Wish you weren't here!

BACK in the steam age, art deco travel posters extolling the delights of UK holiday destinations and encouraging families to travel there by train are now widely considered significant works ofart.

However, the National Railway Museum has reimagined 10 of them, tweaking their design to encourage visitors not to go to these choice destinations - and instead observe the Government Covid- 19 lockdown travel restrictions.

The redesign was staged by the York museum some weeks before the restrictions on travel ( in England only- Wales and Scotland initially retained the ban on travel) were relaxed on Wednesday, May 13, allowing people once again to drive to the coast or inland beauty sports for the daybut not to stay there overnight. Hotels, pubs and guest houses were closed, and police were given the powers to turn campers back and fine them.

At several coastal resorts across the UK, there were numerous reports of local residents expressing anger towards visitors, many of who were said to be flouting social distancing rules.

Some local councils like Great Yarmouth even asked would- be daytrippers to stay away, despite the Government relaxation on May 13.

Designed to show support for key workers, including those working in the rail industry, the set of 10 reimagined popular travel posters features vintage artwork, but with new messages updated to reflect the Government's travel advice. The posters revised invite people to ' visit when this is all over' or to ' visit on line' instead.

The museum has a collection of 10,700 posters and other railway artwork dating from 1804 to the present day. Director Judith McNicol said: "At a time of widespread travel restrictions, we hope that re- creating a selection of the most popular travel posters will enable people to enjoy some of their favourite holiday destinations while celebrating the style and glamour of these works of art. This is also a way for us to show our support for the nation's keyworkers, including many of the 115,000 railway workers who are continuing to keep things running during this time:'

Part of the Science Museum Group, the NRM closed to the public on March 17, as part of measures to control the spread of coronavirus. However, despite temporary closure, the Group's collection is still available to explore online at: collection. sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/

The set of reimagined posters is available to download for free from: biog. railwaymuseum.org.uk/ vintage- travelposters- reimagined/

■ All posters © National Railway Museum Science & Society Picture Library.