OFFICIALS at the World of James Herriot are asking local people to unearth their memories for a Second World War exhibition.

The museum is preparing to launch its Home Grown exhibition around a dig for victory theme.

The museum's garden, in Kirkgate, Thirsk, is being turned into a wartime vegetable plot for the exhibition, opening next month.

The Home Grown display will see 1940s varieties of vegetables grown in the plot to recreate ration times.

To do this, the museum needs local people to recount memories of the time, along with photographs, clothes, tools and seed packets.

Alison Scurrah, centre manager, said: "During the Second World War, residents were encouraged to transform their gardens into mini-allotments.

"But it wasn't just gardens - flower beds and parkland were also dug up for vegetable planting.

"This exhibition will celebrate the wartime Grow Your Own campaign, which was launched using one of the most memorable slogans of the conflict - dig for victory.

"We want to recreate that time - staff have already been busy preparing our allotment. But we need the help of local people with their memories and artefacts to bring this exhibition to life."

The exhibition runs from Saturday, May 3, to Tuesday, November 11, with the centre open from 10am-5pm.

Entry is £5.50 for adults, £4.30 for concessions and £3.90 for children.

A talk, entitled Digging for Victory, by local expert Mike I'Anson, takes place on May 22 from 7-9pm. Tickets cost £6 from the World of James Herriot.