The British Motor Museum re-opens to the public on Saturday 13 February following a £1.1m refurbishment. Formerly known as the Heritage Motor Centre, the new Museum will be visually more exciting with an immersive display of British motoring history, designed to appeal to both current fans as well as new audiences. Also opening on the 13 February is the new Collections Centre, allowing public access for the first time to an extra 250 cars from the reserve collections of the British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and the Jaguar Heritage Trust.

The Museum will be officially opened by Managing Director, Julie Tew at 10am on the 13 February along with a live broadcast from Touch FM and visitors are encouraged to come along early to join in the celebrations.

Julie Tew, Managing Director said “We are delighted to re-open the Museum to visitors for half term. We have a packed programme of family events and tours and visitors will be impressed with the changes we have made to the Museum.”

Half term will kick off with “Build a British Car Week” from 13 – 21 February.  Everyday children of all ages can test their knowledge with the ‘Family Story’ trail and join one of the workshops in the LEGO® Education Innovation Studio where they can get creative building British cars with LEGO® bricks.

There are a range of different workshops to choose from. How cool is your British car takes place on Saturday 13 & Sunday 14 February where children can build a car in the Studio and see where its placed on the cool wall.  Technic Workshops run from Monday 15 – Thursday 18 February where children can design, build and test their own vehicle using LEGO® technics and become an engineering apprentice for the day. Build a balloon powered car takes place on Friday 19 February where children can see how far their LEGO® brick sports car can travel. Build a rubber band powered car takes place on Saturday 20 February where children can use a rubber band to power their LEGO® brick car and attempt to beat the current British Motor Museum’s record. Finally The 25 Brick Challenge takes place on Sunday 21 February where children can attempt to build a motor car with 25 LEGO® bricks and four wheels. All workshops run from 10am – 3pm.

Tours of both the Museum and the Collections Centre will be available daily and can be booked at no extra charge on arrival, and all half term family activities are also free of charge. Normal Museum entry fees apply: Adults £14, Children £9 (5-16 years) under 5’s free, Concessions £12 & Family £39 (2 adults & up to 3 children). Buy one day and get 12 months free if you Gift Aid your entrance. To find out more information please visit the website at www.britishmotormuseum.co.uk  or call 01926 641188.

Many county councils across England appear to have responded to criticisms about failing to make pothole repair and road maintenance a top priority, the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has found, with increased spending across the country.

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request by the IAM has found councils are following government-stated best practice and increasingly investing more money into capital projects (i.e. road rebuilding) rather than spending funds on short-term temporary repairs.

In early 2015 the Asphalt Industry Alliance (AIA) confirmed a backlog of repairs topped £12 billion, while an IAM survey found that 64 per cent of participants cited general road maintenance as one of their biggest concerns (reference 1).

The FOI request asked county councils how much they spent on fixing road surface defects such as potholes and how much they spent on capital projects to resurface roads between 2013 and 2015.

While the IAM’s findings reveal many councils are spending less on filling potholes, 17 out of 23 of them are in fact spending more overall on resurfacing worn-out roads.

The top five county councils to invest the most money into road repairs and resurfacing between 2014/15 include:

1. Surrey – £44 million 2. North Yorkshire – £43.9 million 3. Cumbria – £33.5 million 4. Devon – £32 million 5. Lincolnshire – £30.2 million

In percentage terms, the following councils have increased their capital spending on resurfacing roads the most:

1. Oxfordshire – 139 per cent (from £4.6 million to £11 million) 2. Cambridgeshire – 85 per cent (from £10.5 million to £19.4 million) 3. Norfolk – 45 per cent (from £19 million to £27.6 million) 4. Leicestershire – 43 per cent (from £7.5 million to £10.7 million) 5. West Sussex – 38 per cent (from £19.5 million to £27 million)

County councils that have invested the most money into temporary pothole repairs between 2014/15 include:

1. Kent - £7.7 million 2. Devon - £5.98 million 3. Gloucestershire - £5.93 million 4. Cumbria - £5.4 million 5. Surrey - £4.88 million

The top five councils increasing spending for temporary pothole repairs in percentage terms compared to the previous year are:

1. West Sussex – 57 per cent (from £1.4 million to £2.2 million) 2. Nottinghamshire - 28 per cent (from £1.5 million to £1.92 million) 3. Norfolk – 23 per cent (from £2.6 million to £3.2 million) 4. Devon – 21 per cent (from £4.9 million to £5.9 million) 5. Dorset – 15 per cent (from £2.6 million to £3.2 million)

In tandem with the increase in spending on resurfacing roads, the IAM has discovered eight out of 21 councils are spending less on filling potholes.

Sarah Sillars, IAM chief executive officer, said: “We are very pleased that our calls for greater investment in local roads appear to be having some effect.

“We hope this trend continues. With council tax increases this April, we very much hope councils will use some of the extra money in continued investment in their own vital local roads, the condition of which has a direct impact on road safety.

“The IAM welcomed the government’s pothole fund as a solution for short-term problems, but our figures show that the Highways Maintenance Efficiency Programme is really starting to deliver long-term benefits by encouraging a shift to capital spend and sharing of knowledge and resources.”

The future of the London Motorcycle Museum is in doubt after its landlord, Ealing Council, reduced its rate subsidy resulting in a potential yearly bill of £30,000 for next year. Not only that but they have backdated the demand, meaning the museum is already in arrears to the tune of over £10,000!

Blaming the decision on government cutbacks, the council say it has no choice and it is not singling out the museum, recognising its contribution towards putting the area on the map and bringing tourism income to the area.

However, kind words have not helped and the trustees have come to the difficult decision of raising entrance prices and launching an appeal to help pay the bills for the next year whilst working on other revenue possibilities for the longer term that will allow the museum to remain.

They are reluctant to move outside London, where property prices and rates are cheaper, as museum founder Bill Crosby is passionate about providing a motorcycle museum for the capital – the only one in London. He is fighting to prevent the doors closing and breaking up the collection of nearly 200 bikes including many rarities and prototypes.

The news came as a harsh blow as the museum volunteers recently put in a lot of work improving the inside of the old farm buildings to showcase the Derek Minter collection of trophies as well as being recognised by the National Lottery who had awarded a small sum of money to the museum to allow it to promote itself on a wider scale.

The trustees have vowed to explore all legal options, but in the meantime are asking for donations, however small, to be made to the ‘Just Giving’ page that has been set up (you can find details on Facebook and the LMM website) or for people to visit the museum over the next few months and maybe donate directly.

Donate here

Sunday 24th January  9am – 5pm

This year’s annual Australia Day, held at the cafe on Sunday 24th January 2016, is set to be a fair dinkum occasion and includes not only authentic Australian tucker on the “Specials” menu, with BBQ’d King Prawns (with Garlic Butter), Vegemite Penne (with Parmesan Cheese), and Milo Bread n’ Butter Pudding. Also, subject to the weather, an outside Brrr “Barbie” for those who have the stamina!

So hop along in your Holden’s, Ford’s and Chryslers to meet Skippy and friends!

Spot prizes are up for grabs on the day for the “Best Dressed Aussies”, plus spend £5 or more over the counter from 10am and receive a raffle ticket. Draw to be held at 3pm, with two raffle prize goodie packs to be won.

For more information about what's on at the Ace, check out the scrolling calendar @ www.ace-cafe-london.com