Behind the Scenes: Collection Tour

Reading Museum is opening its doors to the South Reading Store on Wednesday 25 November, for a Behind the Scenes: Collection Tour that takes you well away from the main museum building. Most of us know the museum in the town centre, but this is the offsite store in Whitley, where a huge part of the collection is kept out of the public eye. The tour is built around talks and a walk-through of the store, so you'll see the objects and hear the stories behind them in the space where they're actually housed.

It's a morning thing, starting at 11am and lasting about an hour, which makes it a decent mid-week outing if you're around. The whole point is the 'behind the scenes' bit — you're not just looking at a few chosen pieces in a gallery, but seeing the store itself, the way the collection is kept, and the things that don't usually make it onto the display stands. If you've ever wondered what happens to the museum's objects when they're not on show, this is exactly that.

Because it's at the Whitley store rather than the museum in town, it's worth keeping the location in mind if you're planning your trip. It's a bit of a different side of Reading to visit, and the tour gives you a look at the museum's work that you won't get from a standard visit. Tickets are £20 for adults and £10 for under-18s, so it's a fair shout for a family morning out too. It runs on Wednesday 25 November at 11am, and you'll be in and out in about an hour.