Yesterday's World, formerly known as Buckleys Yesterday's World, was
originally set up Brian and Annette Buckley in 1986 and came about from a
genuine love of collecting nostalgia, antiques, memorabilia and interesting old artefacts.
In 1982, using various items from her 'collection', Annette won first prize in a
Good Housekeeping competition to design and arrange a window display.
Having enjoyed the prize, a £10,000 luxury holiday in Thailand, Annette began to dismantle the display
which was set in the newsagents they ran, when numerous customers made it known how much they enjoyed bringing people to view it.
A regular customer of the shop suggested that a more permanent display might be possible in the cellar of the newsagents... and so it all began. The 'basement
museum' was established using Annette's personal collection of memorabilia, and as more and more items were donated, the
collection took on "a life of its own".
The exhibition outgrew its first location and it became obvious that larger premises were needed. To this end, the purchase of a
600 year old Wealden house was secured, and in 1986, a new museum was opened to the
public - 'Buckleys Museum of Shops'. Within a few short years the collection reached a point where once again it had outgrown the premises, and following clever negotiation, the adjoining house was purchased. The
museum was re-launched as Yesterday's World on the 16th June
1992 and now houses over 100,000 nostalgic exhibits.
Take a look at the photos which show the transformation of Yesterday's World
from its original state as a private house.
Photos of the creation
In 2003 Yesterday's World was taken over by new owners and is now set
to house the biggest collection of royalty memorabilia in the country
with the launch of an exciting new exhibition centre this autumn.
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