LOCAL people’s stories will feature in a special exhibition at a Tameside museum to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day and VJ Day.
The appropriately-titled exhibition ‘Victory!’ at Portland Basin in Ashton-under-Lyne will be dedicated to an important moment in the country’s history.
It will reflect on how the nation celebrated, and deeply reflected, in 1945 as years of war in Europe and the Far East came to an end.
The exhibition will draw on the award-winning Ashton museum’s social history collection, as well as that of the Manchester Regiment whose depot Ladysmith Barracks was on Mossley Road, and will feature images from Tameside Local Studies and Archives Centre.
That’s not all as the shops on Portland Basin’s old street will also be decorated, alongside displays looking at what people had to endure on the home front – such as rationing and air raid precautions.
The museum on Portland Place will be hosting an event for families on July 30, which will include a visit from the Manchester Regiment history group, craft activities, dressing up and sing-a-longs with wartime characters.
The exhibition will open on Saturday, July 19, and will run until March 22, 2026.
It has been funded by nearly £20,000 through Museum Development North, courtesy of Arts Council England and the government. The funding will also be used to buy a new museum specification display case, which will be part of the project’s legacy.
The museum, which is free to enter, is open Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am to 4pm.
Councillor Leanne Feeley, Tameside Council’s Executive Member for Lifelong Learning and Culture, said: “This really is a top quality exhibition and I would strongly encourage people to come and see it.
“It allows visitors to experience the party atmosphere felt at the end of the war by some, yet at the same time be reminded of the thanks and remembrance we owe to those who endured so much for our freedom.”