Charleston Farmhouse

The Bloomsbury group included some of the twentieth century’s most pioneering artists, writers and thinkers – people who believed in debate, creativity, beauty, innovation and truth and whose work was guided by a sense of fun, freedom and irreverence. At Charleston we aim to further the Bloomsbury group’s experimentalism, internationalism and anti-establishment approach, their new ideals for living and belief that the arts and freedom of expression are fundamental.

A visit to Charleston is a liberating experience. The presence of Charleston’s Bloomsbury group occupants is still palpable today, as is their art, and the ideas that, from the rural tranquillity of the South Downs, helped to shape our society.

The decorated interiors and artists’ garden are more than a museum. Charleston’s entire cultural programme remains true to its origins whilst encouraging contemporary creativity.

We offer a haven for curious minds to immerse themselves in new ideas and provide an open door to explore personal freedoms and engage in Charleston’s multi-faceted heritage. Our world-leading collection of Bloomsbury art and archives is a beacon of excellence in conservation and interpretation that is open to everyone. Today Charleston is both daring and accessible.

Our talented staff and volunteers use their own creativity and experience to make Charleston a living experience for all. We support community learning and engagement; we commission contemporary artists, writers and thinkers to share new ideas in the spirit of Charleston’s Bloomsbury group inhabitants; and we aim to provide a life-enhancing environment for debate, creativity and excitement.

Eastney Beam Engine House

See how Victorian engineers overcame problems of sewage pollution that caused diseases such as cholera. This impressive Victorian building contains different spectacular engines and pumps.  Click on the links below to download and print activity sheets for use during your visit.

Why was the beam engine house built?

Because the city of Portsmouth is a low-lying island with poor natural drainage, sewage and waste often polluted the water supply, resulting in many deaths from diseases such as cholera. A new drainage system was introduced in 1868 using gravity to move sewage across Portsea Island to Eastney, from where it was pumped out to sea.

As the city’s population increased, more pumping power was needed and the beam engines that can still be seen today were installed. The engines played an important part in improving the health and living standards of everyone in Portsmouth. When they were retired from normal use, the beam engines were still kept in operating condition as a backup until 1954. Maintenance of the engines and pumps was discontinued after 1954.

Charles Dickensʼ Birthplace

The Victorian family home of Charles Dickens in London

Welcome to the Charles Dickens Museum in London. This is where the author wrote Oliver Twist, Pickwick Papers and Nicholas Nickleby. It’s where he first achieved international fame as one of the world’s greatest storytellers.

Visit us to discover the Dickens family home. Uncover the private world behind the author’s public image. Explore his study, the family bedchambers, and the servants’ quarters below stairs. See treasures including Dickens’s desk, handwritten drafts from the novels he wrote here, and his young wife’s engagement ring. Walk through rooms dressed with their furniture, table ware, portraits, marble busts, china ornaments and paintings.

Life in the Dickens family home

Dickens and his wife Catherine moved here to 48 Doughty St, London, a few months before Queen Victoria began her reign in 1837. The couple raised the eldest three of their ten children in the house. They also hosted many of the period’s leading figures with dinners and parties.

Charles Dickens’s study

At the centre of the house is the author’s study. In this book-lined room he wrote an extraordinary number of newspaper articles, journal essays, short stories and novels – always with a quill pen and often by candlelight. He was frequently inspired by the busy household of family, servants and guests around him.

London Canal Museum

At the London Canal Museum you can see inside a narrowboat cabin, learn about the history of London’s canals, about the cargoes carried, the people who lived and worked on the waterways, and the horses that pulled their boats. Peer down into the unique heritage of a huge Victorian ice well used to store ice imported from Norway and brought by ship and canal boat to be stored. This unique waterways museum is housed in a former ice warehouse built in about 1862-3 for Carlo Gatti, the famous ice cream maker, and features the history of the ice trade and ice cream as well as the canals.

There are two themes in this unusual London museum. London’s canals have a fascinating past and you will learn not only how they came to be built but about the lives of the workers, the cargoes, horses and how canals work. We are a waterways museum first and foremost, but also an industrial museum telling the story of the ice industry in London. It is the only London museum of inland waterways and is situated at King’s Cross, an accessible central location. It is suitable for adults and children and it is fully accessible to all visitors.

D-Day Museum

The D-Day Story tells the story of D-Day and the Battle of Normandy. It holds over 10,000 items – preserving, researching and acquiring objects to share with the public through exhibitions, workshops and other activities. The museum is fully accredited, meeting nationally agreed standards for UK museums.

The D-Day Story is one of six museums run by Portsmouth Museums, part of Portsmouth City Council. Responsibility for the museums service falls under the remit of the council’s cabinet member for Culture, Leisure and Sport.

The aims of Portsmouth Museums are to: reflect the diversity of the city’s culture and communities in our visitors and offer; provide inspirational opportunities for people to enjoy and learn from the collections; and to showcase the national and international heritage of the city.

Buckinghamshire Railway Centre

The railway first came to Quainton in 1868 in the form of the Aylesbury & Buckingham Railway. In 1870 construction of the Wotton Tramway began, to link the nearby Wotton estate to the railway. Carrying agricultural produce and construction materials it was horse drawn initially but with expansion to Brill the line was re-laid for locomotives and became known as the Brill Tramway. The expanding Great Central Railway arrived in 1899 and built the present brick station in a joint venture with the Metropolitan Railway, successors to the A&BR who also took over the Brill Tramway the same year. The London Transport Passenger Board was formed in 1933, taking over the Metropolitan and closed the Brill Tramway in 1935. Stopping passenger services ceased in 1963 with full closure in 1966 leaving just a single line between Aylesbury and Calvert Junction on the Oxford – Bletchley line.

The London Railway Preservation Society, formed in 1962, arrived in 1969 to set up its permanent home. Since those early days both yards have been redeveloped to house around 170 items of locomotives and rolling stock and an adjacent Second World War Ministry of Food Buffer Depot has been taken over to display many items awaiting their turn in the restoration queue. Alongside there are some of our larger “small objects” as well as display cases, a member’s reference library and store rooms maintained to the exacting standards of an Accredited Museum. With building dates from 1874 to the 1960’s most major developments in railway history can be viewed.

Berkshire Yeomanry Museum

The museum contains a well displayed and comprehensive collection tracing the history of the Regiment since its beginnings in 1794.

Windsor and Royal Borough Museum

The Windsor & Royal Borough Museum is a registered/accredited, family-friendly and accessible small local history museum in a Grade 1 listed building completed in 1689. Come and discover the history of the town and the area. Listen to the stories of people who lived and worked here.

The collection relates to the history of Windsor, and other towns and villages across the Borough in East Berkshire. The museum has on display a selection of some of the many objects from the collection including a100,000 year old mammoth’s tusk, pre-historic tools, Bronze Age, Roman and Saxon artefacts, together with objects and ephemera from before Victorian times up to World War II, the 1950s and the present day.

Didcot Railway Centre

See 175 years of railway history when you enjoy a day at Didcot Railway Centre. Our unique collection of Great Western Railway steam locomotives, carriages, wagons, buildings and smaller artefacts is based around the original 1930s Engine Shed and Coal Stage. We have a replica of Brunel’s Broad Gauge Railway and you can get hands on in our Science Learning & Railways Exhibition. Activities include experieriencing an air raid in our original WW2 Air Raid Shelter, dressing up in Welford Park Ticket Office and watching the trains go by in our Picnic Area from our train themed Play Park.

Cumberland House Natural History Museum

Portsmouth is a very special place for wildlife in Britain. It has many different habitats in a very small area, and at Portsmouth Natural History Museum you can explore them all.