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BEAMISH MUSEUM - The North of England Open Air Museum

99K views 513 replies 18 participants last post by  Ken O'Heed 
#1 · (Edited)
Beamish Museum - The North of England Open Air Museum.


Coverage on Skyscraper City . . .


The North of England Open Air Museum at Beamish has been covered frequently on the "Culture & the Arts - Galleries, Theatres, and Museums of Newcastle & the North East " thread, on the Newcastle Metro Area Forum, and on the "Sunderland and Durham Area - Arts, Culture and Museums" thread, on the Sunderland and Durham Forum.

There is no reason why coverage cannot continue, as before, on those two threads in those two of our four 'City-led' forums.

However, it seems to me that we, in the North East England Sub-forum (no matter which of the City-led internal forums we mostly frequent) could benefit from having a dedicated thread on which to discuss one of our wider regions most successful cultural destinations, namely BEAMISH MUSEUM.

What better a location for this thread could there be than here in the "Communal Area" of the North East England Sub-forum.

So, I have copied the pre-existing posts about Beamish, from all locations, into this new thread, with a view to this thread becoming the 'prime location' to discuss issues concerning the museum . . . from now on.

This merged thread was created on 28th May 2014.

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#2 ·
Beamish Museum celebrates 40th birthday
July 2nd 2010, by Ian Robson, Evening Chronicle


BEAMISH MUSEUM is marking its 40th birthday with a series of special events on Saturday and Sunday.

There will be a parade of vehicles and staff in period costume at noon on both days. At the railway station there will be a photographic exhibition of the last 40 years at Beamish. There will be church services at the Methodist chapel at 1pm, 2pm, and 3pm each day while children can take part in a guess the object game at the school. Beamish is open from 10am to 5pm on both days anniversary days.

Ten things (amongst MANY others) to see at Beamish . . . at any time, not just over the anniversary weekend:

1 Pockerley Old House boasts an open fire with a superb chimney crane and demonstrations of tallow candle making or spinning.

2 The Steam Elephant is a replica of an early steam locomotive and is used, in conjunction with replicas of Puffing Billy and Locomotion No 1, to give rides in recreated carriages.

3 Pit cottages come from Hetton-le-Hole, and were built in the 1860s for pitmen and their families. They have been painstakingly recreated at the museum.

4 The Steam Winding Engine was taken from nearby Beamish Chophill 2nd Pit and was built by J & G Joicey & Co of Newcastle in 1855.

5 The Beamish Board School – which once stood at East Stanley – provides a glimpse of what life was like for children in the early 1900s.

6 The Colliery Lamp Cabin, the newest exhibit, shows what it was like at the start of a shift in the mines when pitmen collected their lamps.

7 The Jubilee Sweetshop, providing old-fashioned sweets, is one of the most popular exhibits.

8 Home Farm, once part of the Beamish Estate, includes a cosy farmhouse with its beautiful cast iron range and huge scrubbed top table.

9 The Co-op Grocery Store, recalling the days of the “divi”, originally came from Annfield Plain.

10 Three trams carry than more than 350,000 visitors each year.


ARTICLE HERE - http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/nort...0/07/02/birthday-celebrations-72703-26770008/
 
#3 ·
Historian is it correct that the front street buildings in Beamish are actually the frint street from Whickham. I grew up in Whickham- and tha is what i was told- that the beautiful stone front street was dismantled brick by brick and shipped to Beamish. I replace of it we got ugly 1970's shops. Is that true?
 
#4 ·
Historian is it correct that the front street buildings in Beamish are actually the frint street from Whickham. I grew up in Whickham- and tha is what i was told- that the beautiful stone front street was dismantled brick by brick and shipped to Beamish. I replace of it we got ugly 1970's shops. Is that true?

Hi geordiejon

I have a fair bit of info on Beamish, and when I find it (!) I'll let you know what I can establish about where the 'Town Centre' buildings at Beamish come from.
 
#6 ·
The Co-op is from Annfield Plain
It is!
And there are other buildings in Beamish which have also been painstakenly rebuilt there, having originally stood in Gateshead, Bishop A. and in Sunderland.

In exchange for the Co-Op, Annfield Plain seems to have received a maze.
Have you walked or cycled though it? Its a bit frightening in dusk, not to mention in the dark!
 
#7 ·
Historian is it correct that the front street buildings in Beamish are actually the front street from Whickham. I grew up in Whickham- and that is what i was told- that the beautiful stone front street was dismantled brick by brick and shipped to Beamish. I replace of it we got ugly 1970's shops. Is that true?

FURTHER to the replies by WilfBurnsFan and from DXNewcastle, on this, I have been able to find the following . . .


The Town at Beamish Museum represents a typical north eastern market town in the years leading up to the First World War. Trams rattle down the cobbled street, carrying visitors on their journey into the past.

At the west end of The Town is a Victorian park, with ornamental flower beds and a bandstand from Saltwell Park, Gateshead. Brass band concerts are held here on some summer Sundays.

