Broadstairs to celebrate Charles Dickens' bicentary birthday

Broadstairs is set to celebrate its links with world famous author, Charles Dickens as part of a campaign to mark the bicentenary of his birth next week (Tuesday 7 February).

The traditional coastal town, seen by many as Dickens’ favourite seaside retreat, is inviting people of all ages to explore all things ‘Dickens’ at a number of events this spring. As part of the celebrations, visitors are invited to attend a number of one-off or special events or just to rediscover the Broadstairs attractions which celebrate the link with Dickens all year round.

In time to mark the occasion the Dickens House Museum has undergone restorative internal period redecoration and refurbishment.  Here visitors to the museum will be able to see the Betsey Trotwood parlour room, as described by Dickens in David Copperfield, and refreshed artefact displays which include Dickens’ own travelling writing slope, ink well, sideboard, letters and other Victorian artefacts and items of clothing from the period. 

Work has also begun on restoration of the original Dickens House Nuckles Garden, situated on the cliff top at Viking Bay.  This is expected to be completed by Easter and includes reinstatement of the surrounding Victorian iron railings with period garden layout, lawn and planting.  Events to feature in the garden will include children’s story times, melodramas and Victorian children’s games.

If watching a show is more your thing, then why not come along to the world’s first ever model toy theatre production of A Christmas Carol by Robert Poulter on Saturday 11 February.  Or to see the work of one of Dickens most well-loved stories, Great Expectations hit the stage, check out the two exclusive performances produced by the Baroque Theatre Company on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 April.

For those who prefer to get out and about, join Anneke Hesp, writer of Walking with Dickens, on some of the Kent trails that Dickens loved so well.  You can follow his trails to discover the locations of Great Expectations, David Copperfield and the Pickwick Papers.

Visitors are also encouraged to make the most of the regular Dickens features which includes the annual Dickens Festival taking place this year from 16 to 22 June and the four mile Turner and Dickens Walk taking in some of the classic sights along the way.

The events in Broadstairs are all part of a wider campaign which will see the whole of Kent promoting the close links the county has to Charles Dickens.  To find out what’s happening in Broadstairs collect a flyer from the Visitor Information Centre or go online to www.visitthanet.co.uk/dickens or for more information on events taking place across Kent please go to www.visitkent.co.uk/dickens

Cabinet Member for Tourism, Cllr. Iris Johnston, said: “Charles Dickens is one of the most published and translated authors in the world and he enjoyed some of his most creative times in Broadstairs.  It’s only fitting that we pay tribute to him and mark his bicentenary. I’m delighted that we’re offering something special to help celebrate and I’m sure the town will be buzzing as a result.”

Charles Dickens' connections with Broadstairs

1. Dickens spent almost every summer in Broadstairs from 1837-1859.  It was here that he wrote Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge.
2. Dickens was known to have stayed in the Royal Albion Hotel overlooking Viking Bay, where he finished the David Copperfield novel.
3. The Dickens House Museum along the seafront once belonged to his friend Miss Mary Pearson Strong, on whom Dickens based much of the character of Miss Betsey Trotwood in his novel David Copperfield.  
4. Tourism is worth £3.2billion to the county and supports over 63,000 jobs
5. Research reveals that in a regular year 10 per cent of people using the Visit Kent website and then coming to the county are interested in Dickens and our literary connections. (Research taken from Visit Kent’s Conversion Research).
6. The value of literary tourism to Kent and Medway alone has been estimated at more than £1.6 million.
7. Dickens is one of the most published and translated authors in the world. Tales of Two Cities is in the top ten of most published books and A Christmas Carol is one of the most remade films