Black Country Living Museum

Black Country Living Museum is an award-winning open air museum that tells the story of one of the very first industrialised landscapes in Britain.

The Museum has an enviable heritage transport collection that includes commercial vehicles, motor cars, and motor cycles with a connection to the Black Country.

The majority of the Museum’s transport collection is housed within the re-created Bradburn & Wedge garage of Darlington Street, Wolverhampton.

The Garage contains a display of vehicles which provide a unique record of the success enjoyed by Black Country motor manufacturers between 1900 and 1935. Vehicles produced by Star, Sunbeam, Bean, Briton, Clyno, and AJS enjoyed considerable popularity and all these makes are represented in the collection.

The Museum also has a comprehensive collection of early motor cycles. One of the most famous Black Country makers was Sunbeam, who were famed for their racing machines in the 1920s.

The collection includes a 1913 Sunbeam which is the earliest known surviving motor cycle by the company. Motorbikes can be seen in the Bradburn & Wedge garage, as well as the Museum’s re-creation of the. Hartill’s motorcycle shop of Mount Pleasant in Bilston from the 1930s.

November updated