The museum is located in Woodford, at the site of the former Woodford Aerodrome, on Chester Road, Stockport.
Former Avro Heritage Centre
The Heritage Centre had five rooms containing displays and photos about AVRO, including models of aircraft designs. It also has an archive, as well as a small shop. It was only open for tours on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and visits were only possible by prior appointment. It was located in Woodford's personnel block, and was operated by volunteers.
Museum
As part of the deal to sell Woodford Aerodrome for redevelopment in December 2011, BAE agreed to fund a new heritage centre on the site. BAE Systems and Avro Heritage Trust commissioned the design and construction of the new museum. It was constructed by Conlon Construction and Cassidy + Ashton. The former fire station of the aerodrome has been renovated to host the new museum, which is an ironic choice of location given that a substantial amount of Avro's documentation were lost in a fire at BAE Chadderton in 1959. The site is 2.39 acres in size. The museum has an exhibition hall, a gallery, a cafe, reading rooms, and classrooms. Construction started in August 2014, and it opened in November 2015. BAE have handed over the museum building to the Avro Heritage Trust. The new museum is 70% larger than the previous centre. It holds Avro Heritage Trust's collection of over 30,000 artefacts on aircraft development, including over 10,000 artefacts and memorabilia from the site in of space. 80% of the collection will be on display, with the other 20% on rotation display over the course of a year. The exhibition includes an Avro VulcanB2 bomber XM603, on permanent display adjacent to the museum. The bomber was built at Woodford, and was used by the RAF. The nose and cockpit section of an Avro Vulcan XM602 is also on display, and visitors are able to sit in it. Murals that used to be located in Woodford's employee restaurant are displayed in the main exhibition hall. As well as XM603 & XM602 the Museum now has several other nose sections :-
Nimrod XV235 - it will be available to visit in early 2018
Canberra - WK118 - no access on board to visitors but it is low enough for easy viewing inside through the access hatch.
VC10 XV106 - on loan to the museum. Accessible on public days for a small payment at reception.
Anson G-AGPG - accessible via a small step from the back.
HS 748 G-ORAL - it will be accessible later in 2018 once some restoration is complete.
Lancaster S for Sugar replica - pre booked tours are planned to be available. Access is by steps at the rear.
The Nimrod, VC10 & 748 are on external display and access may be restricted during bad weather. In addition all aircraft access is subject to volunteer availability to man the exhibits. Contact the Museum if a particular aircraft is of interest. Visit the Museum website for more information on all the aircraft including the S for Sugar story. Plans were submitted in February 2014; planning permission was approved on 20 May 2014. The museum opened 13 November 2015.
