‘Growing up in Louth’ show expected to be one of most popular ever

On view are many photographs of school groups and of young people engaged in leisure activities, oral history recordings provide a unique 1980s listening experience while display boards offer lots of background information. There’s Cat’s Cradle, French knitting, yoyos, Fuzzy Felt, Dominos, a wooden jigsaw and colouring sheets on a special table for children (of all ages) to enjoy.

Organiser Julie Gough said: “We hope it will help visitors to immerse themselves in the period.”

Visitors are invited to write down their memories and submit them to the museum. These will then be word-processed and added to the exhibition.

Museum volunteer Bob Maddams has also created a film showing excerpts from the opening sequences of children’s TV programmes from the period.

Julie Gough added: "Much as William Brown’s panorama provides a picture of everyday life in Louth in 1844, so the exhibition offers a snapshot, in contemporary media, of life for a generation of young people who lived in a much simpler time than do the children of today. It was a time when entertainment meant playing for hours with simple toys such as Fuzzy Felt and Meccano, or reading adventure stories whilst maybe waiting for children’s television to start at five o’clock.”

- The museum, at 4 Broadbank, Louth, is open 10 am to 4 pm on Wednesdays to Saturdays: £5 (£4 for concessions) free for under 18s. The exhibition runs until October 25. For more information see https://www.louthmuseum.org.uk/.