Victory! Exhibition Marks 80 Years Since Second World War Ended

Date Released - 27/06/2025

“VICTORY!”, the new exhibition opening at Portland Basin Museum on Saturday 19 July, commemorates the 80th anniversary of VE Day and VJ Day.

It looks at how the nation wildly celebrated – and deeply reflected – as the long years of war in Europe and the Far East came to a conclusion in 1945.

The exhibition explores the stories of local people by drawing on the award-winning Ashton museum’s social history collection as well as that of the Manchester Regiment whose depot (Ladysmith Barracks) was on Mossley Road. Images from Tameside Local Studies and Archives will also be featured.

Shops on Portland Basin’s old street will be decorated for VE/VJ Day. Alongside will be displays looking at what people had to endure on the home front such as rationing and air raid precautions.

To complement the exhibition, Portland Basin Museum will be hosting a family event day, on 30 July. It will include a visit from the Manchester Regiment history group, craft activities, dressing up and sing-a-longs with wartime characters.

Cllr Leanne Feeley, Tameside Council’s executive member for lifelong learning and culture, said: “This really is a top quality exhibition and I would strongly encourage people to come and see it.

“It allows visitors to experience the party atmosphere felt at the end of the war by some, yet at the same time be reminded of the thanks and remembrance we owe to those who endured so much for our freedom.”

“Victory!” – which runs until from 19 July until 22 March 2026 – has been made possible by the award of nearly £20,000 by Museum Development North, through Arts Council England and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

Portland Basin is one of only five sites in the north to have received this funding which will also be used to buy a new museum specification display case which will be part of the project’s legacy.

The museum, which is on Portland Place, Ashton, is open Tuesday to Sunday (10am to 4pm). Admission is free. For more information visit www.intameside.co.uk