The Web Perambulator Museum, More About Us

The Web Perambulator Museum

More About Us

I don’t know what it is about collectors and other assorted enthusiasts, perhaps we are a breed apart or just a little bit mad. Whatever the motivation give us just a hint of a sale for some longed for item or much needed spare part and we drop everything in order to pursue it; maybe its the thrill of the chase.

Picture the scene it was the middle of winter, we’d had hard frosts for several days and nights and snow was forecast, when I heard of a pram sale on the other side of the Yorkshire Moors. The question was should I stay at home like any other sensible adult or set off at the crack of dawn in a van that had seen better days, had no heater and been in winter storage for almost 6 months. Now my van was not in the first flush of youth, nor the second or third come to that, in fact it was a bit scruffy, but it had transported the collection and caravan up and down the country for 8 years. Well of course, covered in green algae the van was brought out of storage and off we went, what else could I do it’s in my genes, unfortunately we didn’t have time to clean it so what the other buyers thought I dread to think.

The sale was at the Silver Cross factory, they were selling off part of a large collection amassed over some 35 years by a gentleman called Jack Hampshire, who sadly is no longer with us. Jack was the numero uno of pram collectors with more than 300 prams in his collection. His book ‘Prams, Mailcarts & Bassinets’ written in the early 1970’s remains the pram collectors bible to this day, recently reprinted it can often be found on Ebay.

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Bettenham Manor, where The Jack Hampshire Museum was once housed.

The man himself

Jack Hampshire.

Taking a nap.

Yes you’ve guessed 2 more were duly purchased and with a lot of pushing, shoving and rearranging we finally got them all in, though the pushchair had to go in the front, so not only was my husband frozen on the way home but squashed as well. (Opps, guess who had forgotten to tell him the heater wasn't working!)

As we were leaving a lady who had bought a lovely bassinet was also on her way home. She was pushing it to the railway station, taking it on the train, then pushing it home at the other end; and I think I’m dedicated.

We eventually arrived home some 12 hours after we had set off, cold, hungry and very tired but very pleased with our purchases, which after a lot of TLC and not a little hard work have been on show at various steam rallies for the last few years.

As to the van, the wheel bearing was protesting loudly when we got home, which meant more work for my brother who keeps me on the road, but it was soon fixed. It gave good service for another year but has since gone to the great scrap yard in the sky!

Prams bought at the sale.

Prams packed in the van.

We arrived at the sale in plenty of time, but very cold. The security guard took pity on us and we were allowed into the building a little early. We had a good look round, placed bids on the prams we were interested in, then had to wait and see if anyone else out bid us. 3 hours later we had 3 large prams, 1 pushchair and 3 dolls prams, we loaded up the van and my husband said we had room for 2 more if we put one on it’s end.