What to Expect

1. Meet the Characters

   Meet our historic characters and see if you’ve got what it takes to get the job. 

   • Our new mum to be is busy preparing for her baby's arrival around her shift work in the factory. Can you help to find the items that she'll need?
   • Join the miners on the pit bonk on a strike, can you support their protest?
   • Meet the chimney sweep who is looking to recruit children able to climb inside the chimneys, it's a dirty job but someone has got to do it! 
   • Pop into our brand new for 2026 Woodside Library to see what books the librarian has lined up for story time in the quietest corner of the Museum 

    

2. Activities

   Roll up your sleeves for a hard days graft and try your hand at a whole range of roles from a household servant, miner, shopkeeper, paperboy, or even a hairstylist.

   • Learn the household chores to become a housemaid or an errand runner
   • Discover life on the pit bonk as a young miner
   • Test your speedy wrapping skills and serve customers in the shopkeeper’s role
   • Deliver the day’s headlines as a paperboy
   • Style the perfect vintage do as a hairdresser
   • Take a break to enjoy playtime: traditional skipping songs, street games and races

3. Museum Favourites

   Don't forget, you've got a whole 31 acres to explore while you're here, here are a few of our visitors' favourites...

   • Hop on our vintage transport are take a trip through the decades
   • See incredible live demonstrations and discover the Black Country's industrial heritage
   • Taste the past and explore the menus in our historic food and drink outlets
   • Sit back and enjoy a silent movie starring comedy duo Laurel & Hardy at our Limelight Cinema
   • Enjoy all the fun at the fair including our new Clock Tower, Helter Skelter