Heritage Events

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.