Transport Through Time: Artist Captures Classic Commercial Vehicles (21st February 2025)
Earlier this month members of the Blackburn Artists’ Society visited the Museum, they took the opportunity to capture some of the lovingly preserved vehicles in the Museum’s collection in various media, including pencil sketches and drawings, watercolours and acrylic paint!
Members of the Society have been visiting the Museum periodically since 2021. They are always a pleasure to have with us and it is always a privilege to see them in action.
Below are some stunning pieces created by Pauline C. Warriner, the organiser of the Society during her visits to the Museum. – Thank you Pauline for sending us these, they are absolutely phenomenal!
Gallery:
Front of Leyland Fire Engine (1920): This Fire Engine worked at Church fire station near Accrington. At one time every town had its own fire station.
Leyland Motor’s fire engines were designed to be fast and powerful so they could react to emergency calls quickly. These fire engines could pump 500 gallons of water every minute at high pressure.
Foden Steam Wagon (1922): In the first thirty years of the 20th century dozens of firms manufactured steam lorries. Foden and rival company Sentinel were renowned for producing reliable vehicles with a great performance.
Unlike their chief rival Sentinel, Foden continued to use this design until the mid-1920s. The wagon was steered from the left and driven from the right.
The Leyland Lioness (1927) & the Scammell Contractor (1976): The Leyland Lioness was originally supplied to Buckingham Palace as a shooting brake, and as a result Leyland Motors was awarded with permission to use the Royal Crest.
Close Up of AEC Regent III (1952): This is the typical London bus. There were almost 5,000 of these red buses built, the largest fleet of standardised buses in the world. However, this was one of three similar buses that toured the USA and Canada promoting British tourism. It is the only survivor from this 12,000 mile tour of North America.
