During the Easter holidays as a family we decided to get away from it all and head up to County Durham, it's somewhere we'd never been before and we decided that we would have a leisurely visit to Beamish open air Museum. We stopped overnight in a B &B the & B that was 7 miles away now I used to the sounds of the countryside but I was ready to throttle the cockerel on the first morning we were there * it knew just as you were drifting off again !
It's a lovely drive to
Beamish with high hills and rolling countryside scattered here and there with sheep and lambs it was very much the rural scene. Upon getting to Beamish we found there was oodles of parking , we made a mental note of where the car was .Luckily I had already prebooked my sons ticket ( student ) so we didn't have to join the longish queue which was relatively quick moving, my husbands and my tickets had been cited to us thanks to Beamish and are valid for the day. When you buy your ticket it allows you to come and go as you like for a year ( There are some restrictions I believe for special events ) I do think it is very reasonable to get into Beamish as especially as your tickets allow you to keep going back for free all year long Adults are £19 ( the rest of the prices are on the website )
You can get a trams/buses to the various parts of the museum and they are very regular but as ever Mr T likes to get out on foot and make us walk every where ! The museum takes you back to how people used to live showing various aspects of lives from the 1800's and 1900's to 1940's, we were stood in the Victorian school at one point I remember this and I remember that ( I actually work in a school that is Victorian thoroughly modernised inside it actually regains much of the Victorian character ) .
The museum is split into various sections and no where is really that far of a walk away ( it is all signposted and tell you how long it is to walk ) . The sections that the museum is broken into are 1940's farm,1900s town, pit village, colliery and there is even an old fashioned fairground , park and steam railway. There is so much to see and it is really inclusive for all ages we as a family thoroughly enjoyed our day there.
I could not get over how inactive the staff are and not once did I see anyone out of character it was jolly and you were made to feel as if you were part of the place.
When looking at one of the buildings we came across a dolly tub and Mr T said to the teen
"Mind the washing machine "
Now in the day there used to used dolly blue to brighten the whites which would be quite useful as I have managed to dye 3 pairs of Mr T's white socks grey now ,I did say to him this isn't matter as no one could see them but he is banking on the hot weather so he can wear shorts ....
One of the first areas we visited was the 1900's town and this took us all back as years ago we actually lived in a lovely turn of the century Edwardian house that had been a dentist. I say lovely but when looking round one the houses we saw some wallpaper that we had at the Edwardian house and were reminded then when Mr T pulled it off the wall it took the plaster off the wall too ! ( I am not sure what they stuck it on the wall with but it must be one of the strongest substances known to people kind ) There was a gentleman there enthralling people with gruesome dentist stories and I must admit the old fashioned dentist drills sent a shover down my spine, as I remember the dentist as a child having drills like this just as well we didn't buy any sweets !
Beamish is huge and very spacious and you really do appreciate the space that even when there are loads of people there it never ever feels crowded as it it really set out spaceciusly with rolling fields to boot.
There are plenty of shops in the town they are on both side of the tram tracks , there is a car mechanics, a grocery shop , sweet shop, haberdashers, bank , pub and we all stopped for a pint ( the teen is 18 . My cider was over 7 per cent and knocked my socks off ) .
Though we didn't buy sweets in the old fashioned sweet shop we did stay a while and watch some sweets being made , which I think was cinder toffee. You will find there are queues for the sweet shop but they don't last overly long for what I saw. We will have to go back to Beamish as one visit is simply not enough to take it all in and we were there nearly all day.
In the pit village we decided to stop for fish and ships though we had half a fish and chips each which is known as a dab and chips ( £4.95 each ) which I didn't think was to bad of course you are welcome to bring your own picnic along and eat it in the picnic areas.
We covered every area within Beamish though we didn't go in a couple of the buildings within the town , there really is a lot to see. The farms are brilliant to go and visit though it is a bit of a climb to get to them ( it does warn you that the surfaces are uneven to give an old fashioned feel ) I would say that most of Beamish is accessible to those with mobility needs.
You see from the pictures how fabulous everything is and how wonderful , it really is a visual feast upon the eyes and we really can't wait to go back as a family , which will be handy as the teen is going to York University which isn't that far away. walking round you really do get a feel of how the villages used to look and feel like.
So if you are yearning for the yesterday then come visit Beamish ...
