Walthamstow Pumphouse Museum

This volunteer-run museum is housed in a former Victorian sewage pumping station and celebrates the industrial and transport heritage of the Lea Valley.

Among other achievements, Walthamstow Was the birthplace of Britain's first petrol-driven car (the Bremer car, now housed in the Vestry House Museum), and was a Pioneer of the aviation industry, witnessing the inaugural flight of the first all British built aircraft, flown by a British pilot.

Walthamstow was also where Britain's first standardised bus was manufactured — the B type buses secured a place in history when many of them served as troop carriers, travelling to and from the trenches of WWI. A 2/3 scale replica 1910 is on display and gives a good idea of what it would be like to travel aboard one; the decommissioned 1968 Victoria Line Underground railway carriage is the real deal however, and has proved a popular location for film crews and fashion shoots, as well as visitors.

The pump house itself is still home to pair of rare19th-century Marshall steam engines that used to operate the pumping station. These can occasionally be seen in action (see website for `running days'). The museum shop stocks books on local history but its main focus is on transport, and rail in particular, with an extensive selection of books and scale models.