeot 250cc, featuring very early unit construction, and a couple of flat tankers, one complete with gas lights.

Ariel stuff on eBay.co.uk

I got talking to Derek, who runs the place . He told me that they do restoration of vehicles here and that many of the museum exhibits are in full running order. They have a couple of repainted petrol tanks on display. Derek also told me that they welcome group club visits.

If you are passing this way this museum is well worth a visit, The staff are friendly and helpful and you can view a comprehensive collection of vintage and classic cars and motorcycles.

The North Yorkshire Motor Museum is situated in beautiful National Park scenery at the Roxby Garage at Pickering Road, Thornton–Le–Dale, North Yorkshire YO18 4LH (www.nymm.co.uk). The Museum specialises in vehicles dating from 1918 through to 1976, and it was built in 1996. The Museum also offers storage facilities (secure, insured, ‘low rates’), for classic vehicles in case you’d like to take your bike off the road but give others a chance to see it.