PRIMARY school pupils took charge of The Bowes Museum as part of National Museum Takeover Day.
Children from Woodland, Butterknowle and Frosterly primary schools converged on the iconic Barnard Castle venue to run its social media, oversee its exhibitions and artefacts and supervise conservation activities.
They also got to follow museum director Hannah Fox on her rounds, catching a glimpse into how the museum is managed.
Museum press officer Alison White said: “They took over the museum, shadowing different departments.
“They went on a bug hunt with the conservators and shadowed the director to find out how to run a museum – they learnt how the museum ticks.
“They also had a go at object labelling and object handling.” Conservator Bryan Dunkel led the bug hunt.
He said: “There are pests that like to eat museum objects – textiles, wood, paintings, any organic material.”
Elsewhere collections manager Jane Whittaker showed children how to “read” an object to find out how and why it was made.
They were also taught how to handle some of the rare artefacts, which included a carving of the ancient Egyptian god of the dead Osiris that dates back between 2,000 and 3,000 years.
