T&M Aviation

07/02/2026

Hi all,

We will not be open this weekend unfortunately, as we have arrived on site earlier this morning to find significant flooding around the Nissen Hut making it inaccessible.

We apologise for any inconvenience and hope we will see you next time! Our next public open days will be the 21st and 22nd February from 10am - 5.30pm.

Have a wonderful wet weekend everyone!

24/01/2026

Hi everyone, we'll be closed today while we do some late notice essential works, but we'll be back open tomorrow and we'll be open next Saturday as well to make up for it, and we'll be posting some pictures later.

We've also got some news updates to release which we should be doing this evening once we've finished up for the day.

12/01/2026

Very sad news from our friends at ABCT.

ABCT regret to announce the death of its founder Kenneth Bannerman. The charity will continue to its work highlighting the historic importance of airfields into the future.

Please contact us for funeral details.

12/01/2026

Here's the full picture dump from the 30ft Span Nissen Hut disassembly that we did in Wisbech recently.

03/01/2026

Hi everyone we hope you've all had a good Christmas and New Year, and we just wanted to put up a quick post to let you know what we've been up to recently.

Around February last year we were offered a significant donation and easily the biggest addition to the museum to date, a rare 30' span wartime Nissen Hut in very good condition, which was located in Wisbech and scheduled for demolition to make way for two houses, and was at one point in serious risk of being demolished with a JCB and scrapped.

After around 10 months of waiting and delays (Completely out of all of our hands, it was all down to local planning requirements in Wisbech.) and a serious financial outlay by the previous owner we finally managed to arrange (In November) to dismantle the building between Christmas and New Year, and set ourselves three days on the 28th, 29th & 30th of December to complete the task, with an ultimate deadline for removal of this Sunday night (Tomorrow).

We had originally set out to arrive early the first morning and dismantle the building with a prepared plan, using a trained and skilled climber (Jake) with safety gear to remove the external steel sheets, and using other team members with ropes to lower the sheets down the building, Jake had agreed to help us back in April but unfortunately could now only come down for the first day due to a family emergency.

This meant that we had to change our method somewhat because the other 3 of us that originally went are most definitely scared of heights. Thankfully Jake was able to get us a good start around the top of the hut before we continued on into the night without him and then crashed out in the car. On day two the remaining team removed all the lowest layers of sheets (Although Amy deserves a shout out here for climbing up higher than either of us and cutting some nails from the third layer of sheets), and on day three we removed most of the second layer and some of the third, however our fear of heights and slowing progress due to the constant repositioning of ladders and safety equipment (Equipment securing ropes and climbing ropes etc) meant that we needed to seriously reconsider our options so we came up with another plan that night and headed home to finalise it all in the morning.

We knew we could get more people to come and help us, but with the looming deadline for demolition we felt we needed a better and faster alternative to climbing the building. And after a quick search and a few phone calls we got in touch with a local hire company who went above and beyond to help us out at very short notice and with an excellent price, delivering a scissor lift right on time for when we arrived back on site yesterday morning, and we also brought Jordy who spends most of his working days in heavy haulage. This made a night and day improvement to our working speed and in just a few short hours we'd removed all the external steel sheets from the building as well the lowest 4 rows of timbers.

After this we removed the large side door from the building as one piece and then used the scissor lift to reach up and either remove or cut the wooden beams between each cast iron hoop section, dropping the hoops one by one for safety before pulling over the last four hoops as a small group for safety, before tidying up and packing down the site and eventually leaving at around 22:30 yesterday.

I'd like to say a massive thank you to everybody involved, in particular to:

Paul the previous owner of the Nissen Hut who has not only turned down significant offers to buy the building from under us but also paid for all the required surveys to be done, some of which (Nesting and ecological surveys in particular) have had to be done multiple times due to the lengthy delays with some pretty significant costs involved, and for his help and support throughout.

East Anglian Access Hire for helping us at such short notice and excellent rates and even better service. The owner even dropped the lift off personally with their son and came back to collect it late at night when we'd finished with it, and on a day with their only other plan was machine maintenance. Their scissor lift made such a difference to the project and we honestly can't thank or rate them enough but if we're ever in their area again we know exactly who we'll be calling.

