THE events of 1953 and 1963 come under the spotlight at Mersea Island Museum’s new summer season.

Entitled ‘Catastrophe to Celebration’, the exhibition focuses on the East Coast floods and the Queen’s Coronation of 1953 and the severe winter and the launch of the community’s first lifeboat a decade later.

On show will be photos and artefacts, including a scene showing beach huts and boats toppled by the flood, painted by local artist Eddie Meayers, and a replica of the Coronation arch which spanned Barfield Road, near Mersea Island School.

The museum in High Street, West Mersea, opens Wednesday to Sundays, and bank holidays, 2pm-5pm, until the end of September.
 

• For more details visit: www.merseamuseum.org.uk