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27-523: As well as donations and membership subscriptions, the Trust benefits from legacies from motorcycle enthusiasts. The income is used to preserve rare British motorcycles and to improve the preservation of British motorcycle engineering heritage in the UK. The Board of Trustees are all volunteer motorcycle enthusiasts with expertise in various areas of business. The current Chairman is Ian Walden, OBE. Between 1979 and 1995

54-575: A 1911 BSA 3.5 HP , a Scott Flying Squirrel , a 1923 Beardmore Precision and a 1937 Brough Superior SS80 . The Trust has recently acquired the last running Triumph Bandit which it has loaned to the Grampian Transport Museum and a rare Carfield 'Baby' from 1923 which has a 1.5 HP Villiers engine and won a Bronze Medal in the Scottish Six Days Trial covering over 1,000 miles in challenging conditions. The Trust also provided for

81-686: A century of motorcycle manufacture, the museum developed award winning conference facilities (The National Conference Centre) in 1985. It is located close to the junction of the A45 and the M42, close to Birmingham Airport and the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) Birmingham and attracts over 250,000 visitors a year. The Museum owes its formation to the drive and ambition of one man, construction entrepreneur and self-made millionaire Mr WR (Roy) Richards, who started collecting good examples of British motorcycles in

108-405: A cigarette thrown away in a designated smoking area was responsible for igniting a pile of cardboard boxes containing old air-conditioning filters. The fire spread very rapidly inside the museum's dropped ceilings which, though conforming to safety regulations, lacked a sprinkler system. The building did have smoke detection and fire alarm equipment which contacted the fire service within minutes of

135-418: A fleet of pump rescue ladders, technical rescue pumps, brigade response vehicles, aerial ladder platforms which are also referred to as Hydraulic platforms. WMFS also operate business support vehicles in addition to various specialist appliances and transport vehicles. Operating out of three locations, a primary base at Bickenhill fire station and two other bases at Wednesbury and Sutton Coldfield fire stations,

162-613: A joint BMCT / Heritage Lottery Fund grant to purchase the Marston Collection of Wolverhampton built motorcycles, which included several rare Black Country motorcycles including a 1918 Sunbeam military vehicle found in a derelict state in France. Grant aid was also given so that the museum could erect a replica 1930s motorcycle shop within its grounds, complete with rare locally built motorcycles and associated memorabilia. The Trust's latest project has been to provide financial assistance for

189-465: A steering wheel instead of handlebars. The model displayed in the museum was built in 1912 and is the top-of-the-range four-cylinder water-cooled shaft drive version. Originally air-cooled, the Wilkinson TMC engine was water-cooled from 1911 and described as a ‘Luxury Touring Motor Cycle’. West Midlands Fire Service West Midlands Fire Service ( WMFS ) is the fire and rescue service for

216-577: Is also the home to Staffordshire and West Midlands Fire Control. The control room, based at WMFS headquarters is the main incident management and mobilising centre for both WMFS and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service . The service was created in 1974, when the West Midlands county came into being. Prior to its creation, each of the county boroughs in the West Midlands area ( Birmingham , Coventry , Dudley , Solihull , Walsall , Warley , West Bromwich and Wolverhampton ) had their own fire brigade,

243-614: The metropolitan county of West Midlands , England . The service has 38 fire stations, with a blended fleet of vehicles and specialist resources. The service is led by a Chief Executive Officer who is overseen by the West Midlands Fire Authority. The Fire Authority is made up of 15 councillors who represent the seven councils within the West Midlands area. The service's headquarters is located in Nechells in Birmingham, which

270-504: The 1970s. The museum opened in October 1984 with an initial collection of 350 machines. Roy passed away in 2008 but his work continues under the guardianship of Roy’s Widow Christine & Son’s - Simon and Nick Hartland. The Museum collection is curated by Museum Director - James Hewing. The museum was severely damaged by a fire which broke out shortly before 5pm on 16 September 2003. West Midlands Fire Service investigators concluded that

297-787: The British Scooter Collection) opened in the Spring of 2016 at the Haynes International Motor Museum and was later transferred to the Isle of Man Motor Museum at Jurby in 2021.} The Trust funds a range of research and educational work relating to the British motorcycle industry and has funded work by staff at Coventry Transport Museum to write a history of the motorcycle manufacturing industry in Coventry . The Trust also helped to fund

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324-725: The Trust developed the National Motorcycle Museum at Solihull before it was transferred to a private management company. The BMCT are affiliated with and support a network of transport and local interest museums around the UK to display rare British motorcycles. Associate Members of the Trust enjoy discounted entry to the following collections: The Trust also supports the Manx National Heritage museum and has provided financial assistance to help them preserve historic British motorcycles with TT and MGP history. The Black Country Living Museum benefitted in 2001 from

351-553: The WMFS Technical Rescue Unit has provides specialist rescue services such as rope and water rescue, dangerous buildings, and vehicle incidents involving trains and heavy goods vehicles. The United Kingdom International Search and Rescue Team (UK-ISAR) is on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to respond to humanitarian accidents or disasters anywhere in the world. WMFS personnel are on call as UK-ISAR volunteers to respond to international incidents. Twelve members of

