PODCAST PICK

New to the podcast scene is Blast From My Past, created by Myheritage, who promise the series will feature ‘the incredible true stories of people whose lives were changed by what they discovered through Myheritage about their family’s pasts – whether it was a close relative they never knew existed, the key to unlocking an old family mystery, or a newfound connection to a long-forgotten legacy.’ Listen at https:// shows.acast.com/blast-from-my-past

Lancashire Steam Heritage Festival, 14-15 May

Lancashire Mining Museum hosts an event in partnership with Red Rose Steam Society. Plans include traction engines, tractors, miniature traction engines, fair organs, vintage bikes (courtesy of the Velocette Club), a steam loco on the 2ft gauge railway for the first time.

Lancashire Mining Museum, Higher Green Lane, Astley Green, Tydesley, Manchester M29 7JB; website: https://familytr.ee/steam

Picturing Pickwick: the art of the Pickwick Papers, until 11 September Published in 1836, The Pickwick Papers formed Charles Dickens’s first novel. Filled with vibrant characters and iconic scenes, The Pickwick Papers helped to kick-start Dickens’s career, and continues to capture readers’ imaginations today. The exhibition at the Dickens Museum explores the close, but at times tumultuous, relationship between Dickens and his illustrators, and includes original illustrations of The Pickwick Papers, a page of the original manuscript, and historic monthly instalments of the story, some of which was penned at 48 Doughty Street, the exhibition venue. Entry included with museum admission.

Charles Dickens Museum, 48-49 Doughty Street, London WC1N 2LX; website: https://familytr.ee/pickwick