Heritage Open Days - Guided Tour of the Southsea Archives Repository

The Southsea Archives Repository is opening its doors for a guided tour on Friday 18 September, from 11:00 to 12:30. It's part of Heritage Open Days, the national celebration that's been running since 1994, when museums, theatres and historic sites across the country throw open their doors for a weekend of free activities, talks and displays. More than three decades on, it's grown into a huge event with hundreds of listings right across the UK.

For most of us, the repository is a place we've heard of but never actually seen. It's situated above Southsea Library at 19-21 Palmerston Road, PO5 3QQ, and it holds the bulk of Portsmouth's extensive archive collections. This is a behind-the-scenes tour, so you'll get to see the parts that don't usually make it into the public eye. They'll show you how archives are catalogued and stored, and how the centre deals with the less glamorous side of the job, like infestations and mould. The best bit, though, is that you'll get to handle and examine some of the repository's favourite and oldest archive items, rather than just looking at them from a distance.

It's a small group, with a maximum of 12 people, and pre-booking is required, so you'll want to get your name down early if you're interested. The tour runs for about an hour and a half, from 11:00 to 12:30 on Friday 18 September, starting at Southsea Library on Palmerston Road.