YORK CASTLE MUSEUM SIXTIES EXHIBITION

I recently spent a long weekend over at the medieval city of York. A fascinating place full of history and surrounded by ancient castle walls. It was once the site of a Roman Fort, and later a Viking settlement. Following the Norman Invasion in 1066, William the Conqueror  marched on York and in 1068 work began on York Castle and it's keep, the Clifford Tower.

Move forward nearly a thousand years and I find myself visiting the York Castle Museum. While the museum is proud to celebrate it's heritage, I was more attracted to their exhibition on kids stuff in Britain in the fifties and Sixties.

Here's just some of the exhibits.

Jigsaws  showing what looks like some examples of Walt Howarth's work.

The Raliegh 'Chopper'.  A great design but not that practical.  All the weight at the back meant the small front wheel could only just steer the thing.

A holiday at either Butlin's or Pontin's was the stuff of dreams for us kids in the sixties.

I always felt that Corgi toys were a bit more upmarket and slightly better made than Dinky or Matchbox.

Dinky toys were represented by Thunderbird 2 & FAB 1.. There's also a Rosenthal Thunderbird 3.

Dalekmania makes a small appearance with the Dalek Pocketbook and single Rolykin.

Thunderbirds do have a larger presence. The titles to Thunderbirds are Go play on one of the small screens.

There's a full size mock up of a Mercury capsule, into which visitors are encouraged, at their own risk to sit inside and experience how cramped it was.

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Here's a list showing the different Mercury missions and yet another connection to Thunderbirds. 

Some of the other toys displayed. I was pleased to see Dan Dare represented.

There's obviously a lot more to York Castle Museum - an exhibition on WW1, a full size mock up of a Victorian Street and living rooms through the ages to name a few.

The fifties room with a Dan Dare Walkie-Talkie.