Events at The Time And Tide Museum are set to be a 'mammoth draw' in October half term as the life size 4m tall articulated model of the West Runton Elephant poses for pictures in the museum courtyard on Wednesday 11am – 4pm.

Youngsters are invited to celebrate the National Campaign for Drawing by sketching his skeletal frame. Meet the engineer who constructed him and see the original drawings that inspired his build.

For those who would like to work on something a little smaller, take up the Quick Draw Challenge. Pencil your portrait on a postcard in less than two minutes and then post it on the Big Draw Wall or for those who prefer pulped paper to pencil, book onto the Great Papier Mache Mish Mash workshop (Wednesday 11am -4pm booking essential). Make 2D marine or mammoth-themed models with specially invited artist and sculptor, Sarah Price.

On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, discover how it feels to be 'Shipwrecked'. This drop-in workshop introduces children to the art of the graphic novel.

Visitors can meet teen fiction horror writer, Alexander Gordon Smith, author of The Furnace series and pick up some tips on creative writing.

There will also be an opportunity to handle real museum 'shipwreck' objects and create your own comic book heroes.

On Friday the museum's annual Herring Day event (free with museum admission) returns from 11am-4pm with live lute music from 12.30pm and fresh fish dishes from the Silver Darling's Café.

Free guided tours of the museum will take people from dark and atmospheric Museum Row 13 to the smokehouse looking at the history of the herring industry in Great Yarmouth through the collections, the Fisher girls and overseas trade. Guides will also point out the fixtures, the fittings and the famous aroma that have remained in place since the museum's industrial past.

On the journey, visitors can watch a skilled wood carver demonstrate the type of carving used to make Saxon log boats and meet Sylvia Darling who will be handing out sustainable fish flyers with great 'fin–esse'.

At the Elizabethan House on Wednesday 11am - 4pm the animal magic continues with Animals at War. In this event, free with museum admission, meet experts and their collections to find out about the heroic roles played by horses, dogs and pigeons in transport, trenches and as messenger carriers during the great wars.

And finally, there will be another chance to meet Alexander Gordon Smith as he tells tales of Halloween in the dungeons of the Tolhouse Gaol on Friday. Halloween at the Tolhouse, 5–7pm is a free drop-in event for all and a chance to join a riotous evening with a band of pirates on hand to hook you in.

Pirate hat making and tattoos are available to help blend in with the crew and then new recruits will be ready to take part in three dastardly deeds. Successfully steal treasure from a sleeping pirate, help the gaoler find the 'Wanted' pirate and learn how to fight and speak like a pirate to earn your worth in chocolate coins.