1 Swindon is well-served when it comes to specialist museums. The Richard Jefferies Museum - richardjefferies.org - is based at the Coate farmhouse where the acclaimed Victorian nature writer spent much of his childhood. The museum is filled with rare books and other memorabilia and holds items once owned or used by the author and his loved ones. The museum also hosts a range of special events reflecting Jefferies’ love of community life and the natural world.

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2 Swindon Museum of Computing - www.museumofcomputing.org.uk - is currently open only on Saturdays from 10am until 4pm, but is well worth making a date with. Often said to be the best venue of its kind in the country, the museum charts the history of computing from early and highly complex mechanical devices through far more recent times. There are fascinating and nostalgia-inducing excursions into the history of video games and a variety of other devices which were once at the farthest edge of technology.

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3 The largest of Swindon’s three major specialist museums is, of course, Steam. The Museum of the Great Western Railway is about to enter its 20th year of operation and offers visitors not only an array of fascinating exhibits but plenty of insights into the lives and work of the people who made Swindon a railway town for well over a century. Its website is www.steam-museum.org.uk

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4 The Atwell Wilson Motor Museum in Calne is the only motor museum in Wiltshire. Its oldest exhibits date back more than 90 years to an era in which motoring was reserved entirely for the wealthiest in society - and those employed to drive their newfangled machines. Items of more recent vintage range from exotic Americana to vehicles many a parent or grandparent will remember having in their garages in the 1950s, 60s, 70s and 80s. Visit www.atwellwilson.org.uk

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5 Like the Atwell Wilson Motor Museum, Cotswold Motoring Museum - www.atwellwilson.org.uk - in Bourton-on-the-Water - has a roster of full-size exhibits which dates back to the dawn of the motoring era. They range from affordable family transport to vehicles most people could only have dreamed of owning. There are caravans and motorcycles as well as cars, while another aspect of the museum’s appeal is a comprehensive collection of transport-related toys, ranging from small models to pedal cars.

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6 The REME museum - www.rememuseum.org.uk - is based at MoD Lyneham. It presents the complete story of the Corps of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, with exhibits including uniforms, weapons, medals and tools. Specialist vehicles based on tanks are among the larger exhibits.

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7 One of Weston-super-Mare’s lesser known attractions is also the largest of its kind in the world. The Helicopter Museum - has more than 100 machines in its collection, which is housed in a hangar. The helicopters on show represent an array of eras and purposes.

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8 The star attraction at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton - www.fleetairarm.com is surely Concorde 002, one of the earliest airworthy examples of the supersonic craft which became a symbol of British engineering expertise. Other aircraft on show include the first jet to make a carrier landing at sea.

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9 The Tank Museum at Bovington in Dorset - www.tankmuseum.org - is perhaps better suited as a destination during a long weekend or holiday rather than a day trip, but nobody with an interested in the military machines which were first used to devastating effect during World War One will fail to be fascinated by the range of vehicles on display. The most recent are still in use in various parts of the world.

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10 The Museum of Army Flying at Middle Wallop in Hampshire - www.armyflying.com - has a collection which charts the full history of Army Aviation. The earliest Army aviators took to the skies beneath balloons in the late 19th century.

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