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A Dickens of a date to be at author's birthplace
Pay a visit to Old Commercial Road on Sunday and you'll be there 198 years to the day after one of the world's greatest writers was born there.
In 1812, Charles John Huffam Dickens was born to Elizabeth and John Dickens (a clerk in the Navy Pay Office) at 393 Old Commercial Road.
To celebrate Dickens's birthday, the museum which stands at the site now is offering free entry all day.
Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum is set in the modest family home where the Victorian author spent his early years.
Period room settings furnished in the style of the time give an idea of the world Dickens was born into, while an exhibition room tells his story through artefacts.
The museum is open to visitors from 10am until 5pm and at 11am there will be a traditional wreath-laying ceremony led by the Lord Mayor, Terry Hall.
Each hour throughout the day, costumed guides will read specially selected passages from Dickens' works.
There will be talks about how he created some of literature's most iconic characters, while maintaining a theme of social reform throughout his work.
Testament to Dickens' popularity is the fact that none of his novels have ever gone out of print.
His stories appeal to all ages and not only live on in the pages for which he intended them, but also in theatre shows, such as Oliver! at the Kings in Southsea from Tuesday, and in films such as the latest adaptation of A Christmas Carol. which was in cinemas over the festive period.
For more information, call (023) 9282 7261.
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Weather for Portsmouth
Wednesday 23 May 2012
Today
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Temperature: 15 C to 24 C
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