A NEW exhibition at the Westbury Museum, called ‘how we used to live’, is giving people a taste of what life was like for Westbury residents of yesteryear.
Research into the town’s history by the Heritage Society of Westbury has shown the town’s pre-war streets housed more than 100 shops offering everything from hats to haberdashery and while the makeup of the town has certainly changed, the museum collection still houses lots of memories from times past.
Shop receipts and artefacts are just some of the exhibits on show, along with information about the cost of living at the time, the clothes Westbury locals wore, cinema programmes and even old-style light bulbs.
“One of our favourite things on display is our early twentieth century stereoscope complete with slides”, said Heritage Society vice chair, Brenda Payne. “We sometimes think 3D images are new but people were viewing them through machines like this from over a century ago!”
Especially interesting to younger visitors will be a 1950s television, early mobile phones and a 1920s typewriter – a far cry from today’s laptops and iPads. Visitors can handle pre-decimal coinage, look at old toys, sit at a Victorian desk complete with mortar board or dunce’s hat, see old schoolbooks and magazines, or examine the collection of old cameras.
Also on show will be maps of the town, showing its development throughout the years, and albums of historic photographs from the days when the town was jam-packed with shops.
The exhibition, ‘From Hats to Haberdashery’ is now on show. The museum’s next exhibition will celebrate the Royal Jubilee in June, and in August it will host a visit from the town’s oldest resident – an exact replica skull of the pliosaur found in the clay pit near the town.
The museum is housed on the first floor of the town library, and visitors can view a colourful illustrated history of our town on the walls flanking the staircase.
The museum is run by Westbury Heritage Society and staffed by volunteers. It is open during library hours on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday and entry is free. For more information or if you would like to join its team of volunteers visit www.westburyheritagesociety.org.uk or Old Westbury, Wiltshire on Facebook.
