My family have a history of vehicles including cars. My great grandfather ran a garage: 

my grandfather was a locomotive engineer and my father was chief engineer for Alexander’s Coachbuilders. My brother used to work at Lotus and is still a fan of old cars and vans. I once had a photo on Guardian Witness when the theme was ‘the family car’ having submitted a photo of the 1932 Rolls Royce my parents had in the 1960s.  

We visited the Great British Car Journey museum in Ambergate because my sister in law’s memorial event was being held there. My brother met her when she was working at a nearby filling station. The museum is situated in what was an old wire works on the banks of the River Derwent.  

It starts with Herbert Austin designing a small car and setting off the British Car Industry.   There are various makes, travelling through the years.

  Some cars, like this Vauxhall Victor belonged to a specific individual, sometimes with a story attached.

There was one of the first Landrovers

and a Reliant Scimitar which my mother had many years ago.    

There were many others including this 1981 DeLorean.

At the back of the building there was a workshop where the restoration work is done. There is also a cafe. You can opt to drive one of the vehicles (accompanied by an instructor). There is a large poster at the back of the museum showing all the options and the prices.

Some of these vehicles were in a garage outside the museum.

Before leaving we crossed over to the buildings on the other side of the river. The White Peak Distillery is here and also a local artist based nearby who painted a mural on this building: