All you can do is step back in time at Museum of Flight

Clydesdale horse logging demonstrations, wartime encampments, battle reenactments, plus 1940s singing and dancing and tales of life on the home front are taking place this weekend.

They will all feature as part of an exciting line-up of activities at the National Museum of Flight’s award-winning Wartime Experience event at the East Lothian attraction this Sunday 12 May.

The family day out includes a theatrical tribute to the animals of the First World War from the Les Amis D’Onno equine stunt team. The performance tells the story of the recruitment, training and subsequent rehabilitation of the nation’s warhorses and highlights the role of dogs as messengers on the front line.

Make Do and Mend talks by costume historian and dressmaker Meredith Towne in the Vintage Tea and Cake marquee will explore how women used to maintain a fashionable wardrobe amidst the shortages of wartime Britain. The marquee will also host singing trio the Ragtime Dolls performing a medley of 1940s favourites, with dancing sessions and classes provided by the Fly Right Dance Company.

Visitors will be able to interact with living history groups in British, German and American wartime camps and to watch military tactic demonstrations and a Second World War battle re-enactment.

Inside the National Museum of Flight’s hangars, visitors can discover the science behind Second World War weaponry, play a variety of table-top war games and join in family-friendly crafts and activities.

Steve McLean, general manager, National Museum of Flight said: ‘Our Wartime Experience event provides an engaging way for families to learn about an extremely important period in the nation’s history. From living history, crafts and music to the chance to discover the role of animals in wartime and to see the innovative ways women on the home front retained a fashionable edge, there really is something for everyone. We’re looking forward to welcoming visitors to this popular event again this year.’

Entry to the Wartime Experience event includes the chance to explore the Museum’s fascinating aviation collections including 1940s Spitfire and Messerschmitt aircraft and Scotland’s Concorde.

They can learn about East Fortune’s history as a wartime airfield in the Fortunes of War exhibition, which also tells the story of the famous R.34 airship which completed a double crossing of the Atlantic in 1919.

Wartime Experience at the National Museum of Flight takes place on Sunday 12 May from 10am until 5pm.

Ticket costs: Adult £14.50, concession £12.50 (Over 60s, students with valid NUS or Young Scot card, unemployed with ID, disabled people and carers of disabled people go free), child £9.50 (under 5s free), family ticket £38 (2 adults and 2 children). Tickets include museum admission.

To book, visit www.nms.ac.uk.

The National Museum of Flight is open seven days a week from 10am until 5pm.  Visit www.nms.ac.uk/wartimeexperience or www.nms.ac.uk/flight for details.