OUR agricultural past is being brought to life at the Ryedale Folk Museum thanks to a cash injection from the National Lottery.

A three-year scheme has received £89,500 from the Heritage Lottery Fund and was kicked off with a visit from John Greenway, Conservative MP for Ryedale, and Heritage Fund representatives Ray Taylor and Ian Carstairs.

The wide-ranging project will allow visitors to try their hands at age-old country crafts with the help of trained demonstrators.

Research will be carried out into collection items making more information available to the public; and farming and landscape demonstrations will be developed to give visitors a greater understanding of this aspect of history.

Disabled access is to be improved through practical improvements at the museum.

Martin Watts, curator of the Hutton-le-Hole-based museum, said: "This is a wonderful project that will bring the museum and its collections to life as never before. We are very grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for this opportunity."