THE dedicated group of volunteers who operate the Museum of Dartmoor Life will be bringing history alive between today (Thursday) and Saturday, as part of the national Heritage Open Days.

In keeping with the Heritage Open Days ethos admission is free on those days when the museum is open from 10.15am to 4.15pm.

At 10.30am and 2.30pm volunteers will lead guided tours.

During these ‘Glimpses into Dartmoor Lives’ visitors will encounter the sorts of people who lived and worked on Dartmoor in the Victorian period. The characters will include the tin miner, blacksmith, railway worker, farmer and Victorian cottage dweller.

The museum is also asking visiting families to help them plan a museum makeover so the volunteers can show more of the stories visitors want to see.

Throughout Heritage Open Days younger visitors can join in a Museum Makers Quest and tell the museum what displays they like and what needs to change.

Manager Andrew Thompson said: ‘It is the volunteers with their enthusiasm which breathes life into the museum and has transformed it in the last three years. The tours were their idea of a new way to bring our displays to life.’