This year’s festival starts tomorrow, Friday 12 September, and lasts for 10 days. Heritage Open Days offers the opportunity to learn more about the history and culture of our communities. That might be visiting a grand house not normally open to the public or taking a walk around your local town with a guide who can point out things you probably knew nothing about. The crucial thing about these events is that they are free.
Whatever your interest…
Last month, we featured Anna Sewell, author of Black Beauty; free entry to her house is among the opportunities in Norfolk. Also in Great Yarmouth, you can visit steam drifter, Lydia Eva, to learn about the herring fisheries. For another form of transport, you can pull the levers in the Cromer Signal Box or admire a model Victorian railway in Harleston.
One of the buildings mentioned in our article about the millwright was Horsey Windpump, and on Sunday 14 September, there’s the opportunity to see how it would have been in 1912, with the staff in period costumes. Across in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, there’s a modern drainage system at Tydd Pumping Station. The pumps will run twice on Saturday 13 September.
There’s a classic post mill at Eye in Suffolk, plus other types of mills. In Maldon, Essex, there’s the Beeleigh Water and Steam Mill. At Biggleswade in Bedfordshire, Jordans Heritage Mill has demonstrations of its watermill working on Sunday 14 September.
For a touch of the macabre, Norfolk also has the Narborough Bone Mill. It did what it says in the name – it’s a watermill that was used to grind bones for fertiliser.
Jordan’s Mill: how a roller mill works image by John M. via geograph.org. CC BY-SA 2.0
Religious buildings
Every county offers tours of religious buildings, but there’s an unusual one near Luton. On Saturday 13 September, St Charalambos Greek Orthodox Church has an Open Day, offering the chance to see its neo-Byzantine style icons. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is offering tours at Kempston, Lowestoft and Norwich.
There is a rather quirky church tour in Sarratt, Hertfordshire, on Sunday 21 September. As well as the tour, Eric Knowles of the Antiques Roadshow will be there with the Antiques Collective to value antiques and family heirlooms, with the Head of the Coin Department at Spink and Sons, who will be there to value coins and medals.
Museums
There is a wonderful little museum in Halstead, Essex. Housed in a private garden, the Colne Valley Postal History Museum has the second-largest collection of post boxes in the UK and the largest collection of National AA Village Signs. This will be open on Saturday 13 September, with lots of activities for children. On the same day, Bishop’s Stortford Museum is also offering family activities.
Entry to the Museum of Power in Maldon, Essex, is free this weekend, Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 September. The Marshall steam engine will be running on the Sunday, and there’s a miniature railway and model village, too.
Dragon in Dragon Hall, Norwich, image by Evelyn Simak, via geograph.org. CC BY-SA 2.0
Guided tours
Then, there are the guided town tours. Hertford alone offers five different themes, from carvings to literacy connections. Sudbury in Suffolk has three Victorian-themed tours on Saturday 20 September (there aren’t many tickets left for the one on wool and silk).
In St Ives, Cambridgeshire, you can go at your own pace, with downloadable maps. On Saturday 13 September, there will be guides around the town to help. You could also slip away from the heritage to the Old Riverport Jazz & Blues Festival, which is on until Sunday 14 September.
On Wednesday 17 September, you can explore the setting of the title sequence for Blackadder Goes Forth and much else at Colchester Garrison in Essex. Elsewhere, you can go behind the scenes at the Pavilion Theatre in Gorleston, Norfolk, with multiple dates available. On the other side of our region, Watford Palace Theatre has its Back Stage Tour on Sunday 21 September.
Historic houses
Most people probably think Heritage Open Days are about being able to visit historic houses, especially ones not normally open to the public. There is plenty of those, too. In Norwich, there’s the chance to visit Dragon Hall on Sunday 14 or 21 September. This has served a variety of purposes since being built as a trading hall in the 15th century, including slums, rectory and pub. It’s now the home of the National Centre for Writing.
This weekend, Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 September, there’s the opportunity to visit the home of Christopher Jones, captain of the Mayflower. His house is in Harwich, Essex, and has been kept as near to the original as possible. On the afternoons of Fridays 12 and 19 September, you can visit Oliver Cromwell’s old home in Ely.
Other houses also have glorious gardens, for instance Peckover House in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire. In Harlow, Essex, The Gibberd Garden will be open for tours of the house and gardens on Saturday 13 September. If seeing the house whets your appetite, or if you prefer art to architecture, there is a private view of John Graham’s art collection at the Gibberd Gallery on Saturday 20 September.
These are just a few examples of what’s available. You can search the full Heritage Open Days list to find events matching your interests or close to your home (hopefully both). Many do require pre-booking so it’s a good idea to check it now and look forward to a busy few days.
If you’re organising an event, we’d like to hear about it. If you’ve been to an event or read a book, etc., and would like to write a review, please get in touch. The only requirement is that it is still available. Plays, films, books, museums, art galleries, podcasts, TV programmes – tell us your views about it in 800 words or fewer. Contact kateviscardi@eastangliabylines.co.uk
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