Heritage Events

Heritage Open Days 2025

Saturday 13^th and Sunday 14^th September

Discover the changing conditions in which British soldiers lived in Aldershot Garrison, through a walk and talk around the buildings of the Aldershot Military Museum, which include two rare surviving examples of Victorian barrack blocks. The events will be on Saturday 13th and Sunday 14th September at 11.00 and 14.00, and are free of charge.

“Tommy Atkins” was the nickname given to British soldiers and became popular in the nineteenth century. Aldershot was the first permanent training camp to be built in Britain, and it quickly became the largest and most important garrison in the country. The thousands of soldiers based here initially lived in wooden huts, then in Victorian brick barracks. These were superseded by concrete buildings in the 1960s, which have in turn been replaced by modern accommodation in the twenty-first century. Learn how the soldiers lived in the old Aldershot Camp with a guided walk around the Aldershot Military Museum, through buildings which were home to many “Tommies” from the Victorian age to the mid-twentieth century.

The talks will be by local historian Paul Vickers and have been organised by the Friends of the Aldershot Military Museum. “The Heritage Open Days national theme of ‘Architecture’ gives us an opportunity to look at aspects of Aldershot Garrison’s historic military architecture”, says Paul. “Using the Aldershot Military Museum buildings we can understand what life was like for the ordinary Tommy Atkins and how this changed over the years.”

"For me, architecture is just as much about people as it is about buildings themselves," says Liam Montgomery, Marketing and Projects Manager at Heritage Open Days. "While I’m just as captivated by awe-inspiring spaces as anyone (and we certainly have plenty of those across Heritage Open Days), I think this theme offers a great way to tell powerful stories about how buildings and places are used and shape our lives. I can’t wait to see what our community will spotlight this year."

Heritage Open Days is England’s largest festival of history and culture; every year, thousands of volunteers and supporters organise events that allow us to discover hidden places and try out new experiences. Brought to you by the National Trust, supported by players of People’s Postcode Lottery and run by thousands of local organisations and volunteers, Heritage Open Days gives everyone free access to experiences and events across England, including access to many sites that usually charge for admission. For details and opening times, visit www.heritageopendays.org.uk. The event is also part of the Rushmoor Heritage Festival, for details see www.rushmoor.gov.uk.

“Tommy Atkins’ Accommodation” will be at the Aldershot Military Museum, Queen’s Avenue, Aldershot, GU11 2LG. The Museum is at the northern end of Queen's Avenue, on the junction with Evelyn Wood's Road. The route 1 bus stops close to the Museum at Hammersley Road. For more information on Heritage Open Days see www.heritageopendays.org.uk, and for information on the Aldershot Military Museum see www.hampshireculture.org.uk/aldershot-military-museum.

Heritage Open Days 2024

7^th September 2024 - Aldershot Military Museum

www.heritageopendays.org.uk

About Heritage Open Days

Heritage Open Days is England’s largest festival of history and culture. Running for ten days every September, the festival offers free access to heritage events and activities across England.
Heritage Open Days is brought to you by the National Trust with support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery, and delivered locally by a large range of organisations (including civic societies, heritage organisations and local councils, community champions and thousands of enthusiastic volunteers)
Heritage Open Days is England’s contribution to European Heritage Days, taking place across 50 countries. Other events in the UK are Doors Open Days in Scotland (www.doorsopendays.org.uk); Open Doors Days in Wales (www.cadw.wales.gov.uk/opendoors); and European Heritage Open Days in Northern Ireland (www.communities-ni.gov.uk/articles/european-heritage-open-days).
For further details about the festival, visit www.heritageopendays.org.uk, follow on Twitter @HeritageOpenDay, or subscribe to the newsletter.

Heritage Open Days 2022

10^th - 11^th September 2022 - Aldershot Military Museum

PRESS RELEASE

RUSHMOOR’S REMARKABLE INNOVATIONS

Discover stories of invention and innovation in Rushmoor during Heritage Open Days, 10th - 11th September 2022.

www.heritageopendays.org.uk

In Rushmoor’s rich history are some amazing stories of innovation across many fields. For the 2022 Heritage Open Days festival, “Rushmoor’s Remarkable Innovations” will celebrate some of the stories and the extraordinary people behind these breakthroughs in a series of illustrated talks at the Aldershot Military Museum. The events take place over the weekend of Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 September, are free of charge, and have been organised by the Friends of the Aldershot Military Museum.

