This picture represents the eagerness with which we were planning a long weekend in a cottage in the country, but alas it was cancelled due to no heating. But a holiday at home is a treat too, we are telling ourselves in loud extra-jolly voices…

 

First up is a trip to the Dickens in London exhibition at the Museum of London. Among the photographs, memorabilia and (wonderfully chaotic) manuscripts are some sensational theatre posters from the period.
Startling scenes! Exciting situations! Astounding effects!
What excellent exhortations to any writer…

 

And around the corner to a hidden, much neglected treasure, Postman’s Park and G.W. Watts’ Tribute to Heroic Self-Sacrifice: a wall of beautiful hand-painted tiles, each one marking a life lost saving others in fires, drownings, train accidents and other perils of Victorian England… touching tales and inspiring narratives.