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MIDLANDS tourism is to get a £4 million boost – thanks to chilly cavemen who made their homes in the region.

Britain’s first national centre for the Ice Age is set to be unveiled in Derbyshire next month, and is expected to attract tourists from all round the world.

The attraction, at Creswell Crags, boasts a £4.2 million visitor centre and museum, and will be opened by TV legend Sir David Attenborough.

It overlooks the landmark limestone gorge which was the world’s most northerly outpost of Ice Age man.

Honeycombed by a network of caves, it was at Creswell Crags that Britain’s only known cave art was discovered.

The caves provided shelter for Neanderthals and their successors through a crucial period of evolution between 130,000 and 10,000 years ago.

Organisers aim to bring the cavemen to life via state of the art displays and finds such as an animal rib engraved with a horse’s head, which is the first example of Ice Age art found in the UK.

Creswell Crags hit the headlines in April Protected content the discovery of 13,000 year-old figures of birds, deer, bison and horse. It was the most important find since the the discovery of 500,000 year-old human remains in West Sussex in the mid Protected content .

“Britain has long lacked a place which could function as a focus ­for both national and international audiences to learn about the Ice Age,” said Rebecca Clay of the Creswell Heritage Trust.
Creswell Crags Museum & Heritage Centre
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