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Portmsouth celebrates Dickens Bicentenary
Portsmouth prepares to celebrate 200 years since the birth of local literary figure Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens is generally considered the greatest English novelist of the Victorian period having written some of English literature's most iconic novels and characters. He was born in Portsmouth 200 years ago on 7 February 1812. When reflecting on his place of birth, Dickens once said, "The view from Portsdown Hill was the finest the world had to offer".
To celebrate the life, times and literary works of Charles Dickens, First Hampshire & Dorset have named five of its buses after some of the writer's most famous works: Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, Little Dorrit, The Old Curiosity Shop and Our Mutual Friend. They will also have storytellers dressed in period Dickensian clothing on their buses, reading extracts from Dickens' most popular works aloud, over the week of 6 -10 February 2012.
The buses will be used on several routes in and around the city on these dates, and special effort will be placed to allocate them to Services 41 (Portsmouth to Clanfield), which travels along Commercial Road and Mile End Road in Portsmouth, passing the birthplace of Dickens himself and the site of the official Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum (393 Old Commercial Road, Portsmouth).
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