FROM Victorian schoolrooms to the Somme, from depression years to Dunkirk and D-Day; on farm and fell, at home and work, through war and peace, poverty and prosperity it's all in the new Armitt exhibition.

Staged within the impressive walls of the Armitt Gallery, Museum and Library, And Were You There? Voices of Cumbria, eavesdrops on history through eyewitness accounts of those who were there.

A first for Ambleside and apparently a first in oral history, it runs until February 4 and includes extraordinary memories of ordinary life courtesy of Ambleside Oral Archive.

The show is a fascinating, absorbing audio and visual experience, supported by colourful artefacts and a selection of old photographs from the Armitt's large collection to illustrate the sound extracts available on individual listening audio wands.

Material for the exhibition is drawn from more than 350-recorded interviews, which form the Ambleside Oral Archive, created during the past 28 years by volunteers of Ambleside Oral History Group.

Armitt curator Michelle Kelly says the result of their work is the most comprehensive, detailed social history of community life in a rural area to be found anywhere in the country. That recognition reflects the substantial public funding both for this first exhibition but also the conversion of audio cassettes into digital format, ensuring local history's long-term survival and accessibility for future generations.

It is a people's history' beginning in a world of horse-drawn carriages, earth closets and hiring fairs, and spanning life in the Ambleside, Grasmere and Langdale areas throughout the 20th Century.

The exhibition's aim is to encourage others to set up similar groups, and visitors will be invited to contribute their own memories in a special memory bowl placed inside the focal market cross sculpture, designed by Ambleside artist Pam Williamson The Armitt is open from 10am-5pm. For full details, contact 015394-31212.