AN exhibition that allows visitors to step back into time at a Fenland shop will open for one day on Saturday.

The exhibition records the history of the J H Adams Ironmongers shop on Main Street in Littleport will open from 11am to 4pm.

The shop closed at Christmas but behind the scenes information about the history of the business has been collected and chronicled.

The Family Adams Project team has spent the last few weeks cleaning the shop and unearthing original items and bringing them back to their former glory. The project team has concentrated on the period between 1890 and 1930.

Organisers of the exhibition say The J.H. Adams Hardware store is an integral part of Main Street.

“It’s easy to assume it would always be there, with the great shop front dominating the street and its windows full of tools, house wares and gardening equipment,” said a spokesman for the exhibition.

“Inside it’s like you have stepped back in time with its great walls of dark wood drawers containing nails, screws and who knows what else. At the heart of the community J H Adams is as significant today as it has always been.”

The Family Adams project intends to create a public archive of local and national historic cultural events from artefacts, records and recollections which could be lost if action is not taken before the sale of the shop, which has served local residents and Cambridgeshire-wide customers for more than 100 years.

Project manager Zoe Davidson said: “This is a unique opportunity for the community to come and see inside this wonderful historical shop. The Family Adams Project really is preserving a piece of Littleport’s fascinating history. We hope people will come along and see the work that is taking place and find out how they can become involved in this project.”

The Family Adams Project has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and is being led by a partnership between The Word Garden and ADeC. It brings together other local people, schools, museums and artists to collect and preserve personal memories of the village.

INFO: The open day takes place on March 3 between 11am and 4pm at the shop in Main Street.