Dust off your gas masks, dig out those ration books and prepare to be transported in time to wartime Britain.  Set on the picturesque Grand Union Canal, Stoke Bruerne’s 12th award-winning popular 40s re-enactment weekend will have you Jiving and Lindy Hopping to the sounds of no less than eight vintage entertainers or diving for cover in the air raid shelter at the rear of the Canal Museum.

It all happens over the weekend of Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th September when a huge cast of forties re-enactors and promenaders will be invading the tiny canal village and Churchill, Field Marshall Montgomery and Bomber Harris will be kept busy inspecting the troops and delivering rousing speeches.   Both days have events from 10am to 5pm; on the Friday night for those arriving early, there will be forties sing-alongs in the local hostelries, and on Saturday evening for those staying on site, a swing dance at the Village Hall.

As well as tea dances at the Village Hall, vintage fashion parades at the church, the school will be transformed into a ‘nippy’ tea rooms and fields around the village centre will be filled with black markets, memorabilia, military and vintage vehicles and displays.  There will also be firepower displays and battle re-enactments.

On Sunday, weather permitting, there will be a Spitfire or Hurricane in the skies, and on the water, a number of historic boats, some in wartime livery, many of whom played important roles carrying vital supplies for the war effort, will complete the busy scene.

Weekend passes are £10, accompanied children under 16 are free, and include parking and free entry to The Canal Museum with its special Canals at War exhibition.  All surplus proceeds go to organisers, the Friends of the Canal Museum, a Registered Charity, who support the Museum and its work and other local good causes.

For more information, including a downloadable programme, please visit  www.friendsofcanalmuseum.org.uk