British construction equipment manufacturer JCB is showcasing its history in the form of a permanent exhibition at its Rocester headquarters.
The centerpiece of the exhibition is a giant skeletal model of a JCB JS 200 tracked excavator, created by renowned artist Benedict Radcliffe.
Some of Radcliffe's work is on display in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.
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The finished artwork took five months to complete, used around one kilometer of steel rod and weighs around two tonnes -- a tenth of the weight of the actual machine it represents.
The 5 million pound exhibition called 'The Story of JCB' charts the company's links to industry in the 1820s.
JCB Chairman Lord Anthony Bamford, who has been heading J C Bamford Excavators (JCB) since 1975 said: "We are an innovative company and our success over the past 66 years has been driven by innovation and that is at the very core of 'The Story of JCB.' It is a showcase of our unique story and something we can all be very proud of."
Bamford is slated to assume his seat in the House of Lords on November 7.
"This is an extremely exciting development. It is the first time that the history of our company and my family's roots in manufacturing has been told in the form of a permanent exhibition."
The exhibition includes 14 zones which take visitor on a journey through time, starting in the 1820s when the Bamford family were blacksmiths, through to the present day and JCB's ECO range of fuel-saving machines.
The exhibition is also populated by 10 of the landmark JCB machines through the ages which had to be craned through the roof. This includes one of the company's first products, a hydraulic tipping trailer, and a 1962 JCB 3 backhoe loader which has been restored.
It also showcases how JCB name was built into a global brand, innovation ethos, its growth as an agricultural machinery manufacturer, military products and the development of the JCB engine and the record-breaking Dieselmax car.
The exhibition at present welcomes around 15,000 visitors from all over the world and this figure is expected to rise to 20,000 from next year as a result of the exhibition's development.
