When you see the sheet music carried by the bandleader who led his fellow musicians on the deck of the Titanic as it was sinking how do you feel?

It's almost impossible to put your finger on, but what it does do is bring home the human tragedy which happened on board the ship that fateful night in 1912.

It's very easy to be in total awe of everything about Titanic - as people were when it was built - and the exhibition gives plenty of opportunities to be incredibly impressed by the scale and cost of the project, which took 15,000 shipworkers two and a half years to build; the glamour and luxury and the cost of everything from the rooms to the first class tickets.

The exhibition shows the journey through the eyes of those who were there, including Harland and Wolff’s professional photographer, Robert Welch, period press photographers and passengers on board Titanic and the rescue ship, Carpathia. It’s a tragedy which still captures our imaginations more than 100 years on. When the Titanic sank it took with it thousands of treasures as well as some 1,500 lives.

Some of the photographs are breathtaking, showing the sumptuous staterooms, the Smoking Room, Turkish bath and swimming pool, and the first class lounge complete with its magnificent cartel clock.

And alongside the photographs are display cabinets holding more than 130 artefacts from Titanic and her identical twin sister ship, Olympic, including gilt and crystal light fittings, furniture, china, silverware and chairs used by passengers.

But it's the parts of the display which show the human cost which are the most moving.

The list of passenger names, with a tiny fraction highlighted - they are the ones who survived.

The railway ticket bought by a third class passenger for a journey which they would never take and stationery from Titanic’s reading and writing room, sent home as a souvenir by one of the victims of the sinking, and mailed at Titanic’s last stop in Ireland.

One photograph shows one of the lifeboats reaching the Carpathia, and you can see the trauma and relief on the faces of those on board, who have lived through tragedy on a monumental scale.

Band leader Wallace Hartley’s sheet music from that night was retrieved, along with his violin, from the icy waters 10 days after the disaster. It's important to know that artefacts have not been taken from the wreck.

The free display comes to the Royal Victoria Place for just one month before touring South America and the USA and if you have any interest in Titanic, you should try and catch it.

Other things to do this summer holidays across Kent

DETAILS

Titanic In Photographs is at the Royal Victoria Place in Tunbridge Wells until Sunday, August 21. It is free to enter and will be open during the centre opening times. For details go to royalvictoriaplace.com