ORIGINAL sets from Postman Pat are soon to be on show for the first time in Sale.

Marking 40 years since the stop-motion television series started, the free 'Welcome to Greendale' exhibition opens at the Waterside on Saturday, November 20.

It is set to include features of the village of Greendale and town of Pencaster including Postman Pat's cottage, the school, the lighthouse and Pencaster Square.

All of the above were in danger of being destroyed, as a facility in Tameside was no longer able to store them.

However, Peter Saunders of Altrincham's Mackinnon & Saunders studio, which produced the last two series of Postman Pat, was not willing to let that happen.

He said: "When Mackinnon & Saunders became aware of the perilous situation, I contacted the Cosgrove Hall Films Archive at Waterside to ask whether their animation archive could come to Greendale’s rescue.

"The team at Waterside offered to help and, thanks to their hard work and dedication, many of the models featured in this uniquely British piece of popular culture have been saved for future generations to enjoy."

Messenger Newspapers: (Image: Peter Saunders / Mackinnon & Saunders)(Image: Peter Saunders / Mackinnon & Saunders)

Richard Evans of Creative Industries Trafford, based at the Waterside, said: "We were so thrilled when we were contacted by Peter asking if we could possibly accommodate these stunning sets from Postman Pat.

"As we already had some puppets from the show in the archive and the sets were due to be destroyed, we just jumped at the chance to be the new custodians.

"Following a meeting with the rights holders for Postman Pat, Dreamworks and NBC Universal, where we explained our approach at the archive towards celebrating Cosgrove Hall’s legacy, both companies were happy to donate the sets and props to our archive.

"Knowing how much loved this television series was and still is, and how beautifully preserved many of these sets have been, we have created this exhibition especially to share these rarely seen sets, puppets and props with the shows’ fans – both big and small."

The free 'Welcome to Greendale' exhibition opens at the Waterside on Saturday, November 20 and runs until Saturday, January 8.

For information, go to watersidearts.org/postmanpat.