Also to Tom and Spencer the new land owners of the plot in Wisbech for their help and support with the project, Jake for helping especially with his circumstances, Jordy for fitting us in with his busy schedule, Amy for showing us and yourself what you can do when able, and to Sharky for chipping in for the lift and working at the top of the building on it.

We'll put up a full write up including everything that we know about the building including our future plans for it in the next couple of days once we've rested and recovered, but for now here's a few pictures of the dismantling process:

14/12/2025

Good morning everyone, yesterday was a fantastic day but unfortunately I'm not feeling so good this morning so we're going to have to open later, we should be up and open from 12:00 - 16:30 Today though 👍 We also have a couple of new additions on display in the Nissen Hut, and some exciting news to release over the next couple of days too.

22/11/2025

So it's probably time for a proper update because it's been a while and we've got a lot to cover, we've got some big changes planned and we'd really love to have some input from our supporters.

To start us off earlier this year we finished our first 5 Year Plan which we laid out about 2-3 weeks after moving in to the site, there were admittedly some very ambitious goals on there including improving the site, acquiring another aircraft or more display space, and improving the scope and scale of the collection.

We're very happy to say that with the help of our supporters and friends we've completed everything on that list and we even managed to add a few things to the plan along the way, all of which are now complete except for painting the roof of the Nissen Hut and the Polish Air Force Checkerboard to be set in the floor outside. We've gone from strength to strength while we've been here, constantly improving the site, growing the collection, learning and sharing knowledge along the way and we're hugely thankful for your support. We put all of our own spare time and money into building this place up and keeping it going (And when I say all our time, I mean we've all each regularly spent 2-3 days at a time on site and slept in tents or a car while we're trying to get projects completed or if we're keeping an eye on the place in bad weather.) and we genuinely wouldn't have achieved all this or be in the position we're in now without your help and support along the way.

That's not to say that we've done all that we can do, far from it. We've already got another 5 Year Plan drawn up (Something we fully developed in 2024 and started earlier this year) which includes registering as a CIO in 2026 and applying for accreditation in 2027, adding new display spaces and exhibits, bringing in group visits, and a whole host of general site improvements to make the museum (And it's surrounding area) a nicer, more enjoyable place to visit.

However, without getting into the details there have been a number of ongoing issues around our current site particularly over the last couple of months which sadly have been affecting the museum ( It's not our business to say the underlying causes of it all, but we can safely say that these issues are completely separate from the museum and it's team aside from us being located where we are.) and after much stress and many sleepless nights trying to find solutions, these issues have caused us to completely reconsider our plans.

BUT - We're not giving up or giving in, it's just not in our nature. We've been hard at work creating new plans and also engaging with funding sources and potential partners, and we're currently looking for a new site to house the museum and permanently secure its future. As part of this we've accelerated our CIO Registration timeline to now (We're currently in the process of registering & renaming, so expect a new name and some page changes soon 😉) to facilitate this. To be clear we've not received funding for a site yet but our talks have been extremely positive up until now and our odds of being successful are high given our significant progress over the last 5 years, dedicated team and strong plans showing our commitment to the museums future growth, development and success, as well as showing that we align ourselves with the grant providers principles

It's not been an easy decision to make especially after 5 years of work, we've truly loved it here at Bramcote up until recently and we'd been hoping to step on the advertising and get a few more visitors in towards the end of this year ready to really kick things off from the start of next year's season. Unfortunately the issues are attempting to affect us organizationally and personally, and the whole team here agrees that we're best off finding another site and moving on, we'll definitely be sad to leave but even if they all just stopped it'd never feel the same here, it definitely doesn't feel like home anymore. Nonetheless it may be a sad end to a long chapter, but it's still not the end of the book yet, not even close.

As part of this we've been trying to find a site with a military history / connection if at all possible, and we've identified quite a few which might be suitable, all of which are within about 45 minutes drive of our current site. However if anyone has any land / suitable buildings for sale, or knows of any site for sale that might be suitable then please send us a message or give us a call. Even if it's not got a military connection it may well still be suitable for us.

