Two years ago a group of volunteers began interviewing people from Wigton mainly born in the 1940s or earlier about their lives and feelings about the town.

The recordings of these interviews have created an oral history of Wigton and the public are being given the chance to listen to them this weekend at the Market Hall.

Isanna Curwen, who spearheaded the project, along with a group of volunteers have used extracts of the interviews to write children’s stories. Pupils from Thomlinson Junior School and St Cuthbert’s Primary School, both in the town, have illustrated the book, titled Stinging Nettles, Skating in Clogs and other Wigton Stories.

Speaking to The Cumberland News about the project, Isanna, said: “I wanted to run a project that was community minded.

“The children had no help from us or their parents. The drawings in the book are completely their own. The children loved the stories, they were really inspired by what they heard.

“The stories are about every aspect of people’s lives not just the happy memories.”

The book quickly sold out and another one went to print this time endorsed by Melvyn Bragg, David Almond - author of Skellig and Ross Welford - author of Time Travelling with a Hamster.

The exhibition is open to the public featuring the children’s illustrations, Wigton photographs, memorabilia and sound pods where you can listen to the interviews. The exhibition is on at the market hall from 2pm to 6pm on Saturday and 10am to 6pm on Sunday, before moving to the Masonic Hall for two weeks.