Charles Dickens' Kent home to open to public

Famed English writer Charles Dickens' former Kent home, where he penned his classic novels Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities, will be thrown open to the public for the first time since his death in 1870.
Gad's Hill Place in Higham, Kent, has been used as a school since the 1920s, with original living rooms of the house turned into classrooms.
However, pupils are now moving into new buildings, 'BBC News' reported.
Head teacher David Craggs said it "wasn't designed for the 21st Century".
Craggs said thousands of children had had "the rare honour of being able to learn English in what was Charles Dickens' bedroom."

"However, this old building can no longer keep up with the demands of modern day education," he said.

Now, with the completion of the first phase of a multi-million pound project to build two new school buildings in the grounds of the house, one of them has been officially opened by the author's great great granddaughter, Marion Dickens.
Marion said she hoped that by turning Dickens' house into a visitor attraction "people that love his books will be able to walk in through his door [and] feel that same magic that actually I always feel."
She said Gad's Hill was "where he wrote, where he lived, where he threw wonderful parties, [and] where his children were brought up".