Welcome to Adele’s pop-up 40s museum
AMUM of five was so inspired by her grandparents’ tales from the Second World War, that she now dresses up in vintage 40s gear and takes a pop up museum around schools in North Wales.
Adele Siddle-Ward, from Old Colwyn, dresses up as a Land Girl or a wartime nurse when visiting schools, and shows the children her huge collection of original 1940s wartime goods which includes gas masks, clothing coupons, and a poignant wartime journal written by a soldier from Colwyn Bay.
The 44-year-old mum of five said: “I’ve always had a fascination with the 1940s, my nan and granddad used to talk about that period a lot and I’d listen and take it all in as a child.
“My nan worked in an ammunitions factory and my grandad was a Bevin Boy and worked in the coal mines.
“He was one of four sons, the rest went to war but in case something happened to them he was sent down the mines to try and keep him safe.
“I just think in those days people were more content, even though they had far less than people today.
“They were also far greener, my grandparents never wasted anything and I just think it’s so important for children to learn about their values and to learn about the war.
“It should never be forgotten what that generation did for us.”
Adele who visits the schools for free, says because she is s dressed up she immemediately catches the school pupils attentions.
“The nurse’s outfit is all original, I managed to source it from a woman in Betws y Coed,” she said:
“The kids are fascinated by the woollen cape, and the cheese cloth cap with its embroidered red cross.
“They always look quite shocked when I show them an evacuee’s suit- case with just a few belongings in it, and always look revolted when I tell them that dry eggs were used instead of real eggs.
Adele recently travelled to London to take part in the official VE Concert on Horse Guards Parade.
She said: “I dressed as a Land Girl and met many veterans so it was q quite an emotional experience. “I was gulping back te tears when the a actress Jane Horr rocks was reading out a letter from a s soldier to his pare ents, before he was kil killed. “I also take part in Howarth 1940s Weekend, the village famous for the Hovis advert.
“And I’m pleased to say Colwyn Bay’s 40s Festival is also becoming a really good event, but it’s not just about dressing up, it’s about teaching the younger generations about what great heroes these people were.”