Konnie N.
Yelp
As an admirer of Charles Dickens, I was eager to visit Broadstairs and, of course, the Dickens House Museum. It is located at the beach promenade with a wonderful view over the water. We paid only three pounds admission fee each to enter this lovingly designed museum and received a flyer with details of the various rooms. At first, a very nice guide gave us a short introduction of approx. 5 min. He told us some interesting details.
Photo link: http://konniebritz.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/broadstairs-2009_08_28-01_web.jpg
The original of Ms. Betsey Trotwood, David Copperfield's aunt, lived in this house. She defended the green in front of the house, trying to keep it clear of donkeys. In the novel, Ms. Trotwood has the same feature.
Photo link: http://konniebritz.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/broadstairs-2009_08_28-17_web.jpg
Dickens often stayed in Broadstairs during the summer. He sometimes stayed in the house as a tenant. Into a desk used by him he had inserted a rack for six bottles of white wine incl. cooling.
One of the rooms has been furnished as an equivalent of Ms. Trotwood's sitting-room. In other rooms, we found a lot of articles of daily use during the 19th century as well as models of some of Dicken's characters. Somehow the life in the 19th century and Dicken's novels became alive during the visit.
The museum has a shop where you can buy Dicken's novels. As books in England are so much cheaper than in Germany and fortunately my English is sufficient to be able to read them, I bought quite a lot of books there. The staff offered me to put a stamp into the books reading
Dickens House
Broadstairs
Kent
Of course, I gladly accepted the offer!
This nice little museum is a must go for every Dickens-lover.
Text und Bilder Konnie-Neukölln
Text and pictures by Konnie-Neukölln
