Museum stands and delivers

Children, including eight-year-old James Warriner, pictured, are being given a free taste of what life was like behind bars for England's most infamous highwayman in York's historic former prison, without it being highway robbery.

Youngsters are now being admitted free of charge to the York Castle Museum, which occupies the site of the city's former jail, which opened at the turn of the 18th century.

Visitors can see the cells where Dick Turpin, portrayed by Gary Goldthorpe, spent his last night before he was taken and hanged in front of crowds on Knavesmire, now the city's racecourse.

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York Museums Trust marketing manager Charlotte Dootson said: 'York Castle Museum may once have been home to debtors, rogues and thieves who would have done anything to rob you blind. But from this half term we thought we would do the opposite and offer families a great deal to come and enjoy the best day out in history.'

From this week, all children who are accompanied by paying adults get free entry to the museum in an offer which will last throughout the year and which also includes half term workshops covering topics such as life in Victorian England and energy use through the years.