"People are expected to travel from as far as Scandinavia", said Jenny Beard, museum Press Officer. Each attendee will receive a tie-on 'luggage' label on which to write their name and evacuation details. "This is a feature of all ERA events and many old friendships are rekindled as a result," added Jenny. James Roffey, Chief Executive of the ERA told the 24 Hour Museum: "we have 2,000 members all over the country. Michael Aspel and former Archbishop of Canterbury, George Carey" are among them. "We encourage people to write stories of their war experiences," he said. "The evacuation story is surrounded in myths. People believe all evacuees came from inner city slums." Mr Roffey, a former evacuee himself, continued: "the Government were planning the evacuation as early as 1922 but it was well into 1938 before plans were firmed up." Another evacuation myth, according to Mr Roffey, is that all evacuees were billeted to the countryside: "many London children were evacuated to Brighton. Then, during the 1940 invasion scare, they were re-evacuated." The ERA will be visiting Woolwich on May 15 and 16, Portsmouth on June 10, and Leicester Square for West End at War, run by Westminster City Council on June 12 and 13. For further information on Friday’s evacuees reunion contact Imperial War Museum North on 0161 836 4007 or the Evacuees Reunion Association on 01777 816644.-Alan Morisson.

Photo: soon visitors to Verulamium Museum will be able to connect with the past through their mobile phones. Courtesy St Albans Museums.

"This will allow us to reach new users and audiences, whether it is for leisure or educational purposes," said Alison Coles, a spokesperson for St Albans Museums. "At the same time it will preserve these sites for future generations," she added. The technology will see text and audiovisual material sent to visitors’ mobile phones or PDAs as they walk through the grounds. As the majority of the ancient city is underground, this will inform the experience of visitors, enhancing their understanding of what life was once like. Because of the way the technology operates, users will be able to keep the information after leaving the site. Peter Walters, UK representative of the IST programme believes that this initiative highlights the importance of technology to unlocking the secrets of the past. "Historical and cultural institutions could bring to life thousands of ancient sites throughout Europe," he said. "Imagine the voice of an ancient Roman or Greek talking about Pompeii or the ruins at Delphi or Olympia." Verulamium came into existence during the late Iron Age, and became a wealthy provincial town, one of the most significant in the Roman Empire. The museum already boasts a range of displays, from the some of the finest mosaics outside the Mediterranean to touch screen databases.-Tom Brigs.

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