THERE was plenty of memory magic at an exhibition put on by the Evening Mail especially for residents of a care home.

Evening Mail librarian Heather Horner and editorial administrator Sheila Atkinson paid a visit to Risedale at Aldingham Nursing Home on Tuesday to put on a special session all about local history.

The pair went equipped with bundles of old newspapers, famous stories from years gone by, recent nostalgia pieces, and black and white photographs of major events to show the people who live at Aldingham Hall.

The whole idea of the event was to allow elderly residents of Aldingham to reminisce, share memories of when they were younger and chat about how Furness has changed over the years.

It proved to be a hit with residents as the articles and pictures sparked lots of conversations and interaction between residents and staff.

Jan Evans, receptionist at Aldingham, said the event was very successful and hoped there might be a second.

She said: "It was a good afternoon and they enjoyed it. They enjoyed looking through the photos. It brought back some memories. They really benefited from it."

The exhibition was arranged with the home's activity coordinators.

Many of the residents at Aldingham live with dementia and events like this help increase understanding of the perspective of somebody who might have memory or perception impairments.

The session was also a learning experience for members of staff as well as Heather and Sheila who found out lots more about the residents and their lives.

One of the favourite parts of the exhibition was looking through how advertisements in the Evening Mail have changed over time, with imagery, language styles and political correctness all changing over the decades along with society.

Each resident at Aldingham was also given a memories book for free, with each showing articles from different periods of time such as the First and Second World War and covering different parts of Furness.

The exhibition charts how the Evening Mail has changed since its very first edition back in 1898 when it was called the North-Western Daily Mail.

For more about local history, see the Evening Mail's Memories page every day.

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Resident Audrey Dalton at the session. LEANNE BOLGER


Resident Joe Finnie looks through his memories book. LEANNE BOLGER