Black Country brothers overwhelmed as 1960s home recreated

Alan and John Aston grew up in the Black Country in the 1960s

Two brothers in their 70s were "overwhelmed" and left close to tears when they saw their teenage home recreated at a museum.

The house is among new exhibits dedicated to memories of the 1940s to the 1960s at the Black Country Living Museum, Dudley.

John and Alan Aston, aged 74 and 71, responded to an appeal for memories from families who lived in the area.

"I must admit I welled up a little bit," Alan said.

"It was absolutely amazing. It brought back so many memories."

Researcher Claire Weston said it had been "a gift" to work with the brothers on the project

Alan appreciated the lived-in look in the house and said: "I thought it would be more neat and tidy, but they'd done what I said it was."

He admitted he was "a bit overwhelmed" when he stepped inside for the first time.

John said he was pleased the museum was showing people what it was like to live at the time and remembered the house being very cold, with no central heating.

He said there was frost on the inside of the windows on cold days and he would wake up and get dressed underneath the covers to stay warm.

The interior of the house is made to look "lived in"

The recreated home is one of several 1960s buildings at the Black Country Living Museum

Researcher Claire Weston said it had been "a gift" when the siblings, who grew up in the Black Country, got in touch to share their memories.

"He was telling me how they decorated the living room with quite jazzy contrasting patterns," she said.

The brothers also donated family heirlooms to help decorate the house.

The brothers responded to an appeal from the museum which wanted the story of a family who lived in the area

After interviewing the brothers about their home, Ms Weston went away to find the furniture and other items needed to recreate it.

Ms Weston said in the Black Country in 1968, the year the house exhibit represents, "it was not all about London and the Swinging Sixties", but those fashions were creeping into homes.

She also tried to showcase the brothers' memories in a sensitive way "because these are people and it's their parents as well you are depicting, who aren't with them any more".

The Astons' house opens to the public on 16 October.