Visitor information

OPENING TIMES

The Museum will be CLOSED from 18 December 2011 until 1 March 2012, during which time we will be improving our facilities by building a new visitor entrance. Our office will be open from Mondays to Fridays, 0930-1430, except during the Christmas and New Year Period.

During February 2012 it will be possible to visit our GRANDMA FLEW SPITFIRES exhibition and archive, and to fly our SPITFIRE SIMULATOR, by appointment only.

 

ADMISSION CHARGES

Maidenhead Heritage Centre is a voluntary-run museum with no financial help from the government. The huge investment in the Grandma Flew Spitfires project means that we have to make a modest charge for visits.

At peak periods, timed tickets may be issued.

Adults	£3.50
Concessions	£3.00
Children (aged 10-16)	£2.00
Children under 10	FREE
Friends of Maidenhead Heritage Centre	FREE

There is a supplementary charge for flying the Spitfire simulator.

 

GROUP BOOKINGS AVAILABLE

Pre-booking for schools and other groups is essential, preferably for Mondays. Maximum group size is 20.

 

HOW TO FIND US

Maidenhead Heritage Centre, 18 Park Street, Maidenhead, SL6 1SL
Maidenhead Railway Station - 7 mins walk

YOUR VISIT

Your visit to Grandma Flew Spitfires begins with a short introductory film before you move upstairs past photographs of some of the amazing men and women who made ATA such a success. Our modest gallery has been packed with uniforms, flying equipment, navigation equipment and ATA memorabilia. Displays explain how ATA pilots came from 25 different countries, how they managed to fly so many different planes and how they flew all over Britain in a single day. Pilots’ log books are on display together with more than 150 photographs, and you can listen to recordings of ATA aircrew telling their own stories. If you want to explore ATA in more depth, computer terminals give access to filmed interviews, log books and historic photographs from the museum’s archive.

Best of all, you can fly a Spitfire simulator, just like the intrepid men and women of ATA!

 

COLLECTION

The large ATA collection at Maidenhead Heritage Centre includes:

• A complete list of all ATA employees
• Over 60 pilot (male and female) and flight engineer log books
• Hundreds of photographs, many from private collections
• Uniforms and flying clothing, but no ladies tunic yet: can anybody help?
• Navigation equipment
• Personal diaries and letters
• Maps used by ATA pilots
• Aircraft delivery chits
• Official documents
• Newspaper and magazine articles

It is intended to make the ATA collection catalogue and certain documents available on-line.