Bring Your Own Vehicle Day 2026 heads for Sammy’s place

The 2026 edition of the Guild’s Bring Your Own Vehicle Day on Saturday 3rd October will head for the attractions of the New Forest in Hampshire (writes Chris Adamson), to visit not one but two transport collections that will take participants from the ground to the skies over Wiltshire.

Starting point will be the Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum at Bashley near New Milton, on the edge of the forest close to the south coast. Finishing location will be the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection at Old Sarum airfield on the outskirts of Salisbury.

The recently expanded Sammy Miller Motorcycle Museum is home to 526 rare and exotic motorcycles from all over the world. It has been created by motorcycling legend Sammy Miller MBE who was the 11 times British Trials Champion and winner of more than 1,400 competition events across various disciplines.

Throughout his career spanning eight decades, Sammy managed to find the time to restore rare and interesting motorcycles; transforming unrecognisable ‘rust buckets’ into stunning factory-condition working machines. These he kept as a private collection until 1980 when he opened it to the public.

In 1996, Sammy acquired a derelict farmhouse in New Milton and converted it into a location to showcase his bikes and motorcycling memorabilia. The museum is now regarded as housing one of the finest collections of fully restored motorcycles in the world, including factory racers and exotic prototypes. 

Almost every machine on display represents a full-scale renovation. All but six of the motorbikes are in perfect working order (and one of those is made of wood!) and the more popular bikes are regularly fired up for public demonstration at events around the country, such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Sammy himself will be on hand to welcome Guild members and provide access to his workshop (where he can be found working six days a week) – this is not normally open to the public. Joining him to offer personal tours of the collection will be Guild member Alan Cathcart who is the only person outside the museum staff that Sammy allows to ride and test his prized machines.

Guild members and their guests will have several hours to view the extensive collection and then have a light lunch in the new Sammy Pit-Stop café before setting out on a 40-mile cross-country route travelling due north through the New Forest.

As well as the picturesque scenery of the forest and its flora and fauna (that’s bracken and ponies) the route will provide panoramic views over the Wiltshire downs and the market town of Salisbury with its ‘notorious’ spire popular with Russian tourists.

The destination will be the Boscombe Down Aviation Collection, which is housed in two of the last surviving World War One Royal Flying Corps aircraft hangars (built by German POWs) – reserved Guild parking will be provided outside one of the hangars. 

Boscombe Down (which is still an operational military facility nearby) has been for many years and still is the Government’s main aircraft and missile test facility.

The collection is home to a vast array of operational and test aircraft, fast jet cockpits, helicopters, missiles, simulator trainers and the Royal Flying Corps Museum. Among the aircraft are a Harrier jump jet, Hawk T1, Jaguar GR1, Hawker Hunter, Tornado GR1T, BAC 1-11, Hawker Siddeley Andover, Avro 707A, English Electric Lightning and a Gloster Meteor.

What makes the collection unique is that with a few exceptions it is possible to climb into the cockpit of each aircraft. There is a small café (offering drinks and light snacks) and a craft brewery located within a short walking distance.

Admission to the Sammy Miller Museum (which is at 10am when everyone should have arrived) is free to Guild members, while their partners/guests will be given a 50 per cent discount on the normal admission charges – payable on the day. There is the option of pre-ordering breakfast baps and hot drinks which will be available in the café from 9am onwards.

Group entry fee for the Boscombe Down Collection is £12 per head, again payable on the day. The only upfront cost is a nominal £10 per car administration fee payable to the Guild account at the time of booking.

For those travelling a long distance to reach the starting venue there is the option of staying, on the Friday night, at a small local hotel just five minutes drive from the museum – hotel details can be provided for individual reservations.

There will also be the option of a dinner on the night before for those staying at the hotel and any local Guild members who would like to join them for the meal.

Full details and an entry form can be obtained from Chris Adamson.