Join us as we launch two new exhibitions at The Higgins, Bedford.



 Blue-Sky Thinking: the Short Brothers' Airships

6th May-17th September 

Connections Gallery

Free Entry



IWM (Q48023) Rigid Airship R31 preparing for flight

From the 6th of May, discover the story of three remarkable brothers - Oswald, Eustace and Horace, and their vision for a British airship industry. 

Back in 1917 the Short brothers started building R31, the first of their airships, at the Cardington Sheds. At the same time the Brothers set about building homes for workers in the village that still heralds their name today, ‘Shortstown’.

For more information click here.

Romance & Rebellion: the Art of the Victorians

6th May-17th September 

Wixamtree Gallery

Free Entry

Romance and Rebellion: the Art of the Victorians, draws upon the internationally acclaimed Cecil Higgins Art Gallery Collection in a romp through Victorian art.

The exhibition charts the period chronologically and reveals how these styles developed and flourished alongside one another. It features artists including J.M.W. Turner, Edward Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, James McNeill Whistler, Richard Dadd and Frederic Lord Leighton.

For more information click here.

LGBT History Month

Come to The Higgins, Bedford on Thursday 23rd February (12 noon) to hear about photographer Angus McBean

Free event

Adrian Woodhouse will be at The Higgins Bedford to talk about the life of the photographer Angus McBean, who was imprisoned for homosexuality in 1942 but was able to successfully resume his career after the second world war.

Kids Go Free on the Marston Vale Line

Kids go free on the Marston Vale Line from Saturday 11th February to Saturday 18th February. For more details about this offer click here

If you live in Milton Keynes or Bletchley, why not come and visit The Higgins Bedford by rail. For details of our half term activities click here

Visit by Bedford College ESOL students

A group of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students from Bedford College came to look around The Higgins in January and were given a tour by our volunteer guide Bill. For some of the students it was their first visit to a museum and they were fascinated by the objects and the stories behind them.