Cyril Scott Centenary Lecture
7.30pm start
Due to the redevelopment works underway at Coventry Transport Museum, this year's Cyril Scott Lecture is at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum.
It was Cyril Scott who laid the foundations of what is now the Coventry Transport Museum collection and this year’s Scott Lecture celebrates the centenary of his birth.
Scott was appointed Curator of the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum in 1948 when Coventry was still recovering from the blitz. The collection was either in storage or in temporary accommodation. Plans for a cycle museum to house the Bartlett collection were on hold and Coventry’s motor industry was not represented.
Five years later, the idea of an industrial collection, to include motor vehicles, was approved and Scott started to build a collection that would grow into today’s Coventry Transport Museum. The industrial collection was incorporated into plans for the new Herbert that opened in 1960 with eight cars and nearly 100 cycles.
From this point on, the transport collection grew rapidly, outgrowing the Herbert by 1972. By the time it moved to part of the present site as a separate museum in 1980, it consisted of 100 cars, 60 motorcycles and 190 cycles – all thanks to Scott’s enthusiasm and careful collection policies.
This year’s Scott Lecture takes place at the Herbert, where the collection started, with two speakers. As the Transport Museum undergoes major development work, Steve Bagley, its former Head of Collections, will be examining Scott’s legacy and how it has been carried forward. Andrew Scott, former Director of the National Railway Museum, was no doubt influenced by his father’s enthusiasm as the collection began to develop and will provide an inside view of the man. Celebratory refreshments will be served.
How to book
Tickets: £7 per person (£5 for Friends of Coventry Transport Museum)
Book online at the Herbert website by clicking this link
or in person at the Herbert Art Gallery & Museum shop.
Friends of the Coventry Transport Museum can buy their tickets for £5 by calling Anne Dooay on 024 7623 4270 or by email at anne.dooay@culturecoventry.com
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