The events in “Rushmoor’s Remarkable Innovations” are:

“Patrick Alexander and the Alexander Observatory”, on Saturday 10 September at 11.00, by Eric Grieve of the Farnham Astronomical Society.

The Alexander Observatory is one of the more unusual buildings in Aldershot, a small round building with domed roof on Queen’s Avenue. The observatory was given to the Army by Patrick Alexander in 1906 and remains in full working order. This presentation looks at Alexander’s career and why he came to make this remarkable gift to the Aldershot Garrison, along with the capabilities of the instrument and the use made of the observatory since its opening. The Observatory is used and maintained by the Farnham Astronomical Society. It will be open to visitors after the talk, when members of the Society will be present to show visitors the building and telescope, explain its workings and answer all questions.
“Aldershot - Cradle of Army Signalling”, on Saturday 10 September at 14.00, by Noel Moss, who served with both the Royal Engineers and the Royal Signals, and is the current Chairman of the Aldershot Branch of the Royal Signals Association.

Aldershot has been involved with Army signalling from its early days after the Crimean War, and there have been signal units in the garrison ever since. Initially the responsibility of the Royal Engineers, their first specialist telegraphy troops were based in the garrison. In 1886 the Army School of Signalling was set up in Aldershot and after the formation of the Royal Signals in 1920 Mons Barracks was built specially for them. This presentation will show how the evolving communications technology has been used innovatively to improve the command and control of field forces.
“Military railways in Aldershot”, on Sunday 11 September at 11.00, by Roger Deason, local historian and author.

In the second half of the nineteenth century railways were of great importance to the Army for transporting men, arms, and equipment. When railway engineer John B. Fell proposed an innovative light railway system which could be constructed quickly and easily, the Army agreed to trial his system at Aldershot. Fell’s remarkable experiment began in 1872 and, although attracting much interest, it proved a failure. However, railways remained vital to the garrison and in the 1890s the Government Sidings were constructed off the main line, using material originally intended for a military railway in the Sudan. This presentation tells some of the fascinating stories of military railway innovations and developments in Aldershot.
“Cody the Innovator”, on Sunday 11 September at 14.00, by Peter Reese, aviation historian and biographer of Cody.

Samuel Franklin Cody was an American cowboy who became one of Rushmoor’s most famous sons. He began his association with Rushmoor when he was appointed Instructor of Kiting at the Army’s Balloon School in Aldershot garrison. After the Balloon School moved to Farnborough in 1905 Cody worked on an airship and powered glider before going on to build British Army Aeroplane No.1, which he first flew at Farnborough on 16th October 1908. Cody’s remarkably inventive mind not only sought continuous improvement in his aircraft designs but also innovative uses for aeroplanes, including aerial photography and air evacuation of casualties. This presentation tells the fascinating story of an extraordinary character who was one of the most creative and far-sighted innovators of his era.

“We are delighted once again to participate in the Heritage Open Days festival”, said Paul Vickers, Chair of the Friends of the Aldershot Military Museum. “We are grateful to all the expert speakers who have so generously agreed to contribute and make this a special, one-off weekend which will give fascinating insights into some lesser-known aspects of our wonderful local history.”

All talks will be in the Boyce Building of the Aldershot Military Museum, Queen’s Avenue, Aldershot, GU11 2LG. For more information on Heritage Open Days see www.heritageopendays.org.uk, and for information on the Aldershot Military Museum see www.hampshireculture.org.uk/aldershot-military-museum.

The images left are:

The Boyce Building of the Aldershot Military Museum, where all the talks will take place.
The Alexander Observatory, subject of the talk by Eric Grieve on Saturday 10 September.
The Royal Engineers’ wireless station in Queen’s Avenue, c.1914. The story of signals and signalling in Aldershot will be the subject of the talk by Noel Moss on Saturday 10 September.
Soldiers departing from Aldershot c.1916, during the First World War. They are leaving from the passenger terminal of Government Sidings, one of the subjects covered by the talk on military railways in Aldershot by Roger Deason, on Sunday 11 September.
The last surviving remnant of Government Sidings.
Pioneer aviator Samuel Cody, pictured in his Mark V plane. Cody’s biographer Peter Reese will talk about Cody the innovator on Sunday 11 September.

