The 25th anniversary of Chatham’s Historic Dockyard will be celebrated with a party and exhibition.

As part of the celebrations, there will be an early bird offer on admission that day with visitors arriving between

10am and noon on Wednesday able to purchase a 12-month ticket at opening-day prices of £1 for adults and 50p for children.

Normal admission prices will apply to afternoon visitors.

The Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust has organised an exhibition of its work over the past quarter of a century which will be opened by housing and planning minister Margaret Beckett.

It uses photographs from the trust’s collections to explore the past, present and future of the historic dockyard and explores the trust’s policy of preservation through reuse.

It illustrates how it has turned a derelict former military industrial site into the thriving community it has become today with

112 homes, 100 small businesses and around 150,000 visitors a year at its maritime heritage attractions.

Following the official opening, visitors are invited to enjoy birthday cake and a glass of bubbly while they browse the exhibition on the mezzanine floor of 3 Slip – The Big Store.

A 25-gun salute will be fired at noon, made up of three Second World War

guns fired by soldiers wearing army battle dress as worn during the Second World War.