Aldersgate Ward Club

AWC visit to the Charles Dickens Museum, 48-49 Doughty Street, London EC1

There's nothing quite like going "through the keyhole" to discover some surprising facts about a celebrity, as 13 AWC members discovered on 22 October 2025 when they met at the Charles Dickens Museum.  

It's inside the Georgian town-house that Dickens made his home with wife Catherine Hogarth and first child Charley from 1837 to 1840. This was the period when his fame as a writer soared. Here he penned Oliver Twist (as a serial between 1837 and 1839 and published as a book in 1838), followed by Nicholas Nickleby in 1839. We had the joy of being able to walk his stairs (of which there were many!), visit his study, witness his desk and chair and browse the reference works and family portraits that lined his walls: the everyday things he too gazed upon as he conjured up his amazing characters and plots.

We were free to explore the house on our own but we could opt for an audio guided tour if we wished. And on every floor a volunteer guide was on hand, each - it seemed - with an encyclopaedic knowledge of Dickens' life as well as his works.

And the surprises? These came from quick chats with other AWC members as we crossed each other's paths. Such as "Who'd have thought that Dickens used to re-write or delete whole paragraphs from his books after publication, not once but many times over?" And "Have you seen how small - and illegible - Dickens' handwriting was? Pity the poor type-setter!" And "Who'd have thought that Oliver Twist was adapted for the stage in the same year that the book was published?"

There was much more to share when we then enjoyed a fine lunch together at the Lady Ottiline pub close by. This was Phillipa White's final event of her year as Master and led by Past Master Ron Wood, we expressed our thanks and congratulations to her by raising a glass.

Sharon Heppell