Ravensworth Terrace came originally from nearby Gateshead. These fashionable houses were built for professional people and now represent the home of a Music Teacher, the home and surgery of a Dentist and a Solicitor’s office.

At the end of the terrace is The Sun Inn, originally from Bishop Auckland, which dates back to the 1860s. The Sun Inn is licensed to sell alcoholic drinks during museum opening hours.

Through the adjoining archway are the Town Stables where splendid Gelderlander carriage horses are accommodated. The Carriage House, complete with foreman’s office and shoeing forge, holds a fine display of horse-drawn vehicles.

In the Newspaper Branch Office the Stationer’s shop sells a range of specially selected cards, prints and copies of Edwardian stationery. Upstairs, a jobbing printer demonstrates the production of posters, business cards and advertising material.

Across the cobbled street is a Co-operative shop with three departments, grocery, drapery and hardware, which were taken from the much larger Annfield Plain Co-operative Society, dating back to 1870. The Co-op prided itself on providing ‘Everything from the cradle to the grave’.

The Motor & Cycle Works next door is a typical town garage of 1913. The Showroom displays new and second hand cars, including the magnificent, locally built 1907 Armstrong Whitworth. A host of parts are on view in the Spares department and in the workshop an articulated car is ‘under repair’.

A mouth-watering range of boiled sweets, like pear drops, winter warmers and a host of others, are made in the Jubilee Sweet Factory and sold in the Sweet Shop, alongside delicious toffees, fudges and other confectionery.

The fine four-storey branch of Barclays Bank was designed to give its customers a feeling of financial stability and security. Visitors take a peek into the underground vaults, admire the splendid banking hall and view the Manager’s Office.

The splendid Masonic Hall, from Park Terrace in Sunderland, allows visitors to see inside a typical meeting place and find out more about the world of Freemasonry in 1913. It is shown being prepared for an evening meeting of a craft Masonic lodge. Upstairs in the Museum Room, Masonic paintings and prints are hung on the walls and Masonic curiosities, jewels and artefacts are on display.



AND THIS . . .


Town

Re-enactors creating a period street scene at the museumThe town area, officially opened in 1985, depicts chiefly Victorian buildings in an evolved urban setting of 1913.[7] These include the Annfield Plain Co-Operative Store (with operating cash carrier system);[8][9] a terrace of "professionals"’ houses (from Gateshead), "occupied" by a music teacher, dentist's surgery and family home, and solicitor’s office; a pub (the Sun Inn from Bishop Auckland); town stables and carriage shed (utilising iron roof trusses from Fleetwood) housing an extensive collection of horse-drawn vehicles; a branch office of the Sunderland Daily Echo,[10] stationer’s and printshop; a sweet shop and manufactory; a garage; a branch of Barclays Bank (using components from Southport and Gateshead) and a masonic temple (from Sunderland). There is a bandstand (from Gateshead) in a public park, together with drinking fountains and other examples of street furniture.

During the winter season, the town is the only area of the museum with buildings open to the public. Future plans for the town include a shopping arcade, dispensing chemist (using fittings from Stockton-on-Tees[11]), as well as fire and police stations and other municipal buildings. The museum also has the components of an early cinema, and those of a gasworks from Milnthorpe.

Railway station

A typical North Eastern Railway station is reconstructed on the edge of the town. The station building itself came from Rowley just a few miles from Beamish, along with a signal box from Carr House East, near Consett, a goods shed from Alnwick and coal drops from West Boldon.

The station is dominated by the Regional Museums Store (completed in 2002, and externally disguised as "Beamish Waggon and Iron Works, estd 1857"), which Beamish shares with Tyne and Wear Museums. This houses, amongst other things; railway rolling stock and other vehicles; a large marine diesel engine by William Doxford & Sons of Pallion, Sunderland (1977); and several boats including the Tyne wherry (a traditional local type of lighter) Elswick No. 2 (1930).[12] The store is only open at selected times, and for special tours which can be arranged through the museum; however, a number of viewing windows have been provided for use at other times. Adjacent is an events field and fairground. The Westoe Netty has been reconstructed near the railway station, replicating its original location in Westoe, South Shields.

Colliery village

Reconstructed pitworks buildings showing winding gearIn view of the impact that coal mining has had on its region, the museum has major collections related to this industry.[13] Exhibits include the museum's Mahogany Drift Mine, a coal mine original to the site where it is possible to take an underground tour. The colliery is dominated by the regularly-steamed 1855 vertical 'Crowther' winding engine[14] (from the nearby Beamish 2nd Pit), screens (from Gateshead) and a waste tip. There are a number of industrial steam locomotives (including rare examples by Stephen Lewin, from Seaham, and Black, Hawthorn & Co), and many chaldron wagons (the region’s traditional type of colliery railway rolling stock, and which became a symbol of Beamish Museum).[15] There is usually a pit pony on site and the museum has a significant collection of safety lamps.

The surrounding village includes miners' cottages from Hetton-le-Hole, the Wesleyan Methodist chapel from Pit Hill,[16] and East Stanley Board School (which has led to a special relationship between the museum and the successor primary school). Evidence can be seen of traditional pastimes such as pigeon racing and quoits.



