Northern locations get vintage rail poster makeover

The Beetham Tower - Manchester's tallest building - features in the vintage style posters

It's Manchester but not as you know it. The city - along with other northern locations - has been given an iconic 1930s railway poster treatment.

Inspired by the bold designs of Frank Henry Mason, the images are intended to evoke the "golden age of British travel", a spokeswoman at Cheshire's Lion Salt Works Museum said.

Posters of 14 places, including Chester Zoo, will be on show in the venue.

Postcards of the prints will also be handed out at rail stations.

The Cheshire town of Knutsford - which inspired Elizabeth Gaskell's novel Cranford - makes a quaint scene

Artist Nicky Thompson, who designed the images, said the job had been "a total pleasure".

"In their day, these posters with their strikingly bold colours and experimental flat design were quite different and new."

Chester Zoo and Anderton Boat Lift - known as the Cathedral of the Canals - also feature

He added: "What is unarguable is that they were highly effective in creating an aspirational sense of adventure that drew city-dwellers to explore the countryside."

The colourful block print treatment was used to illustrate Altrincham Market and Lion Salt Works

Councillor Louise Gittins, from Cheshire West and Chester Council, said: "The railway posters of the 1930s hailed a new era of train travel and this imaginative campaign, featuring 14 railway stops on the Mid-Cheshire Railway line, hopes to trigger a similar reaction."

While other posters show current scenes, the designer couldn't resist depicting a steam train on the Stockport viaduct

The posters will also be on sale at the museum.

• The free exhibition runs from 8 August to 3 September at Lion Salt Works Museum