Not on as much as I would like to be at the moment as work commitments call. Hopefully I will get ba...
Not on as much as I would like to be at the moment as work commitments call. Hopefully I will get back to full steam ahead soon.
Member since:04.03.2001
Reviews:60
Members who trust:142
The North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish in County Durham has won many prestigious awards since it’s opening some 30 years ago. Unless you have been and seen for yourself, you will not realise just what an ambitious project this actually is. The objective that they have set themselves is to have a living and working environment based on life in Victorian England in the North East. I have been many times and find that the hours fly past, leaving you with more to see on a return visit.
The museum takes up some 300 acres. This enormous area is far too large to walk around and therefore your 1900,s experience starts immediately when you find that to negotiate the various areas in the museum, it is necessary to use the trams provided, some of which are horse powered. They take you on a circular tour of the countryside where you can see examples of how the fields were worked during the Victorian age, while you travel in open topped comfort to the various places of interest, which are: the Town, Pockerley Manor, Colliery Village, Railway and Station, and Home Farm. You can if you wish picnic in the park and listen to music from the authentic Victorian bandstand and watch the “population” of Beamish pass by. Soldiers, sailors, and nannies with their wards can pass you at any time, all in authentic costume. Look out for the Victorian Fun fair complete with merry-go-round, coconut
shy, toffee apples, Wurlitzer and other attractions of the times.
Construction of houses and equipment is on an ongoing basis, so there is always something new to see each time. Attention to detail is paramount with them, as is evident when you visit any of the shops in the “Town”
The Town (1913) consists of
•Co-operative Shops •Sweet Factory & Confectionery •Motor & Cycle Works •Dentist's Home & Surgery •Stationer's Shop •Printing Works •The Bank •The Sun InnPub •Music Teacher's House •Solicitor's Office •Livery Stables
The Co-operative Shops are staffed shops depicting exactly as it was at the beginning of the Coop movement. From food to toiletries, fruit and veg. to milk, and haberdashery to the undertaker, the Coop did it all. Walking slowly round the grocery store will show you many household names that are still with us today, as well as those that are now just a memory.
A visit to the Sweet Factory & Confectionery is a mouth-watering must. It is an old sweet shop with its own little “factory” at the back. Here the boiled sweets of the Victorians were made. A North East speciality is the “black bullet” here you can sample them and see for yourself why they became so popular. Liquorice in all its many forms is also in evidence from the basic liquorice root, to the bootlaces and sticks that we more easily recognise. Humbugs, Mint Imperials, Gobstoppers, Aniseed Balls, Cough Lozenges, Sherbet Dabs, Multi Coloured Lollies, Parma Violets, the list goes on and on. If you add the smell of freshly produced sweets to the riot of colour in the shop, you will have some idea of what it was like in 1900. Willy Wonka eat your heart out.
The Motor and Cycle works have various cars and bikes on display and are adding to these all the time. A comprehensive display of mechanics equipment of the day is also here and the thing that brings it all together once again for me is the smell of the grease and oil in the workshop. Pure nostalgia.
Ooooh now the next place makes you cringe, it is a little group of terraced houses, which you can enter at one end of the terrace, and work your way through them all and out the other end. One of these is the dentist’s home and surgery, and if you are lucky (or unlucky if you like) the dentist will be at home and demonstrate to you just how to remove or fill a tooth according to the latest Victorian methods, foot powered drill and all. Those of a nervous disposition (such as I) should proceed to the next in the terrace, which is the music teacher’s house.
The stationer's shop, printing works, solicitor's office, bank and livery stables are all working and mostly manned examples of this type of work at the turn of the last century. The latter holds the horses that from time to time pull carts or various forms of transport around the museum.
Make sure you take a look in the “local”. The Sun Inn gives you an excellent idea of the drinks available, and you can marvel at how the population stayed sober at the prices.
The Railway Station is a must for steam enthusiasts, as it has been painstakingly reconstructed by enthusiasts, to depict a real live atmosphere of the age of steam. The smell of steam and the sounds and costumes all go to make a memorable experience.
Home farm gives you some idea of what it must have been like to work on a farm before the age of the tractor. Horses did the majority of the work and at various times, examples of ploughing or other activities are demonstrated. There is also a selection of old breeds of farm animals on display (foot and mouth restrictions may apply)
The colliery village is absolutely fascinating. There is a church, schoolhouse and selection of houses, all perfectly recreated to show a snapshot of the Victorian age. My daughters, who are teachers, have both been to the schoolroom at Beamish, complete with their classes, all dressed up in their Victorian finery. Here they taught their lessons, as they would have done 100 years ago. Apart from the benefits that the day gave to the children, it added to the realism for visitors to see the school being actually used for the purpose it was intended.
The colliery houses, complete with their little gardens, are a true masterpiece in my opinion. You can wander round at your leisure, peek though windows and doors and marvel at the painstaking detail that has been recreated. Here you can chat to some of the occupants who may be baking bread, washing or busy with a “clippie” mat.
Pockerley manor comes complete with gentry and their staff. Wander round and you will see the butler, chambermaids, scullery maids, cook, gardener and other various staff about their business. The kitchens complete with Victorian utensils are well worth a visit.
As I said earlier, the museum is on a truly grand scale and its exhibits match up to this. Buildings are being added all the time and as they are actual buildings, which have been painstakingly dismantled and reconstructed, the effect is perfect, in every detail.
The Open Air Museum at Beamish is approximately 10 miles south of Newcastle on Tyne and is well signposted from the A1.
The opening times and prices are:
April until late October, opening times from 10am until 5pm. Adults £12.00 Children £6.00 (under 5 free). O.A.P.s £9.00
It is well worthwhile checking for offers such as 2 for 1. The best place to check for these offers, is at any tourist information point in the North East or in the local press. Visits are also available during the winter, to the tram and village only at reduced rates. (All tickets are £4 with children under 5 admitted free) Telephone 0191 370 4000
Their website at www.beamish.co.uk gives even more details and is well worth a look.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
This is a brill place I agree. (I did once venture that far north) Sue
little_fat_pad 13.11.2001 23:06
I really enjoyed this when I went. The sweet shop was lurvely!...
Paddys_back 21.10.2001 00:40
Excellent Robin & nice to see you're still happily writng your quality reviews mate! I decided to rejoin after leaving a few months ago. Will check out some more of your reviews now. .. Tom (ex-paddywak)
NH Hotels, the hotel chain leader in Europe, with more than 300 hotels in 20 countries in Europe, Latin America and Africa. Enter into our web site and find the best available tariff at all times
Advantages: First person interpretation, an entire day out, suitable for all ages Disadvantages: Expensive, tends to take a "golden old days" view of the past
Collingwood21 20.11.2002 (20.11.2002)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Beamish Open Air Museum
Advantages: First person interpretation, an entire day out, suitable for all ages Disadvantages: Expensive, tends to take a "golden old days" view of the past
Collingwood21 20.11.2002 (20.11.2002)
·
Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Beamish Open Air Museum
very helpful by (100%):
