Step back into the world of Ladybird Books from the 1970s and 1980s

Exhibition is running until 25 April

A popular exhibition which attracted almost 25,000 visitors when it was shown at Charnwood and Harborough Museums has opened at Melton Carnegie Museum today (21 January).

People who remember Ladybird Books from the 1970s and 1980s, or those wanting to discover them for the first time, are being urged not to miss H is for House: Living in a Ladybird Home.

The exhibition transports visitors back into the world that will be familiar to millions of people who grew up with Ladybird Books.

Visitors will be able to see original Ladybird Books, as well as familiar household items of the 1970s and 80s from the Leicestershire Museums Collection, including a trim phone, Hoover vacuum cleaner and a teasmade.

There will also be the opportunity to recover lost dialling skills on a rotary telephone, have a go at drawing the objects on display to create Ladybird-style illustrations or play in the child-sized kitchen styled on the museum’s 1980s dolls house.

The exhibition is sure to appeal to anyone who remembers playing with the same toys as Peter and Jane, wearing the same clothes or ringing their friends on a similar telephone.

H is for House made its debut at Charnwood Museum in 2018. In the 11 weeks it was open, the exhibition saw a total of 18,400 visitors through the doors, making it Charnwood Museum’s most successful exhibition since 2015.

The exhibition also ran at Harborough Museum from February to June last year, when it attracted 6,500 visitors – meaning that during its two runs, almost 25,000 people saw H is for House.

"Ladybird Books are fondly remembered by generation of people who read them as children – including me. H is for House is a fascinating exhibition which is well worth visiting. It has been a huge success with audiences at Charnwood and Harborough Museums and I am delighted that it is now opening in Melton, where even more people will get the chance to see it."

Councillor Richard Blunt, cabinet member for heritage, leisure and arts

Entry to the exhibition – which runs until Saturday, 25

April - is free. Melton Carnegie Museum is open from 10am to 4.30pm Tuesday to Saturday. Find out more on the museum’s website at www.meltonmuseum.org

Melton Carnegie Museum Thorpe End, Melton Mowbray LE13 1RB