A new exhibition that takes a look at housing in North Lanarkshire through the ages opens at Summerlee on Saturday 20 February.

Titled 'Through the Keyhole - A Glimpse into North Lanarkshire's Homes', the exhibition takes the visitor from the era of the crannog loch dwellings at Drumpellier to the 1960s modernity of Cumbernauld and today's new developments at the former Ravenscraig steelworks site.

Included in the exhibition will be a recreated child's bedroom from the 1940s and a 1960s living room, showing the latest trends in furniture and accessories of the day. There will also be photographs from the archives of local housing, great and small. 'Then and now' examples of street views and town plans will show how things have changed over the years but yet how much remains as familiar scenes today.

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Exhibition archivist Jo Dodd commented: 'Through the Keyhole is an exploration of North Lanarkshire's homes - past and present, inside and out. Our current obsession with houses is fuelled by neighbours, TV shows, money, shopping and - let's face it - sometimes just sheer nosiness.

"Our new exhibition ranges from the grand houses of the iron masters, through the rows of cheaply-built workers' terraces right down to the poor house. In addition to the displays in the main hall, visitors can also see the interiors of our miners' cottages, which show the increasing levels of comfort enjoyed by working families from the 1840s right up to the 1960s."

Jo concluded: "Within the exhibition there will be lots of 'hands on' activities including an area where people can add images of their own homes, flick through housing magazines or play with a doll's house. So come along, be nosy and peek through the keyholes of the past."

The exhibition runs from 20 February until 6 June, from 10am to 4pm (5pm from 1 April) and admission is free.

(GK/BMcC)