We’ll Meet Again

The displays at STEAM are transformed to recreate the era of the Second World War. All staff dress in period costume and teachers and pupils are also encouraged to arrive dressed 40s style to add to the wartime atmosphere. You could even bring a rationed lunch!

Many more ideas can be found in the learning resources at the bottom of this page.

We have a superb collection of original handling artefacts and authentic costume from World War Two for the children to enjoy and try on throughout the day, as well as a meticulously researched reconstruction of a public Air Raid Shelter and an Evacuation Carriage.

Each class is allocated a Minder who will greet you on arrival, escort you around the carousel of five interactive workshops and manage the timings of your visit.

All of the experiences are delivered in different styles and planned to provide a range of diverse learning opportunities, including role-play, simulation, story-telling, dressing up, speaking, listening and questioning, empathy, observation, imagination and reflection.

• Meet the ARP Warden, listen out for the air raid siren and take cover inside the public shelter. How will you pass the time through the long and terrifying night? What will you find outside, once the raid is over and the All Clear sounds?
• Share the anxiety and excitement as your class become evacuees on the wartime station platform. Climb aboard a World War Two carriage, as you are evacuated from the city. Impress your host families on arrival in the countryside.
• Find out what happens to Betty’s family, whose lives are changed when war breaks out. As Father and sons leave to join the war effort, Mother and daughters are left behind to take on new roles and face household pressures and rationing. Discover some ingenious solutions to wartime shortages and tackle ‘making do and mending’.
• Play with a selection of wartime toys and discover why and how they were fashioned from recycled materials at home. Explore what wartime would have been like for children in the 1940s.
• Explore the role of the railways in World War Two and hear from people who lived through the War themselves!

Most areas within the Museum have wheel chair access, including our Air Raid Shelter.

Our Evacuation carriage can be fitted with a ramp for standard, manual wheel chairs but we apologise that this Victorian carriage does not have a wide enough turning circle for motorised wheel chairs.

We also apologise that wheel chair access to the footplate and tender of Caerphilly Castle Locomotive during We’ll Meet Again is not possible. Alternative interactive activities will be provided.

Please always make us aware of any wheelchair users at the time of booking or before the day of your visit.

Please note that children should under no circumstances bring original or vintage gas masks to the Museum as part of their World War Two visit. Templates for making replicas are provided in STEAM’s additional learning Resources for World War Two.