Bexhill Costume Museum

Everything within the building at Manor Gardens, Old Town, is being painstakingly labelled, boxed up and sent to Bexhill Museum in Egerton Road.

The two museums are amalgamating within a new state-of-the-art building, due to open in the Spring.

Bexhill Museum curator Julian Porter said: "It is actually going to be a long process, but the new museum will allow us to do so much more with it.

"This year it has been a mixture of old costume museum volunteers and museum volunteers working here. Next year it will be a case of training the people who have only worked here to use the new site."

Julian said the new museum will allow a more thorough explanation of the museum's pieces in an historical context for children and students and not just be something for the older generation to reminisce over.

He added: "We will get to explain what the significance of something was and how it was used."

Peter Booth, custodian organiser, said: "For the months I have been running the costume museum I have needed a lot of help and I'm very grateful for the ladies up here who help - two of them are literally in their nineties and come here to give their support."

The new Bexhill Museum is aiming to be open for the start of the summer season in May 2009.