Profile: Graham Binns
This collections manager has swapped natural history and music for motoring memorabilia
Graham Binns is the collections manager at the Cotswold Motoring Museum and Toy Collection in Bourton-on-the-Water, Gloucestershire. His previous workplaces include the John Moore Countryside Museum in Tewkesbury and the Holst Birthplace Museum in Cheltenham.
What is the Cotswold Motoring Museum and Toy Collection like?
It was founded by Mike Cavanagh, a collector of motoring items who lived in South Africa. When Cavanagh retired, he sold the museum to the Civil Service Motoring Association. It’s object-rich and as well as bikes and cars – we have an Austin Seven “Chummy” (1930) and the souped-up racing version of the Austin Ulster – there are also smaller items on shelves and hanging from the ceilings, as well as enamel signs covering all the walls.
It’s more of a reminiscence of what motoring used to be rather than a chronological story, and there’s a strong social history element with old telephones and cameras. We even have the original studio equipment from Radio Caroline in our 1960s room.
Who visits it?
We have around 60,000 visitors a year. We are in an old mill at the end of a green, across a cute bridge over a rippling river in a beautiful Cotswolds village, so a lot of coaches stop and people wander in.
We also get motoring enthusiasts, and their wives and girlfriends often look as if they are there somewhat reluctantly. It’s usually objects like the Hillman Imp that bring them round. They’ll say: “Oh, I learned to drive in one of those!”
What other collections have you looked after?
The John Moore collection told the story of the naturalist and author. It featured British wildlife, including the pygmy shrew – the smallest mammal on earth at 3cms long that has to eat constantly in order to maintain its body heat. There were also weasels, birds of prey and that sort of thing.
When at the Holst Birthplace Museum, my music background came in useful. The collection there included Holst’s tuning reed, his piano, manuscripts and programme notes.
Do you drive something retro and classic?
I drive a 2010 Volkswagen Polo called Polly. It’s a small and quite ordinary car but it has a nice interior. It won a magazine car-of-the-year award, which swayed me at the time.
It might be nice to run something vintage in the future, but I don’t have a garage, so anything old would just rust away if left outside. If I were to go for something classic, it would probably be the Austin Seven. It’s so classy and very 1930s. Who needs power steering when you’re out for a Sunday afternoon spin?
What is the Cotswold Motoring Museum and Toy Collection like?
It was founded by Mike Cavanagh, a collector of motoring items who lived in South Africa. When Cavanagh retired, he sold the museum to the Civil Service Motoring Association. It’s object-rich and as well as bikes and cars – we have an Austin Seven “Chummy” (1930) and the souped-up racing version of the Austin Ulster – there are also smaller items on shelves and hanging from the ceilings, as well as enamel signs covering all the walls.
It’s more of a reminiscence of what motoring used to be rather than a chronological story, and there’s a strong social history element with old telephones and cameras. We even have the original studio equipment from Radio Caroline in our 1960s room.
Who visits it?
We have around 60,000 visitors a year. We are in an old mill at the end of a green, across a cute bridge over a rippling river in a beautiful Cotswolds village, so a lot of coaches stop and people wander in.
We also get motoring enthusiasts, and their wives and girlfriends often look as if they are there somewhat reluctantly. It’s usually objects like the Hillman Imp that bring them round. They’ll say: “Oh, I learned to drive in one of those!”
What other collections have you looked after?
The John Moore collection told the story of the naturalist and author. It featured British wildlife, including the pygmy shrew – the smallest mammal on earth at 3cms long that has to eat constantly in order to maintain its body heat. There were also weasels, birds of prey and that sort of thing.
When at the Holst Birthplace Museum, my music background came in useful. The collection there included Holst’s tuning reed, his piano, manuscripts and programme notes.
Do you drive something retro and classic?
I drive a 2010 Volkswagen Polo called Polly. It’s a small and quite ordinary car but it has a nice interior. It won a magazine car-of-the-year award, which swayed me at the time.
It might be nice to run something vintage in the future, but I don’t have a garage, so anything old would just rust away if left outside. If I were to go for something classic, it would probably be the Austin Seven. It’s so classy and very 1930s. Who needs power steering when you’re out for a Sunday afternoon spin?