A museum in Greater Manchester has been named the north west’s best ‘hidden gem’. The Avro Heritage Museum in Stockport was awarded a Visitor Attraction Accolade by VisitEngland and recognised for its “excellence“ within the visitors' attraction sector. A total of 72 accolades were awarded to attractions across the country, covering all aspects of an “outstanding visitor experience”.
The awards spanned five categories: welcome, quality food and drink, hidden gem, best told story and gold for overall excellence. The awards for 2023-2024 were presented at a celebratory lunch at the British Motor Museum in Warwickshire. They were awarded based on scores that attractions obtained following their annual VisitEngland Visitor Attraction Quality Scheme assessment.
Stockport’s Avro Heritage Museum, which is dedicated to the story of Manchester’s aviation history, was awarded the ‘hidden gem’ accolade. READ MORE: The Manchester park tucked behind a main road with amazing autumn displays The Woodford-based site is where the Avro aircraft company opened 100 years ago, building some of the world’s most famous aircraft, including the Lancaster Bomber. Today the museum contains several aircraft, including the Avro Vulcan B2 XM603 and a replica Avro Type F, which was the first aircraft in the world with a fully enclosed cockpit.
It also features a WWII Blitz virtual reality simulator and offers cockpit tours of its aircraft. The Avro factory, which became BAE Systems,.