Memories galore roll into town

Memories of disco fever, chopper bikes, the rise of punk, the death of Elvis and the Queen's Silver Jubilee are set to transport Stafford shoppers back in time to 1977.

An exhibition called "The King, the Queen and Disco Fever" will be onboard a new mobile museum which will be touring the region later this month.

The museum rolls into town on April 18, inviting people to hop on and have a look at the exhibition which compares the Britain of 1977 to that of 2007.

It will be outside the Shire Hall Gallery in Market Square, from 10am to 4pm.

The exhibition focuses on life in the home, technology, current affairs, sport, toys, games and fashion.

This first mobile museum has been run by Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire councils over the past few years.

Staffordshire County Council's arts and museum service has been working closely with museum services from other areas in the West Midlands to extend the service across the region.

With funding from Renaissance West Midlands, the project is now to be rolled out across the whole of the West Midlands from next year, including a vehicle to cover Staffordshire, Wolverhampton and the Black Country.

"Museum on the Move" aims to provide a community-based service, encouraging life-long learning and improving access to the county museum collections through touring exhibitions that are changed every year.

The museum can visit schools, training centres, sheltered housing, events, market places, shopping centres and many other venues.

It is heated and fitted with an external video screen, computer equipment, stabilisers, a canopy and full wheelchair access.

County Councillor Maureen Compton, cabinet support member for culture and heritage, said: "This is a great way to widen access to museum collections by taking them to people who do not or cannot come to them. We look forward to this service being operational in Staffordshire from 2008."