Motor museum to feature on popular daytime antiques show

Show presenter Charlie Ross, an antiques expert and auctioneer, paid a visit with the film crew to the Cloverlands Model Car Museum at its new home in Llanfair Caereinion last autumn.

His visit to the Museum, based at the Montgomery to Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway’s base was part of filming for a new series of Bargain Hunt.

He quizzed the Cloverlands trustees about cars in the collection as diverse as a Delahaye, Rolls-Royce, Fiat and Benz. The first Benz was driven 50 miles in Germany by Bertha Benz in 1886, nine years before the first car was seen in Wales. It was the longest drive my any man or woman at that time.

Museum trustee Bruce Lawson said: “We can’t wait to see the episode featuring the museum. The timing is perfect, as the museum reopens on April 1.

“Charlie was quite taken aback by the rarity of some of the models we have in the museum. For filming, we highlighted six or seven models, some dating to 1911, so we’ll have to wait to see how many are featured in the programme.”

The museum opened in its new home last June and has increased footfall greatly, with up to 50 visitors daily. Opening hours are 11am to 4.15pm at weekends and group visits are arranged by appointment.

A selection of more than 1,000 replica models is for sale at the museum for visitors who wish to take away a memento.

Originally established at Montgomery Institute in 2015, the museum began with a collection of around 2,000 models amassed by late motoring historian and model maker Gillian Rogers, of Trefnanney, near Welshpool. She was aware of the move to Llanfair but sadly died on December 27 last year before in happened

Both Cloverlands and the Welshpool and Llanfair Light Railway are members of MWT Cymru, which represents more than 600 tourism and hospitality businesses across Powys, Ceredigion and Southern Snowdonia.