A North Yorkshire museum is inviting families to discover the overlooked contribution of Britain’s wartime women this summer, with a programme of immersive experiences centred on the Women’s Land Army running until 4 September 2026.
Eden Camp Modern History Museum, located near Malton and housed in the only surviving prisoner of war camp in Britain, has launched its Women at War programme as part of its summer holiday offering. Visitors can meet Women’s Land Army reenactors, learn how women kept British agriculture functioning during the Second World War, and take part in hands-on activities including trying their hand at milking a model cow.
Women Who Kept Britain Running
The Women’s Land Army was a British civilian organisation that recruited women to work in agriculture during both World Wars, replacing male farm labourers who had enlisted in the armed forces. At its wartime peak, more than 80,000 women — known as Land Girls — worked on farms across England, Scotland and Wales, producing food at a time when German U-boat campaigns were severely disrupting imports. Despite their critical role, the Land Girls were for many decades denied the formal recognition afforded to other wartime organisations, making educational programmes such as Eden Camp’s particularly significant.
The museum’s permanent exhibits already trace the broader story of women on the home front — from factories and hospitals to military bases — through interactive displays, and the summer programme builds on these with additional live experiences and workshops. A Poo Clues Trail and a Little Evacuees Workshop, in which children can make their own replica gas mask, are among the new seasonal activities, alongside 1940s Summer Street Games designed to give younger visitors a taste of wartime childhood.
Affordable Family Days Out
Eden Camp is also participating in the Great British Summer Savings VAT reduction scheme, passing on the full reduction to visitors. Advance purchase tickets are priced from £14.75 for adults and concessions and £13 for children, with family tickets starting at £26.25. A children’s meal deal is available in the museum’s café at £6 throughout the summer holidays.
The museum, which welcomed more than 100,000 visitors in 2023, receives around 25,000 children annually for formal educational visits. It holds an archive of more than 103,000 documents, artefacts and photographs, alongside a collection of historic military vehicles and thousands of military items. Eden Camp has won the Best Educational Day Out award at the SME Northern Enterprise Awards three years in a row, most recently in 2023.
The site received £224,000 from North Yorkshire Council through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund — part of a £16.9 million allocation to the region — which was used to restore the original prisoner of war huts built in 1942. A new Blitz experience in Hut 5 is among the recent additions to the permanent collection.
Part of a Broader Attractions Group
Eden Camp is operated by Continuum Attractions, a privately owned leisure company founded in 1984 that runs some of Britain’s most visited heritage and cultural sites. Its portfolio includes ITV’s Coronation Street Experience in Manchester, the Emmerdale Village Tour in Yorkshire, The Loch Ness Centre, The Real Mary King’s Close in Edinburgh, Oxford Castle and Prison, and Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth.
The Women at War programme runs at Eden Camp until 4 September 2026. Further information and advance tickets are available at edencamp.co.uk.
