CHILDREN from near and far are flocking to Northwich to learn from thousands of years of history.

Weaver Hall Museum, in London Road, is being inundated with school visits after the new National Curriculum began in September.

Tom Hughes, the museum's education officer, said: "We’ve had our busiest time for several years, with schools coming from right across Cheshire and even into Wales, Lancashire and Staffordshire.

"Many of the new topics on the history curriculum aren’t available as resources elsewhere and so schools are coming to Northwich to help pupils’ learning in a very hands-on way, I think it’s something that we can be proud of in Northwich.

"The museum has the best collection of Bronze Age artefacts in the region and has recently had some excellent replicas produced for children to use in the new prehistory workshops, and our Viking home is also proving very popular with schools wanting to experience some living history.”

Tom has also witnessed an increase in the amount of pupils coming to study the Great Fire of London.

“This has been one of our most popular workshops for many years and I’m pleased it’s continuing to be an exciting part of schools history," he said.

"It gives me plenty of chance to dress up and don the periwig to become Samuel Pepys.

"We’ve had 180 pupils in the past three days coming to the museum to find out what happened in the famous disaster of 1666.

"A major TV drama about the fire is about to start and I’ll be watching avidly to see how it compares with the real events which we relate to the schools.”

Local connections to the Great Fire in the museum displays including wattle-and-daub pieces, a Restoration era wine bottle which had been buried in Northwich just as Mr Pepys buried his in London during the fire, and some firemarks, a kind of plaque developed in the aftermath of the disaster to show insurance had been paid.

Several of the museum’s schools workshops also include archaeology workshops exploring local treasures, including a Roman cavalry helmet found in Northwich and 3,000-year-old pottery and metalwork.

Visitors can experience some of the archaeology themed activities from 2pm to 5pm on Sunday, October 19.

For more information visit weaverhallmuseum.org.uk