YOUNG actors from Rowntree Youth Theatre visited the National Railway Museum in York and learned how it felt to be evacuated during wartime Britain.

The youngsters are part of a 60-strong cast who will be performing Lionel Bart's Blitz from June 12 to 17 at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York.

The show is a musical comedy drama based around the lives of a community of East End Londoners in 1940 during the height of the German bombing campaign.

Cast member Neil Foster, who accompanied the children to the museum, said: "The kids were really delighted to be able to come to the Railway Museum because it brings to life the characters they have been portraying on stage.

"Whenever we have young children in the cast, we always treat them to a day out as a reward for all their hard work, and so this visit combines education with a fun day out."

Rowntree Youth Theatre has gone to great lengths to make the production as authentic as possible. For example, the show features sound effects of air raids, sirens, underground trains and the voices of Sir Winston Churchill and Dame Vera Lynn.

Tickets are available through the York Theatre Royal box office, tel 01904 623568. Prices: £7 adults, £5.50 concessions.