TAVISTOCK Museum will be opening its doors for the spring season on Saturday, March 29 with the display spilling out onto the Guildhall square.

A range of military WW2 vehicles, including a replica of 'Vixon Tor', the control jeep used by Major General Gerhardt, commander of the 29th Infantry Division of the US Army, will be on display and it is rumoured that Group Captain Bidgglesworth will make an appearance with his Ford Prefect RAF staff car.

The main exhibition in the museum will again be on the popular theme of the United States Army in Tavistock during WW2. This exhibition will concentrate on the Americans for D-Day 70 years ago and the role played by the 115th Field Hospital on Plaister Down which treated casualties brought back to Tavistock after the landing.

Other exhibitions will include the story of the Abbotsfield Artists and Marie Grace Pearce, a miniaturist who had a studio in the town.

On the ground floor of the museum there is an interpretation room for the Mining World Heritage Site. Here the new HD promotional films of all ten mining areas in Cornwall and West Devon, which make up the World Heritage Site, can be seen.

In the main museum there is a map showing all the significant mines in the Tamar Valley and Tavistock area, together with an interesting collection of mineral specimens from some of these mines.

Roderick Martin, secretary to the Tavistock Museum Charitable Trust, said: 'The museum trust looks forward to another busy but challenging season.

'Last year the museum had over 7,500 visitors but we will be trying to do even better this year. We are to re-open earlier than previous years and we believe that this season the museum will have an important role in supporting local tourism.'

The museum will be open daily between 11am and 3pm until the end of October.