FASCINATING archive material from the history of a famous North East family has gone on display at a leading visitor attraction in Northumberland.

The official opening of the new harbour in the seaside village of Seaton Sluice in March 1764 is the focal point of the exhibition which opened at the weekend at the Woodhorn Museum and Archives Centre near Ashington.

A Cut Above has been compiled from research into dusty archives of the renowned Delaval family, carried out at Woodhorn as part of a lottery-funded heritage project.

Visitors to the exhibition, which runs until December 23, are transported back almost 250 years to the Seaton Sluice harbour opening, and are able to meet some of the characters involved in the event.

It is explored from the perspective of both the rich and poor of the day, from the flamboyant Sir Frances Blake Delaval through to destitute little Alice. The exhibition showcases what life was like for 18th-Century Northumbrians, and the roles they played within the Delaval Estate at the start of the industrial revolution.