Milestones Museum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Milestones Living History Museum

Milestones Museum at night
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Established	1 December 2000
Location	Basingstoke, Hampshire, England
Type	Heritage centre
Public transit access	Route 8 bus

Milestones Museum of Living History is a super cool museum in Basingstoke, Hampshire, UK. It's like stepping back in time! The museum has recreated streets from the Victorian era and the 1930s. This shows what life was like in Hampshire back then.

The museum opened on December 1, 2000. The Duke of Edinburgh helped open it. It was a big project supported by local councils and the Heritage Lottery Fund. In 2014, the museum became part of the Hampshire Cultural Trust.

Explore Milestones: Step Back in Time!

Milestones Museum lets you walk through history. You can explore old shops, homes, and even a railway station. It's a fun way to see how people lived long ago.

Historic Buildings and Shops

A Thornycroft J bus outside the Baverstock Arms

A kitchen from the 1940s

The museum has many recreated buildings and shops. You can see:

• A Victorian public house called the Baverstock Arms.
• A Victorian railway station. It looks like the old GWR station at Winchester (Chesil). There's even a small model of the station with working trains!
• A Victorian Ironmonger (a shop selling metal goods).
• A Victorian watchmaker and jeweller's shop.
• A Victorian terraced house, showing how families lived.
• A Victorian milliners (a hat shop).
• A Victorian light engineering shop.
• A Victorian paintworks, powered by an old steam engine.
• A Victorian pier amusement arcade, just like the ones by the sea!
• A sawmill and a saddlery (a shop for horse riding gear).

You can also explore a 1930s town with different shops:

• A Cooperative Society shop.
• A sweet shop with old-fashioned candies.
• A toy shop with original toys from the past.
• A record and television shop, showing early TVs and record players.
• A car showroom with classic cars.

Step inside homes from the 1940s. You can see how kitchens and living rooms looked back then. Many shops have sounds playing. You might hear conversations or old-time sound effects.

A new part of the museum is Mr Simpson's Teddy Bear museum. It opened in 2021. It has over 260 teddy bears, some from as far back as 1905!

Amazing Road Vehicles

The museum has a huge collection of old vehicles. Many were made by local companies like Thornycroft (from Basingstoke) and Taskers of Andover. You can see vehicles powered by people, horses, steam, and motors.

Human-Powered Vehicles

Twining's reversed tricycle

See how people moved things around before cars:

• A hand cart.
• A hand-propelled baker's cart.
• A grocer's delivery bicycle.
• Two different tradesmen's tricycles.
• Various bicycles, including tall penny-farthings!

Horse-Drawn Vehicles

A horse-drawn pantechnicon (moving van)

Horses were very important for transport. Check out these vehicles:

• A Pantechnicon (a large moving van).
• A Governess cart (a small, open carriage).
• A brewer's dray (for delivering beer barrels).
• A coalman's cart.
• A Milk float (for delivering milk).
• A farm wagon.
• A stickback undercut gig (another type of carriage).
• A Hutchings caravan.
• A Reading type Romany caravan or vardo.
• A portable steam engine.

Steam-Powered Vehicles

The Little Giant traction engine

Steam engines were powerful machines. The museum has:

• Two road rollers made by Taskers.
• Two road rollers made by Wallis & Steevens.
• Two Taskers Little Giant traction engines. One is shown with a log trailer.
• Other unique steam vehicles like the only surviving Taskers steam lorry.

Motor Vehicles

The museum has about 25 commercial vehicles. There are also private cars, old buses, and a coach.

• Cars:
  • Old Thornycroft cars from the early 1900s.
  • A Morris convertible from 1937.
  • An OEC motorbike and sidecar from 1939.
  • The K 3 Keeble K3 concept car, built in 2003.
• Buses:
  • A Thornycroft J Portsmouth Corporation bus from 1919.
  • A Leyland Titan TD4 double-decker bus from 1934.
  • A Thornycroft Lightning coach from 1935, shown half-built.

A 1931 Thornycroft Bulldog lorry

• Commercial Vehicles:
  • Many different Thornycroft J lorries from the 1910s and 1920s.
  • A Leyland military lorry from 1919.
  • An Austin pick-up truck from 1926.
  • A Thornycroft Bulldog flatbed lorry from 1931.
  • A Morris van from 1935.
  • A Thornycroft Sturdy milk lorry from 1937.
  • A Thornycroft Amazon RAF recovery crane from 1942.
  • A Thornycroft Nippy flatbed lorry from 1949.
  • A Thornycroft Sturdy road sweeper from 1949.
  • A Wallis & Steevens Advance diesel road roller.
  • A Thornycroft Nubian airport crash tender from 1971.

Fire Brigade Vehicles

A Shand Mason horse-drawn steam pump

The museum's fire station shows how firefighters worked in the past:

• A hand-operated and propelled pump.
• A hand-propelled Pyrene fire extinguisher.
• A Shand Mason horse-drawn fire engine.
• A Shand Mason horse-drawn steam pump.
• A Dennis Light 6 fire engine from 1936.
• A Dennis Big 4 fire engine from 1938.

Railway and Tramway Stock

Avonside 1572 0-6-0ST "Woolmer"

Portsmouth tram No 84

You can also see some railway and tram vehicles:

• A Longmoor Military Railway steam locomotive called "Woolmer" from 1910.
• A Great Northern Railway open wagon from the past.
• A Portsmouth electric tramcar, number 84.

Special Exhibitions and Events

Milestones Museum often has special temporary exhibitions. For example, in 2014 and 2018, they hosted amazing Lego models of extinct animals and mythical creatures.

Around early December, the museum holds a fun Victorian-themed Christmas Market. It's a great way to get into the holiday spirit!