Beamish - The Living Museum of the North

Beamish, an open air museum set in three hundred acres of beautiful County Durham countryside, vividly illustrates life in the North of England in the early 1800s and 1900s.

Visitors stroll down the cobbled street of The Town, to see the Dentist's home and surgery, Solicitor's office, Co-operative shops, a newspaper office, Sweetshop and Sweet Factory, Motor & Cycle Works, period branch of Barclay & Co's Bank and splendid Carriage House.   The newest attraction in The Town is an amazing Masonic Hall, which tells the story of Freemasonry in the early 1900s.

In The Colliery Village guided tours are given underground at a real "drift" mine and a row of miner's cottages shows how pitmen and their families lived. There's a Methodist chapel and village school here too. Traditional breeds of livestock fill the farmhouse at Home Farm and, in the welcoming farmhouse kitchen, the farmer's wife goes about her daily chores.

Pockerley Manor is based on a mediaeval fortified manor house and recreates rural life of almost two hundred years ago. The small manor house, its terraced gardens and costume of the day are in complete contrast to the lifestyle of the early 1900s which the other attractions at Beamish portray.

Groups are always assured of a warm welcome at Beamish – The Living Museum of the North.  From strolling around the shops and houses of the Edwardian Town to taking a trip underground at a real drift mine, visitors can enjoy a huge range of attractions, meeting the people who lived and worked in the past.

Beamish has so much to offer groups and is ideal for day trips or inclusion in tour itineraries.  What’s more, the great news is that there are no increases in group rates for 2009 – in fact admission charges have been held since 2005 !  

Opening in March 2009 will be a brand new exhibit – a Colliery Lamp Cabin in The Colliery Village.  Here, visitors will see some of the Museum’s wonderful collection of safety lamps and discover how they were lit, cleaned, repaired and maintained.

Throughout the year there are special events at Beamish, all at no extra charge.  Enjoy Power from the Past from 28th to 31st May – an amazing display of working vehicles, from cycles and motor motorcycles to road rollers and traction engines.  There’s the Great North Steam Fair too, from 3rd to 6th September, with visiting locomotives adding to the museum’s collection of steam vehicles.  

For the first time ever in 2009, Beamish will be offering a whole season of Christmas festivities.  Christmas at Beamish will run from 14th November 2009 to 3rd January 2010 (closed Mondays, Fridays & Christmas Day).  The Town and Colliery Village will take on a festive feel with period decorations from the early 1900s, there will be traditional entertainment and, at weekends, Father Christmas in his grotto.

With so much to see and do at Beamish, it’s no wonder that the museum has been voted ‘Best UK Attraction for Group Visits – Long Visit’ six times since 2000 !

Beamish is open :- SUMMER (April through October) - Daily 10am to 5pm, last admission 3pm. WINTER (November to March) - 10am to 4pm, last admission 3pm, closed Mondays and Fridays. A winter visit to Beamish is centred on The Town, Colliery Village and tramway. Other areas are closed and, consequently, admission charges are reduced.

Website: http://www.beamish.org.uk