SCENES of more than a century ago are about to return to a Newport district as Pill Heritage Centre plans its latest attraction.

The folk museum that has already given us the biggest model railway set-up in South Wales and a dioramic recreation of a World War Two air raid complete with lights and sound now plans to hit us with its biggest attraction yet.

"Nobody can say we do things by half," said Mr Jan Preece, curator and the creative force behind the centre.

"In what is still the most Victorian part of Newport we are planning a full-scale street scene with alleyways and shops and all the bustle one would associate with a scene in Pill before the turn of the last century."

The Victoriana will join the other attractions at the Alexandra Road heritage centre which is visited by thousands of school children every year and has gained widespread support from the general population in Pill.

"People are always expecting us to come up with something a bit special. The general philosophy here is that learning should be an enjoyable experience which is kick-started by the imagination.

"Just walking around Pill can give you some idea of how the Victorians organised their lives but for many people buildings can only do so much in getting the imaginative juices flowing. We aim to make the experience much more personal and human."

All of the imaginative work and quite a bit of the building will be done by the modelling maestro himself.

A skilled re-creator of landscapes and townscapes, Jan Preece has already reproduced large sections of Pill in model form and built an intricate model of a mining valley and its railway system that is unique in Wales.