VISITORS to a museum can take a trip down memory lane this weekend.

Life for families during the Blitz, in the early years of the Second World War, is portrayed in an exhibition at the Discovery Museum, Newcastle.

It reflects the experiences of thousands of children who were evacuated from their city homes to rural areas at the height of the German bombing raids.

Many were unaware of where they were going, who they were to stay with and when they would return.

The museum has worked with Tyne and Wear Archives Service to hold a day of activities looking at the process of evacuation, on Saturday.

Free activities will be held from 10.30am to 12.30pm, and from 2pm to 4pm, and will include storytelling sessions and the reminiscences of two former evacuees.

Visitors will be encouraged to use the stories to imagine what life was like for evacuated children and then be asked to write a postcard home as if they were an evacuee.

Documents will also be on show to outline the process used to register evacuees.

The activity day, to mark National Storytelling Week, is part of the museum's A Soldier's Life display, which features a reconstructed air raid shelter.

Everyday objects from the period are also on display, including ration books and gas masks.

To book a place on the storytelling sessions, call 0191-277 2181, or 0191-277 2183.

The museum is open from 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday, and from 2pm to 5pm on Sundays. Admission is free.

Published: 03/02/2004