Express & Star

Animal Encounters returns to Oak House Museum

Scores of visitors turned out at a Black Country museum for the return of one of its most popular events.

Published
Meeting 'Timone' the meerkat, is Isabelel McGuigan, aged 10, of Wednesbury, with Oreo and Friend's manager Andy Jonas, of Sheffield, at the Oak House Museum, West Bromwich..

More than 200 people packed out the Oak House Museum in West Bromwich for a chance to get up close and personal with dozens of animals – including snakes, hedgehogs, a skunk and star of the show Timone the meerkat.

The Animal Encounters event, run by Oreo and Friends, saw the museum's phones ringing off the hook and dozens more turning up on the day to try and get tickets.

Lesley Rhodes, 46, visitor services officer, said the museum could have put the event on three times over with the amount of interest it received.

She said: "At the whole event we had 231 people/ We had three sessions running throughout the day.

"We could have followed it three times over. We had about fifty phone calls on the morning of the event. It is so popular – It worked out quite well."

The day came as part of Oak House Museum's weekly themed bid to entertain its guests – with events planned throughout the summer.

Between noon and 4pm on August 8 and August 9 the museum will hold its Fairy Tale Week where visitors are invited to dress as a character from their favourite fairy tale or book.

A range of fairy tale theme trails and quizzes will also be put on throughout the event.

Also coming up at the venue is Archaeology Week, which is all set to take place on Tuesday August 14, Wednesday 15 and Thursday 16 August between noon and 4pm.

The events, back by popular demand, will see children get the chance to become an archaeologist for the afternoon.

Visitors will take part in a sandpit dig to find archaeological treasures, clean up their finds and find out more in the museum's post excavation analysis area.

For more information on the events call the venue on 0121 553 0759.