As another part of this we've been completely rebuilding our second 5 Year Plan (And have actually further built that into 3 different plans for a theoretical small site, a theoretical large site, and a site we've visited that would be a perfect museum site, we'd love to save it but it may sadly be developed for housing at the owners wishes, we're trying but can't hold our breath for it.) and we're aiming to make the best museum from this that we can from the ground up.

So far we've got quite the list of displays and exhibitions we'd like to include. There's definitely a spot for a RAF Bramcote / HMS Gamecock / Gamecock Barracks history display wherever we go, and we've got plans for dedicated exhibitions about both the Gurkhas (Covering their history, traditions and achievements) and the Polish (Covering pre war and wartime relations, the Free Polish forces and their achievements, Polish Government In Exile through to the governmental reunification in 1990) to continue the work we started here at Bramcote. We've also got plans for a Remembrance Garden, immersive WW1 & WW2 Trench Displays with dugouts, a small representation of a POW Camp, a Blitz Experience Street Scene (Based on Coventry & Leicester), and an Air / Sea Rescue display planned to list just a few of the 40+ ideas on that list, and we have a list of about 25 smaller additional displays to feature in different areas. I've included some AI generated images of what a few of these displays will look like (They're not completely accurate but they're close enough to get a feel for it) and feel free to let us know if there's anything that you think we could add, change or remove to improve them.

We've also got a range of groups we can bring on board with the project too including re-enactors (Home Guard & WW2 pencilled on the list so far), a metal detecting club, and local community groups who could make use of the site. We'd also be bringing in another museum alongside us at a new site and we have another group lined up who we'd like to work with if we can get the space for them. Can't really release any names at this point but they know who they are and they'll more than likely read this post, so to them we say a personal thank you for believing in & supporting us with this so far, hopefully this time next year we'll all be settling well into a new site.

Our next step realistically is to find a new site and put in a detailed Grant Application specifically for each site and the improvements we'd need to do there, and this is where we want your input. We're looking for any ideas that anyone might have for the museum, is there anything you'd change about our current setup? (Aside from a better building of course, that's already on there), is there anything you think we could do better or maybe something you'd like to see us feature in the collection? Are there any displays or exhibitions or anything else that you think we should include? We welcome any ideas that anyone might have for us, and if we use your idea we'll happily credit you for it too. If you'd like help us with that we'd love some letters of support and reviews leaving by previous visitors. If anyone feels like going all out for us then feel free to write to your local council or MP to see if they can support us moving to their local area, we need all the help we can get at the minute with that.

We're still open as usual for now but we'll be moving to winter opening hours from this weekend (10:00 - 16:30 Saturday & Sunday, 2nd & 4th weekend of each month). We're hoping to find a site and move on as quickly as we can, so if you've not visited for 12-18 months and you want to see the big changes we've made here then now's your chance, and we'll keep you all updated with our progress as we move forwards.

Once again thank you from all of the team here for all for your continued support, we hope to see you soon, either here or at the next site.

Signed:
T,A & M

22/11/2025

Hi everyone, we'll be opening a little later today (Around 10:30) as the BMW battery has died with the cold weather and it's blocking the gateway at the minute, we'll get it moved as quickly as we can.

If anyone gets here before we've moved it and opened the main gates just beep the horn or give us a call and we'll let you in anyway.

Many thanks.

26/10/2025

Unfortunately we're going to have to delay opening today until 11:00, we've got a few things which we need to do quickly this morning but we'll keep you all updated with a proper post later.

Many thanks.

25/10/2025

Due to the weather we've made the decision to close today, the sudden downpour has left a small lake outside the gate, we're hoping to open as normal tomorrow but we'll keep you updated.

27/09/2025

Something interesting that we stumbled across unexpectedly on our travels was what we believe to be a Scammell Mechanical Horse trailer, now a long disused farm trailer. We think it might be ex LMS from some of the remaining paint, are there any railway / Scammell fans on here who could help prove or disprove this theory? The ID plate is there and starts HS6X.

27/09/2025

Another place we visited this week was the site of a former WW2 AA Searchlight out near Atherstone.

There's no visible traces left of the sites wartime history but this would have been a vital defensive position in wartime and we've included some pictures of what the site may have looked like back then.