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.