FORGET the chilly weather... visitors to York's Castle Museum can still catch a taste of the sunshine.

The museum is staging a seaside exhibition where people can have a go at sandcastle-building or be photographed with dummy boards.

A selection of historical bathing costumes are also on display - from unrevealing Victorian woollen swimwear to an example of the risky itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny 1950s bikini.

Josie Sheppard, curator of costume and textiles, said: "These costumes do tell us a great deal about people's attitudes and in particular to sexual morality. In the 1880s the emphasis was more on modesty than comfort, costumes were made of wool and were designed more to cover than to reveal." The museum is open daily from 9.30am to 5pm.

Updated: 11:06 Thursday, October 04, 2001