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The 101-year-old who created a dolls' house museum with her childhood toys

Val Ripley may be 101 but she still enjoys playing with dolls' houses. She was given her first by her parents when she was eight, in Christmas 1932, and remembers waking up and seeing a huge parcel all wrapped up. "I remember thinking 'they can't have bought me that one', and it was my pride […]

By deepak · August 8, 2026 · 2 min read

Val Ripley may be 101 but she still enjoys playing with dolls' houses.

She was given her first by her parents when she was eight, in Christmas 1932, and remembers waking up and seeing a huge parcel all wrapped up.

"I remember thinking 'they can't have bought me that one', and it was my pride and joy my whole childhood."

More than 30 years later, Val and her sister rediscovered what she thought had been lost while clearing out her parents' attic and decided to create a museum.

There is still a need to prepare tasty meals, even in a doll house

In 1939, when Val's father went back into the Army, the family's possessions, including the prized dolls' house and toys, were put into storage until the Ripleys found a new home.

When the family did settle again, the toys were put in the attic and not seen again for decades.

Val said: "We thought they were all gone. But after our mother died in 1977, my sister Pam and I discovered all our toys in their pre-war crates. It was so emotional, I can't tell you."

With a pristine collection of vintage toys, Val and her sister decided to expand their collection and share it with others. Together, they opened Ty Twt Dolls House and Toy Museum in Newport in Pembrokeshire.

That was 26 years ago, and Pam has since died, but Val still welcomes visitors and school groups to show them the toys of the past.

Val said: "I ask them if they have dolls' houses, but all theirs are pink."

Val has provided a tiny dictionary for dolls in search of the perfect word

The collection, she said, is a document of social history and shows how the way we live, even down to the appliances we have in the home, has changed over the years.

The oldest house in the collection dates back to 1840 and displays a typical home of a wealthy family in the early Victorian period.

"That was the date when dolls' houses became children's toys," said Val.

Source: Read the original article on www.bbc.co.uk