Okehampton’s mayor, Bob Tolley, opened the Museum of Dartmoor Life on Monday (March 21) which officially marked the beginning of the museum’s 2022 season.

The Okehampton museum reopened its doors this week at a celebratory event which saw Cllr Tolley, as representative of the town council, cut the ribbon and welcome the first visitors of the season.

He then enjoyed a special tour of the museum.

Cllr Tolley said: ‘I am delighted to open the Museum of Dartmoor Life for what will be, hopefully, a full, uninterrupted season.

‘I would like to thank [manager and curator] Kristy Turner, trustees and volunteers for the work they have done in ensuring this important asset of the town is up and ready for business.

‘I look forward to full year of school parties returning for educational visits, our railway guests, tourists, and I understand a Queen’s Jubilee exhibition all of which makes for an interesting season to come, and greater numbers visiting the town, it’s other attractions and businesses.’

With the coming of the new season and the increasing number of visitors to the town with the opening of the railway, it is hoped that there will be a greater number of visitors to the museum, which has been closed since early December.

There are plans for a small exhibition about Dartmoor life to be built at the station to encourage passengers to visit the museum.

The current railway-themed exhibition ‘When the Train Came to Town’ will be available to visit until the end of May and a host of new activities planned including Bronze Age fancy dress for children.

Though legally required covid precautions have now been removed, the museum staff say they will still be taking covid precautions to protect the more vulnerable members of the community.

Manager and curator of the museum, Kristy Turner, said: ‘We are very much aware that covid is on everyone’s minds so we are still taking precautions to make the museum a safe and comfortable place to visit.

‘We can no longer insist on mask wearing or using sanitiser but both options are still available here.

‘The good news is we can start to provide more interactive things for children to do such as dressing up like a Bronze Age Dartmoor resident or doing different crafts.

‘At Easter we will be having an egg hunt around the museum and for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee we are hosting a ‘Right Royal Exhibition’ in our John Young Gallery.’

The museum is also calling out for residents to spare at least three hours a week to volunteer at the museum and is asking interested people to visit the museum to find out more.

The Museum of Dartmoor Life began life as a charitable foundation in 1978 in order to provide Okehampton and the north Dartmoor area with museum.

In 1979 the foundation purchased its premises to house the museum exhibits and was first opened to the public in 1981.

Today the museum houses three key collections which cover thousands of years of Dartmoor history, ranging from prehistory to the 20th century.

For more information visit www.dartmoorlife.org.uk.