On Friday 16 October, a minibus full of eager Friends of Romsey Abbey set off on the latest adventure in our 2026 programme of trips: a day at Amberley Museum, the former Amberley Chalk Pits, near Arundel in West Sussex. The sun was shining as we left Romsey, ready to discover the South’s industrial and rural past in the heart of the South Downs National Park. Not even an accident closing part of the M27 could dampen our spirits – our driver simply treated us to a scenic detour through the charming towns and countryside of West Sussex.
Amberley Museum sprawls across 36 acres of a former chalk quarry and limeworks, where for more than a hundred years – from the 1840s until the 1960s – workers dug chalk and burnt it into lime for mortar and cement. Several of the original kilns still stand proud, including the mighty De Witt kilns, alongside the bagging shed, offices and locomotive shed. The museum opened in 1979 and is run almost entirely by volunteers, whose knowledge and infectious enthusiasm make every exhibit spring to life.
With more than 40 exhibit areas to explore, there was something for everyone. We all hopped aboard the narrow-gauge railway and chuffed along the line between Amberley and Brockham stations, on track that recalls the industrial railways that once carried chalk around the quarry. Then it was all aboard the vintage bus – part of the museum’s collection of historic Southdown buses – for a nostalgic trundle around the site.
Life and Lime told the story of the chalk pits and the people who worked there, while the Railway exhibition delighted the train enthusiasts among us. Volunteers showed off traditional crafts such as printing on historic presses, pottery, woodturning and blacksmithing. We marvelled at inventions from conception to the present day, and at the Communications and electricity displays, where hands-on exhibits trace the development of wireless, television, telephones and electricity supply. It was here, in the Electricity Hall, that we spotted the most eyebrow-raising 1950s poster of the day: ‘Don’t let hard work kill your wife-let electricity do it!’ Film fans were also thrilled by the quarry tunnel, which starred as the “Mainstrike Mine” in the James Bond film A View to a Kill.
There was so much to see that we could happily have stayed twice as long, but we all came home with a fascinating glimpse into the working life of the South – and plenty to chat about on the journey back. A huge thank you to the volunteers of Amberley Museum for their wonderful warm welcome. If you haven’t been, put it on your list, we can’t recommend it enough!
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