When was the last time you visited the Commandery? If you're like most of your fellow Worcester citizens, the chances are it was a while ago - if, in fact, you've ever set foot inside the Sidbury museum at all.

Figures show that just five per cent of the 20,000 people who visit King Charles II's former Civil War base every year hail from the city itself.

It's a situation the city council is trying to remedy by making entry free for all bona--fide residents of the Faithful City - while anyone from outside the city limits will have to pay the full price of £5.25.

The council is to be congratulated for this move, which is part of a growing trend. Free entry for museums is a huge success story, as anyone who has joined the soaring numbers thronging to London's great institutions will testify.

And while few visitors to Worcester will balk at forking out a fiver to find out more about the city they are exploring, it's the people who actually live here - many of them perhaps blasé about the history right on their doorsteps - who really need to be persuaded through its doors.

The Commandery has played a huge role in the story of Worcester and it is a real shame that more residents don't experience what it has to offer.

When it reopens in March after its current million-pound lottery-funded revamp, there'll be even more reason to visit, with high-tech interactive displays bringing the city's past to life as never before.

So next Easter holidays, take the kids along to Sidbury. They'll have a whale of a time, they'll learn something new, and it won't cost you a penny.