It was an 8:30 a.m. start to Beamish, boarding the coach in Cottingham outside Barbara’s house. We would have normally caught the coach at the Stadium, but because Hull Fair had started, this was not possible. On our journey there, Barbara organised a quiz and a game of bingo.
Beamish Open-air Living Museum of the North stands on what was the heart of the Durham coalfield. The museum recreates life in the 1820s, 1900s, 1940s and the 1950s. During our visit, we had time to walk through the historic streets, visit shops and explore the houses representing the different eras. If you did not want to walk around the site, there was the option of riding the various vintage buses and trams. Hopping off and on at the many stops around the site.
The living museum showcases life through different eras. You could visit Pockerley Old Hall of 1820 with its gardens, pottery and nearby Drovers Tavern, where some of our party stopped for a drink. Some caught a bus down to the pit village of the 1900s with its pit cottages, school, chapel and colliery. In one of the pit cottages, a lady dressed in costume sat in front of an open roaring fire, baking bread and biscuits. In the town of the same era, there were shops and houses to visit and a tea room where a few of us had lunch.
At the 1940s farmhouse, we saw life and farming during wartime with the help of the Land Girls. The 1950s town brought back memories for some of us of our childhoods, with its shops displaying items we remember so well. Some even had fish and chips from the chip shop served in 1950s-style newspaper cones.
Throughout the museum, the staff were dressed in costumes of the different eras and were on hand to answer any questions we had.
It was another enjoyable and interesting day out arranged by Barbara.
Shirley Cormack
Pit Village Cottages Pit Village Chapel
Vintage Tram Vintage Bus
Tram Terminus A Vintage Tram
The Cooperative Store
