An Extraordinary Day Out (Beamish North of England Open Air Museum)

Member Name: meah

Product:	Beamish North of England Open Air Museum
Date:	11/08/02 (357 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great family day out, Something for every age group, Get better every year

Disadvantages: None I can think of

Approximately four miles north of Durham City and nine miles south of Newcastle upon Tyne encompassing 450 acres of beautiful countryside you find Beamish, The North of England Open Air Museum. Since the opening of the museum in the 1970’s I have been many times, it was a favourite family day out when our children were younger and is still an enjoyable day out for Kathleen and myself. The museum is no ordinary museum, it is a living, working life size experience of how we lived in the 1800’s and early 1900’s and it has been added to and improved many times over the years.

Within the 450 acre site the museum is divided into different attractions with over seventy buildings. There is an early 1900’s town, a Victorian park, an 1800’s railway station, a working farm, a Victorian fair ground, a blacksmiths, an early 1900’s colliery village, and a Manor house.

The Town

Wander along the main street of the town and you can visit the Co-operative Store, the Ironmongers, the Bank, the Dentist, the Doctor or Music Teacher. Go into the sweet shop and tantalise your taste buds with old fashioned favourites such as sherbet, aniseed balls, gobstoppers, liquorice sticks, black bullets, mint humbugs or lollypops, all of which are on sale and then wander into the small factory at the back of the shop and watch the sweets being made in the authentic way. Take a walk into the local pub for a pint and sit in the snug or bar in front of a blazing real coal fire and after your drink walk down the lane to the local garage and watch the mechanics working on authentic vehicles. While you’re in town have a walk into the homes of the people who lived and worked there.

The Victorian Park

As you walk out of town you pass the park and this is an ideal setting to sit on the grass and enjoy a picnic or if you are lucky you might get a seat around the bandstand and see a brass band playing.

The Railway St
ation

Beyond the park you come to the 1800’s railway station with it’s signal box, public waiting room, ladies only waiting room and station master’s house. A magnificent, full-size, working replica of an early 1800s 'lost' locomotive, The Steam Elephant, was unveiled here in 2002. Originally built in 1815 by William Chapman of Newcastle upon Tyne for Wallsend Colliery, the Elephant worked there and at Washington and Hetton Collieries until the 1840s, when it disappeared without a trace. While you are at the railway station you can take a ride in replica 1825 carriages behind The Steam Elephant or the Museum's replica of "Locomotion No.1" built by George Stephenson in 1825. The original Locomotion No.1 headed the first public, passenger-carrying, steam train in the world - on the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1825.

The Blacksmiths

When you come out of the railway station walk over the station stairs and down the lane to the blacksmiths, this is where the dray horses are stabled and cared for; as well as watching the blacksmith at work you can watch the draymen preparing the horses and polishing the horse brasses.

The Farm

A short walk from the blacksmiths brings you to the working farm with traditional breeds of pigs, poultry and cattle, here you can watch the women working in the farm house and farm yard and the men working in the fields with horse drawn ploughs.

The Victorian Fairground

Walking from the farm back towards the road you pass the fairground but you will not find any white knuckle rides here, the typical rides for Victorian children were swings, shuggy boats, helter skelter and horse carousel but these rides are very popular at Beamish and there is also a coconut shy and toffee apple stall.

The Colliery Village

This is the part of Beamish I enjoy most, there is an early 1900’s schoolhouse with demonstrations of lessons with
slates and abacuses and playground activities such as whip and top and hopscotch, you can visit the village church and wander into the village houses and watch patchwork, clippie mat and quilting demonstrations or just linger in the kitchen and sample the home made bread, pastries and biscuits. Also in the village you can visit a traditional gypsy caravan and watch a woodwork demonstration or take a walk down the coal mine and see the Shetland pit ponies that have been rescued and are looked after in the nearby field.

Pockerly Manor

Past the village you come to Pockerly Manor and this is the home of the gentry, here you get a glimpse of what life was like both upstairs for the upper-class members of society and downstairs for the working-classes; the Manor has a butler, chambermaids, cook and scullery maids plus of course the gamekeeper who is often seen in hot pursuit of poachers.

Other Information

The 450 acre site is on a tram route and you can ride on the trams as often as you like free of charge, there are open top trams, single decker trams and horse drawn trams and an early model of a bus, the trams and bus operate continuously throughout the day in a circle around the site, however the farm is slightly off the road so you do have a couple of minutes walk from the tram stop to the farm.

Entrance to Beamish is £12 for Adults, £6 for Children and £9 for over sixties. You can also join the Beamish Club for an annual fee of £15 (£12 for over sixties), once you have paid your annual fee you can enjoy as many visits as you like and you can bring two guests each visit for half price.
Opening Times are 23rd March to 27th October 10.00am to 5.00pm seven days a week and the last admission is 3.00pm.

Most of Beamish is accessible for the disabled and disabled facilities are available, however there are some areas not suitable for those confined to a wheelchair but if you notify the museum before you visit arrang
ements are made to assist visitors who may experience problems and the whole of the museum, with the exception of the farm is on a road that circles the 450 acre site.

Address: Beamish – The North of England Open Air Museum, Beamish, County Durham, DH9 0RG

Telephone: 0191 370 4000

Website: www.beamish.org.uk

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