About Heritage Open Days

Heritage Open Days is England’s largest festival of history and culture. Running for ten days every September, the festival offers free access to heritage events and activities across England.
Heritage Open Days is brought to you by the National Trust with support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery, and delivered locally by a large range of organisations (including civic societies, heritage organisations and local councils, community champions and thousands of enthusiastic volunteers)
Heritage Open Days is England’s contribution to European Heritage Days, taking place across 50 countries. Other events in the UK are Doors Open Days in Scotland (www.doorsopendays.org.uk); Open Doors Days in Wales (www.cadw.wales.gov.uk/opendoors); and European Heritage Open Days in Northern Ireland (www.communities-ni.gov.uk/articles/european-heritage-open-days).
For further details about the festival, visit www.heritageopendays.org.uk, follow on Twitter @HeritageOpenDay, or subscribe to the newsletter.

Heritage Open Days 2021

11^th - 12^th September 2021 - Aldershot Military Museum

RUSHMOOR’S RATIONS: FOOD HISTORY IN ALDERSHOT AND FARNBOROUGH

For the 2021 the Heritage Open Days festival will have the national theme of “Edible England”, celebrating food-related stories and heritage. “Rushmoor’s Rations” will give you the chance to discover some of the stories behind the food of Aldershot and Farnborough, including the food shops, cafes and restaurants in the towns; what the soldiers had to eat in the Army barracks; and the hardships of wartime rationing for the civilian population. “Rushmoor’s Rations” will be at the Aldershot Military Museum on Saturday 11^th and Sunday 12^th September. The event is organised by the Friends of the Aldershot Military Museum, and is free of charge.

Heritage Open Days 2020

11-20 September 2020

Entertaining Aldershot: a virtual tour of the old music halls, theatres and cinemas of Aldershot

For the first time the 2020 Heritage Open Days festival includes on-line and digital events, allowing new ways for people to experience the festival. “Entertaining Aldershot”, produced by the Friends of the Aldershot Military Museum, is one of the first ever digital events taking part in England’s largest annual festival of history and culture.

“Entertaining Aldershot: a virtual tour of the old music halls, theatres and cinemas of Aldershot” is an online tour, designed exclusively for Heritage Open Days. It takes the visitor around the sites of some of the old music halls, theatres and cinemas of Aldershot town, giving an insight into the story of how the population of Aldershot has been entertained over the last 165 years. And, like all Heritage Open Days events, it’s completely free.

Following the establishment of Aldershot Army Camp in 1855 there was a huge demand for places of entertainment, both from the soldiers stationed in the garrison and from the growing civilian population. In the new town centre many music halls sprang up, some purpose-built and others attached to some of the town’s many pubs. As the town grew new theatres were built, to provide entertainment of a “higher class” than the music halls to an increasingly prosperous audience. In the early twentieth century the new medium of film was added to the entertainments on offer, initially in converted buildings but then in purpose-built “picture palaces”. Some of these fine buildings remain, others have been lost but the sites can be identified and echoes found from the bygone days. Follow this on-line virtual tour for stories of some of the entrepreneurs, performers and places of entertainment in Aldershot town centre.

View as a Virtual Tour

“Entertaining Aldershot” can be viewed as a virtual on-line tour at home from the comfort of an armchair. The tour is hosted on the Izi.Travel website, to view use this link : Entertaining Aldershot

Use as an audio tour

Alternatively, for anyone who wants to walk the trail around Aldershot town centre, “Entertaining Aldershot” can be used as an audio tour on a smartphone. This requires the Izi.Travel app, which can be downloaded free from the Google Play store. Open the app and find “Entertaining Aldershot” either using the ‘Around me’ option if local to Aldershot, using the explore function, or searching for Aldershot. Start at the Princes Hall and the audio will begin, then simply follow the trail (the audio includes directions) and the audio commentary will play automatically at each stop on the tour.

Heritage Open days

The Friends of the Aldershot Military Museum are pleased once again to be participating in Heritage Open Days, England’s largest festival of history and culture. Heritage Open Days is coordinated and promoted nationally by the National Trust with support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery. Every single Heritage Open Days event is free, including access to many sites that usually charge for admission. For details and opening times, visit www.heritageopendays.org.uk.