St Neots Museum is turning the clock back more than 80 years for the return of its popular Escape Room Experience.

The event, based on real wartime experiences of breaking the blackout restrictions, will leave participants facing a night in the cells planning how to escape.

Escape Room specialists Mystery in History are back for an all new fourth season, Jail Break – Blackout, themed around the night-time blackout which was enforced throughout the Second World War.

In cities and towns, like St Neots, and villages across Britain, Air Raid Patrol (ARP) wardens and Special Constables patrolled the streets at night checking that buildings were not showing even the smallest chink of light which could attract German aeroplanes on their night time bombing raids.

Liz Davies, curator, said: “This season's Escape Room experience is based around genuine cases involving local people who broke the blackout regulations between 1939 and 1945.”

During the Escape Room experience participants will discover that they have travelled back in time to September 1940 and that they have let the country down by permitting a light to be displayed in a roofed building. Those taking part will learn that here can be no excuses for failing to comply with black-out regulations.

Liz said: “It is your duty as a citizen to see that whatever light you may have in your home is properly shaded during the hours of darkness. The local ARP warden recently reported you for inadequately covering your window with old newspaper, and you were fined the handsome sum of £1 10s.

“Now the warden has yet again seen light coming from your window, and you’ve been summoned to appear before the Petty Sessions Magistrate at St Neots Police station, now the St Neots Museum.

The penalty for subsequent failures is a £100 fine and up to three months imprisonment.”
She said: “You will spend the night in the cells awaiting your sentence. For you, the lights have truly gone out. unless, that is, you can escape?”

The museum’s Covid-19 precautions are still in place, so players can enjoy the Escape Room safely.
For more information about the dates and session times, visit St Neots Museum website or the Art Tickets website.