CHILDREN are finding out why people in bygone days liked to spend their holidays beside the seaside as Kirkleatham Museum in Redcar opened its latest exhibition.

The Seaside: Puffins, Paddling and Piers opened last week and youngsters from The Oak Tree Primary School in Stockton became the first of 20 schools to get a flavour of how life near the beach used to be.

To give children a feel of those times, they will have the chance to dress up in Victorian costumes - straw boater, waistcoat and wool overcoat for the boys and a Staithes bonnet, pinafore and parasol for the girls.

"We have already had a terrific amount of interest shown in the new exhibition and I am sure we will get more," said the museum's education officers Liz Bates.

"There is no doubt the public will love the chance to look back at the old days and we aim to show children just what it was like too."

Lots of photographs will show how popular the resorts of Redcar and Saltburn were and there are examples of one-armed bandits from sea front amusement arcades, plus details of the wildlife whose habitat is the area of the sands.

There is also the sight of Redcar's famous rock shop, Rockerfeller, complete with all its rock-making equipment, which has been in storage at the museum for more than eight years.