Cloverlands Model Car Museum owes its existence to one remarkable woman. At the age of 10 Gillian Rogers was given two Dinky Toy cars by her father – they are still in the collection today.

This started in Gillian a lifetime’s passion for all things automotive. She spent her working life in the car industry in Sussex, owned a full-size version of the large Singer Le Mans model in the museum for 40 years and drove it all over Europe, became a member of the Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), and over her lifetime collected more than 1500 model cars.

When Gillian relocated to mid-Wales the models were displayed in a barn at her home in Llansantfraid and shown to lucky visitors. Bruce Lawson, a trustee of the Institute in the county town of Montgomery, joined the SAH having newly completed a biography of Rolls-Royce founder Charles Rolls, and finding a local contact in the society publications found himself talking to Gillian, who invited him to visit her collection.

When shown the models, all neatly card-indexed, Bruce and fellow trustee Roy Marthews were astounded, and they offered to put the collection on public display in the Institute, which Gillian agreed to.

The display opened in 2015 and while its location was not perfect, up a staircase with no dedicated parking or catering, the collection attracted

many visitors over the next five years, many of whom donated their own models. An article in Model Collector magazine resulted in the offer of a loan of 300 cars from Canada which was later purchased outright, and a collection of 1000 models, including around 300 F1 cars was donated by a collector in Liverpool.

By 2021 the collection numbered more than 6,000 models and was outgrowing the space available in the Institute. After a search for more suitable premises, agreement was reached to add Cloverlands to the Welshpool & Llanfair Light Railway’s recently opened Connections visitor centre in Llanfair Caereinion and the museum transferred to the new site in 2022.

Bruce retired as Chair and a trustee in July 2023 and was succeeded by Andrew Charman, a trustee of the railway and a motoring and motorsport journalist. Andrew has since been leading a project to transform Cloverlands from a 'collection of collections' into a properly-themed museum telling the story of motoring, motorsport and the model car. The Cloverlands team is small in number and with very limited funds so progress on the project has to be measured, but steady progress is being made towards the goal of being recognised as a true model car museum.

Sadly Gillian died in late 2021 and did not see her lifetime’s passion displayed in its new home. Her legacy remains, however in the remarkable collection that forms the core of Cloverlands Model Car Museum.