THERE is still a chance to visit the successful golden jubilee exhibition running for a further two weeks at Okehampton's Museum of Dartmoor Life — and visitors might even be able to unravel a mystery at the same time.

One of the exhibits is a picture taken of the staff and students at Okehampton College — but the photograph is not dated and museum curator Maurie Webber is eager to find out when it was taken.

Maurie said: 'We were hoping local people would be able to date it for us. Mr Cook, who was an art teacher at the college, reckons it's pre-war because there was a teacher in it who was a conscientious objector and he lost his job during the war.'

Maurie said the exhibition, which includes artefacts from the 1950s, television footage of the Coronation and various memories of the big event, has been very successful.

'It's certainly attracted a lot of people — it's exceeded our expectations,' said Mauri. 'The weekend of the jubilee itself was fantastic, we had so many people coming in.'

One of the exhibits is a reproduction of one of the ten heraldic banners which Mr Cook created for the Coronation.

'The original banners were made out of brown paper and hessian-backed, but when they came to decorate the high street, the weather was so bad they had to hang them in the market hall, where they remained for years,' said Maurie.

In addition to the jubilee exhibition, the museum is a treasure trove of local information, invaluable for anyone researching their family history.

Maurie said: 'We have a lot more here than people realise and the chances are we can help — people are often surprised how big the place is.

'We have a very big photo archive of not only Dartmoor but all the villages, events and people. We have recorded memories of people who have lived here a long time, a lot of documents relating to the area and we have the censuses for 1851, 1881 and 1891 for the Okehampton parish.

'We tried to get the 1901 census but it was horrendous to get hold of.'

Maurie said the museum has a 'hands-on' policy where possible, whereby artefacts can be touched, rather than viewed behind glass.

'Obviously, there are certain things you can't touch, but I work on the basis that if things have been around for hundreds of years, a few more fingers won't make much difference,' she said.

The museum is also an important facility for young people in the area and from further afield — there is presently an exhibition of work by children from six primary schools.

Elisabeth De Tisi, a volunteer at the museum, said: 'To see their own work exhibited somewhere other than school is really quite exciting for them.'

Elisabeth said she found volunteering work at the museum fascinating — which she will be promoting at the next volunteer's day on July 11.

'We want to encourage more people to become volunteers, particularly younger people with some bright new ideas — it's one of the ways the museum will carry on in the future.'

The Museum of Dartmoor Life is open from 10am until 5pm and at the moment, for an extended period, entry is free although contributions are welcome.

Anyone who would like to find out more about voluntary work at the museum is welcome to come along to the volunteer day on July 11 at 2pm or call 01837 52295.