378-620: The West Midlands team were deployed as part of the UKISAR (United Kingdom International Search And Rescue) mission to Haiti in the wake of the earthquake there on 12 January 2010. The team members were joined by two further members who had been in Sweden as part of a training exercise at the time of the earthquake. The team members were involved in the rescue of several people, including two-year-old Mia, who had been trapped for over four days. The Fire Investigation and Prevention Section (FIPS) investigates

405-490: The cause of fire in a variety of different types of incidents including large fires, fires where the cause cannot be immediately determined, and fires where people may have been injured or died. FIPS works closely with the Police, other services, and organisations such as insurance companies when investigating fires. The officers also work on special projects including arson reduction policies and strategies, human behaviour in fire,

432-652: The development of the Resource Centre at Haynes International Motor Museum near Yeovil, where information and literature on British motorcycles is being digitised for the benefit of enthusiasts and restorers throughout the World. National Motorcycle Museum (UK) The National Motorcycle Museum occupies an 8-acre (32,000 m2) site in Bickenhill, Solihull, England and holds the world's largest collection of British motorcycles. In addition to over 1,000 motorcycles, which cover

459-439: The fire starting, but the fire had taken a strong hold before it was discovered on site. Staff and people attending a conference helped to save more than 300 historic motorcycles, but three of the five exhibition halls were completely burnt out. 120 firefighters were needed to put out the fire which was visible for 15 miles (24 km). Fire crews were delayed by rush hour traffic and hindered by an inadequate hydrant on site, but

486-427: The fire was extinguished after about an hour and a half. Many of the museum's rarest and irreplaceable exhibits were destroyed, with the loss of 380 motorcycles. The cost of the fire was estimated at over £14 million. After fifteen months and a £20 million rebuild which included installation of a £1.2 million sprinkler system, the museum was reopened on 1 December 2004. 150 of the motorcycles that had been destroyed in

513-569: The fire were fully restored for the re-opening. Many of the fire damaged motorcycles were restored to showroom condition. On the evening of 27 August 2014, burglars broke into the museum and stole more than 100 motorcycling competition trophies from a glass-fronted cabinet. The Museum offered a £20,000 reward for information leading to their recovery. The motorcycles on display represent examples of well known makes, such as BSA , Triumph and Norton as well as less well known makers including Coventry-Eagle , Montgomery and New Imperial . One of

540-548: The largest of which was the City of Birmingham Fire Brigade . WMFS was created by a merger of these county borough fire brigades, plus fire stations rom the fire brigades of Warwickshire, Worcestershire and Staffordshire. Every fire and rescue service in England and Wales is subjected to a periodic statutory inspection by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS). The inspection investigates how well

567-547: The most valuable motorcycles in the world the Brough Superior Golden Dream , which is the only example of George Brough's show model for the 1938 Olympia show. Hand-built by Brough and Freddie Dixon, the Golden Dream has two pairs of horizontally opposed cylinders, one above the other, with two longitudinal crankshafts to give vibration free running. The two crankshafts shafts are geared together, with one driving

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594-404: The office of chief fire officer: In 2024, an interim chief executive officer was appointed in place of a chief fire officer. The current chief executive officer is Oliver Lee. The service currently uses the following frontline appliances West Midlands Fire Service operates 38 fire stations and employs 1,350 firefighters . It has no on-call retained firefighters . All fire stations within

621-536: The rear wheel and the other driving the oil pump and magdyno. Two Brough Dream Fours were built but World War II stopped development. The second Brough Dream has a black and chrome finish and is in private ownership. Built by the Wilkinson Sword company before the First World War , the first Wilkinson motorcycles were aimed at military use. Optional accessories included a sidecar complete with Maxim gun , and

648-796: The restoration of a 1936 Triumph Tiger 80 by the Coventry Transport Museum. In 2015 a unique Matchless Vickers machine gun outfit from the First World War was saved for the nation when the BMCT acquired it and provided for its exhibition at the Tank Museum in Dorset. In 2013 the BMCT acquired the Spalding Collection, comprising an example of every make of British motor scooter made between 1946 and 1962. An exhibition of these machines (to be known as

675-483: The service are full-time, and work on two types of shift: Tettenhall is the only solely late crewed station. Following the closure of the Birmingham Central fire station, Birmingham city centre is now covered by three fire stations: Aston located and covering the northern side, Highgate located and covering the southern, central and eastern sides, and Ladywood covering the western side. WMFS currently operates

702-771: The service performs in each of three areas. On a scale of outstanding, good, requires improvement and inadequate, West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service has been rated as follows: The service divides its main functions into three areas: response, prevention and protection. Response covers responding to emergencies, risk-based attendance standards, dynamic mobilising and Fire Control. Prevention covers their up-stream firefighting work that includes safe and well visits, community engagement, vulnerable persons officers and other individual and home-based fire prevention work. Protection covers their work around commercial and business fire safety, licensing and safety around buildings such as high-rise and apartment blocks. The following people have held

729-589: The superb new "Life on Two Wheels" permanent exhibition at the Haynes Motor Museum near Yeovil, Somerset. In 2014 a totally revamped motorcycle display opened at the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, Hampshire, thanks to a £75,000 grant from the BMCT. The British Motorcycle Charitable Trust owns a collection of rare British motorcycles which are on long term loan to various affiliated museums, including

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