Happy 20th birthday to us!

Hello Writing Hut

In 2012 we redeveloped our Solo gallery to welcome Roald Dahl’s Writing Hut. The entire interior of the hut was painstakingly moved and reconstructed into a bespoke display case in the Museum. To this day visitors can see the inside of the hut exactly as Dahl left it. There’s a whole host of treasures to be seen, including Roald’s writing chair and table that he used to write all of his childrens books and his foil wrapper ball made up of hundreds of chocolate bar wrappers.

Roald Dahl 100

In 2016 we celebrated Roald Dahl 100, Roald Dahl’s centenary. This year saw record numbers of visitors to the Museum with over 90,000 people walking through our doors throughout the year. That September we hosted our big Roald Dahl Day celebration! Visitors enjoyed storytelling with Sandra Agard, poetry with Sarah Hirsch and walks with Alistair Wills.

Matilda makes an entrance

Our courtyard just wouldn’t be the same without Matilda in it! She arrived in 2018 as part of the celebrations for the books 30th anniversary. That year some special editions of the book were published and our Matilda was created. Originally she stood alongside a statue of Donald Trump who was serving his first term as president at the time. Fans were asked who they thought Matilda would stand up to today and the majority thought Donald Trump! He only lasted one year in the courtyard though, before he was taken away. Luckily we still have Matilda who has delighted visitors ever since.

Seeing the world with Glittering Eyes

Since 2023 we have worked with Waterside Primary School in Chesham on our Glittering Eyes project. Inspired by how Roald Dahl saw the world around him our Learning team have worked with pupils and teachers from the school on some very creative projects. In it’s first year the team worked with book artist Rose Feather to design and make a series of picture books inspired by the local area.

“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.” Billy and the Minpins, Roald Dahl

A very special opal visit

In 2025 we welcomed a very special guest, Mark Taylor. He was a young teacher working in the remote outback opal-mining town of Mintabie in Australia in the late 80s. While we has there his class took part in a telephone meet-up with Roald Dahl who was in the country promoting his new book, Matilda. The telephone conversation changed how Mark’s students saw their town:

“And I watched as the looks on my students faces transformed. He changed the way they looked at the world in a good way. They weren’t living in the outback in isolation and missing out anymore – they were living somewhere special. It was magic.”

After the call the students sent Roald an opal, which still sits on the desk in his Writing Hut today. Mark had made the trip to see the opal for the first time in over 30 years.