Dress as a pirate and take part in Blists Hill Victorian Town’s themed Treasure Island weekend over the summer Bank holiday, Saturday 25th – Monday 27th August. The fun literary event, which is being held at the open-air museum in Shropshire’s Ironbridge Gorge, is based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s popular maritime book of mutiny and buried treasure.

The last remaining Severn Trow, a cargo boat which operated along the River Severn in the 1800s, will be transformed into Treasure Island’s famous vessel, the Hispaniola, where Long John Silver and Jim Hawkins will judge the best ‘Pirate of the Day’ costume. The winner will have their picture taken by Roland Percy Smitheman at Blists Hill’s own photographic studio in Canal Street.

Watch costumed actors from the Sundial Theatre recreate well known scenes from the novel twice daily and guess where the pirate’s treasure is hidden. There’s a prize if you correctly place your flag on the spot where the treasure chest is located on a two-metre map of the Town in the Good Sheds. Long John Silver will reveal the secret hiding place during the afternoon.

Open 10am to 5pm Blists Hill is one of the Ironbridge Gorge Museums. A great value Annual Passport Ticket allowing entry into all ten museums, valid for twelve months and unlimited return visits, costs £23.25 per adult, £18.75 for the 60 plus, £15.25 for students and children and £64 for a family of two adults and all their children aged up to 18 years in full time education (terms and conditions apply); under 5s free. Activities and workshops vary day-to-day and some carry an extra charge in addition to the museum admission fee. Individual museum entry tickets are also available.

For further information, contact the Ironbridge Visitor Information Centre on Tel: 01952 433 424 or visit www.ironbridge.org.uk The Gorge is easily reached via the M6 and M54 motorways exiting at Telford (M54 junction 4 or 6).

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