Montrose Air Station Museum — Attraction in Scotland

From the outside, Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre looks a fairly humble endeavour. It is located in some of the original wooden and corrugated steel buildings which formed part of the air station formed way back in 1913. The surrounding area, which in its heyday formed the airfield, has been built up over the years and now some pretty unattractive industrial units surround and overshadow the air station. Don’t be put off by its back-street location and lack of razzamatazz. Inside, the museum is a relevation.

This a great place to visit whilst in Montrose. It is of interest to all age groups from young kids keen to learn about Montrose's place in the history of aviation, or just keen on aeroplanes, to older people who can revisit the days of their youth.

My husband and I took our 8 year-old grandson [a would-be pilot of the future and reveller in all things military] for what we imagined [from the outside] would be a brief visit. Some two hours later we emerged fired with enthusiasm and resolved to return just a few days later when the museum was to have an open weekend to promote the attraction generally and, in particular, to celebrate the arrival of their latest acquisition, a full-sized Spitfire replica which now dominates the entrance to the museum and its sheer diminutive beauty somehow manages to take the eye away from the stockpiles of materials in the adjoining builders’ merchants. The second visit was a great day out because there were air displays and many planes flown in specially for the occasion. The weather was also spectacular!

Now, most people visiting will not enjoy the benefit of the air displays and all the extra attractions of that day but they will still enjoy the basic offerings of wartime memorabilia and realistic time-settings - typical forties living room, pilots' quarters, etc. The greatest feature of the exhibition is the amount of 'hands-on' attractions for youngsters. So many museums forbid touching and feeling - and it's perfectly understandable that they want to protect their exhibits - but such a policy does detract a little from the experience. In Montrose Air Station Heritage Centre there are very few such prohibitions. Indeed, kids are positively encouraged to have a hands-on experience - trying on uniforms, handling helmets, guns, climbing on armoured vehicles, winding the wartime sirens. There's also a classroom area with games and activities and a flight simulator to experience flying a Spitfire or a Lancaster, etc. There are exhibits aplenty to keep kids amused for a long time. Best of all for the kids is that admission is free and the charge for accompanying adults is only £5 with concessions available too.

The Centre is staffed by volunteers who are only too keen to tell the visitors anything they want to know and, in our experience, they were particularly keen to interact with the children. There is also a shop where you can buy lots of toys, models, etc. to remember your day. The prices in the shop are good too!

Being operated entirely by volunteers, there is clearly a limit to what they can do but one thing that they really should consider is the opening of a small cafe to provide drinks and snacks for visitors and to boost their revenue. I don't know if they have the space or the inclination but I believe that it would add to the appeal of what is a great attraction in Montrose. All credit to the volunteers; they do a great job and deserve as much support as...

As a former member of the RAF I was told about the Heritage Centre by a friend and he highly recommend a visit. As we were staying in Montrose for a couple of nights my wife and I went to have a look. On approach to the site it was very apparent that you were in the area of a former RAF station due to the old tin hangers. Entering the reception we were greeted by the lovely two ladies who gave a comprehensive guide to the exhibits which are located in separate sheds/hangers around the site. The subject matter was very interesting and well worth a read, also the examples of aircraft pieces and the aircraft especially the 2 WW1 aircraft were as good as the day they were built. We were also allowed access into one of the sheds containing a Mk1 Hawker Hunter aircraft. It was probably sourced from one of the RAF Training Units such as Halton as the airframe has been sectioned allowing you to see into the innards of the aircraft. Many thanks to the Chairman for our interesting chat I enjoyed it and I only broke into a small sweat when I became aware of the Hunter. Checked for you, it was an Avpin starter and not ##@# Cartridge starter!🤣 George and Judith...

The centre is quite small with a limited amount to see, however, don't let that put you off, it's a great way to spend a couple of hours and I'd very much recommend it. You'll see some vehicles, planes, and there's buildings to explore as well as a wealth of information pertaining to the the once vast Montrose Station. If you're happy to stop and read some of the information and view the photos, you can spend an hour or two here. When we visited (15/10/21) not everything had reopened, a couple of the buildings and the cafe were still closed, yet we were there for 1h 45m. The staff are very polite and friendly, especially the lady who sold us the model planes in the gift shop and the gentleman in the Hawker Hunter shed. The gentleman took so much time with my kids, they asked lot's of questions and he answered them all! Having knowledgeable people man these exhibits really makes all the difference when visiting. All in all, we had a great time and we'd recommend others give...