Pendine Museum of Speed facts for kids
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View from the beach
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| Established | 1996 |
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| Location | Pendine, Carmarthenshire, Wales |
| Type | Transport museum |
| Visitors | 33,522 (2009) |
| Owner | Carmarthenshire County Council |
The Pendine Museum of Speed is a special place in Pendine, a village on the south coast of Wales. It celebrates the amazing history of Pendine Sands. This long, flat beach has been used for many exciting attempts to set new land speed records. A land speed record is the fastest speed ever reached by a vehicle on land.
The museum first opened in 1996. It was owned and run by the local government, Carmarthenshire County Council. In 2009, over 33,000 people visited the museum.
For part of each summer, the museum was home to a very famous car called Babs. This car was used by J. G. Parry-Thomas when he tried to break the land speed record in 1927. Sadly, he was killed in an accident during this attempt.
The Story of Babs
Babs is a legendary car with an incredible story. After the accident in 1927, the car was buried on Pendine Sands. It stayed hidden for 42 years!
In 1969, a man named Owen Wyn Owen found and dug up Babs. It took him 16 years to carefully restore the car. He brought it back to its original glory.
After its restoration, Babs was often shown at the Beaulieu Motor Museum. But in February 2019, it returned to Pendine. This was just in time for the reopening of the Museum of Speed.
A New Museum Building
In 2018, officials decided that the old museum building, built in the 1990s, needed to be replaced. They planned to build a brand new museum.
In February 2021, the old museum was closed down and taken apart. The new building was finished in early 2023. It officially opened its doors to visitors on March 31, 2023. This new museum continues to tell the exciting story of speed on Pendine Sands.
See also
- British land speed record
