Robbie Robertson, from Govanhill in Glasgow, was visiting the city with his wife Joyce when they decided to visit the museum in Glenfada Park.

When Robbie realised that he was the 10,000th person to come through the museum doors, he was bewildered but delighted to be awarded a special model of Free Derry Corner by the museum’s Education and Outreach Officer, John Kelly.

Adrian Kerr, Curator of the Museum of Free Derry, told the ‘Journal’: “Mr Robertson was very pleased to be our 10,000th visitor and be presented with the model of Free Derry Corner, and of course, it’s great for us to hit the10,000 mark so early in the year, as it was October last year before we did it!

“We’ve been open for about 15 months and that means that 20, 000 visitors have come through our doors and so we’re all very pleased. We always expected the place to be popular but it’s even more popular than we ever expected at this early stage.”

He added: “We’re also very pleased with the impact our exhibition is having on people. They tend to leave here with a much deeper understanding of what went on in the city in the late 1960s and early 1970s.”

Mr Kerr revealed that they are also planning a major expansion of the exhibition space.

“We hope to get some more significant artefacts on display, for instance a number of banners will be displayed, including the original Bloody Sunday Civil Rights banner that was carried on the march that Sunday afternoon. Although we already have a very extensive collection to choose from, it’s important to stress that everything we have here at the Museum of Free Derry has been donated by the local community. That’s who we rely on for artefacts and we’re always on the look out for more.

“This is the story of this community, told by the people themselves through their own artefacts.”

The Museum of Free Derry opens Monday to Friday from 9.30am - 4.30pm (All year), Saturdays 1pm - 4pm (March-Sept), Sun 1pm - 4pm (June - Sept)