WHAT the Victorians did for us will be the focus of a Durham University exhibition.

The exhibition - subtitled The building of a new world - will explore Victorian ideas, engineering and science through video, computers, hands-on activities and quizzes.

Visitors will also have the chance to catch a thief or solve a murder by tracing fingerprints left around the displays, and use Victorian methods to build a railway bridge.

The exhibition will open, in the Archaeological Museum, at the Old Fulling Mill, on Saturday, and run until Friday, October 12.

Family drop-in sessions with children's activities will be held on August 18, 19, 20, 22, 27 and 29, between 1pm and 3pm.

All activities are included in the museum admission price, which is £1 for adults and 50p for children. For further details, call 0191-334-5694.

Curator Craig Barclay said: "The activities will keep kids busy while parents look around the exhibition.