PEOPLE brought their own treasures from the past to the Steam Museum.

A bear's claw, an elephant brooch and a Malacca cane were some of the treasures shared during the memories and memorabilia exhibition on Saturday.

Members of the public were invited to bring one special object along as part of the exhibition.

Visitors also pinned up their reminiscences on a memories wall for the museum's community archive project. Ten of the objects will be displayed in July and August.

The cherished items dated from as far back as the 19th Century to as recently as one year ago.

Stephen Green, 39, brought in a silver watch chain with a bear's claw.

It had belonged to his great-great grandfather who trained the animal in the 19th Century.

The bear had been breaking out of its cage so keepers had to declaw it.

Jack Hayward, from the Railway Village, brought along an unusual bamboo cane, dated 1882 from Malacca, which is currently Malaysia.

The cherished cane, handed down by his father, is engraved with a picture of a woman wearing a kimono in a tropical plantation.

"My father, Sydney Frank Hayward, was a military man in the Palestine police," said the 74-year-old.

"He acquired the cane on his travels to the Far East,"

"I've kept it as a memory of him. It always had pride of place in the family home and it has remained with us since. It is an unusual item, to say the least. As you can see, it is well looked after."

Mr Hayward appreciated getting the opportunity to share the memento at Steam.

"This is the most precious item in my family and this is a good chance to get it recorded," he said.

"I think the exhibition is a good idea as it brings a different type of visitor.

Steam collections' officer Elaine Arthurs said: "We are trying to find out why people find their own objects special.

"We have asked them to bring one item along that has a unique story. Hopefully, we will get a nice collection."

Curator Felicity Jones added: "We wanted to have a community focused event.

"We wanted a mixture - not just old objects, but anything that is special."