SO . .

I haven't yet found any references to Whickham, but I will keep my eye open for any.

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#8 ·
The beamish museum is forty years old this year, I have only been their once, and this was quite a few years ago, it was a canny day out, but wondering what it's like now, might go again if it's a reasonable price, anybody been lately.

Yes the Beamish Museum has been open for 40 years this year, ----it's a great Museum to visit, ----it's a few years since we were their, --but we really enjoyed the day, ----and if anyone is interested in how things were, --and how people used to live in the olden days, --then I would recommend a visit, -- mind I don't know how much the admission charge is now, ---I think it used to be about a tenner when we were last their, ----but I would say it's a good day out.
 
#11 ·
Hetton Silver Prize Band Hall to move to Beamish
by Neil McKay, The Journal, May 21st 2011


BRICK by brick, a village music hall is set to be moved across the region to an outdoor museum.

The Hetton Silver Prize Band Hall, in South Market Street, Hetton-le-Hole, Sunderland, has been identified as the next building to be moved to Beamish Museum, near Stanley, County Durham.

The band hall, built in 1912, has been silent and derelict since the last sounds of brass music were heard there two years ago.

Bosses at Beamish now hope to transport the building 12.2 miles to their own mining village where it will be used as an educational music room, at the popular tourist attraction.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-...move-to-beamish-61634-28735210/#ixzz1MyXnmKnj
 
#12 ·
^^^^


I think it's great that these old buildings and their history --are being preserved, --and I think Beamish do a great job in keeping our History and Heritage alive, ---we have been to Beamish, and it's a fascinating place to visit, ---well done to all.
 
#13 ·
#14 ·
Beamish Museum - Newcastle Trolley Bus

Following the below recent post on the 'Historic Newcastle' thread . . .



This photo of the restored BEAMISH MUSEUM Trolley Bus, was in the Evening Chronicle of Tuesday 1st November 2011 . . .

Do not go to Beamish Museum to see it as it is on "permanent loan" to the
Trolleybus Museuem at Sandtoft near Doncaster http://www.sandtoft.org.uk/ as I discovered recently when visiting Beamish

Note Sandtoft is only open to the public on certain days of the year

KEN
 
#15 ·
Do not go to Beamish Museum to see it as it is on "permanent loan" to the
Trolleybus Museum at Sandtoft near Doncaster http://www.sandtoft.org.uk/ as I discovered recently when visiting Beamish

Note Sandtoft is only open to the public on certain days of the year

KEN

I have read that it is a "six month loan", that started in August, so Trolley Bus 501 should be back at Beamish sometime early next year (I hope!).

In the meantime, two things courtesy of the Sandtoft Museum . . .

1 - An excellent created photo of Beamish Trolleybus 501 alongside Sandtofts own resident Newcastle Trolley Bus (they are re-united for six months) posing near the Tyne Bridge . .




2 - a VIDEO of Newcastle Trolley Bus 501, in action at Sandtoft (501 appears at 0.14 seconds) . .



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#16 ·
I have read that it is a "six month loan", that started in August, so Trolley Bus 501 should be back at Beamish sometime early next year (I hope!).
I'd never heard of Sandtoft and it isn't too far from me. Their website seems to be down at the moment but I can see from Google Cache that it is open next Sunday, perhaps I'll go and have a look.

(I've been to Crich, but a long time back).
 
#17 ·
Beamish Museum launches Great North Steam Fair exhibition
by Katie Davies, The Journal, April 13th 2012



IT WAS a case of full steam ahead at a North museum yesterday as families enjoyed the start of a spectacular exhibition. Parents and children flocked to Beamish Museum in County Durham for the Great North Steam Fair. Steam rollers, engines, cars and motorcycles from across the decades will be on show until April 15.

Paul Foster, events officer at Beamish, said: “The first day of the exhibition has gone really well, and we’ve had a lot of people in. The exhibition at Beamish is quite unique because people can see the engines in a street associated with that time period. Seeing the engines at Beamish brings all areas of the museum alive.”

Around 14,000 people are expected to visit Beamish over the four-day exhibition, which runs until Sunday.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-...fair-exhibition-61634-30748896/#ixzz1ru8TsWDf
 
#18 ·
This from the Sunderland Echo, ---


Beamish Great North Steam Fair starts today




Published on Thursday 12 April 2012 12:44



THE Great North Steam Fair at Beamish starts today.


The four-day spectacular will include vehicles of all shapes, sizes and colours.

Most of the museum’s steam vehicles will be in action or out on view, alongside a host of other attractions.

A replica Georgian steam engine will give rides on Pockerley Waggonway

Read more http://www.sunderlandecho.com/lifestyle/beamish-great-north-steam-fair-starts-today-1-4442750
 
#19 ·
Beamish Museum - to create 1950's area

This from Northern Echo article by Mark Summers dated 03/05/12

The museum dedicated to the region’s industrial heritage is moving forward in time.

Beamish Museum, the open air attraction near Stanley ub County Durham, has traditionally concentrated on the latter part of the 19th Century and the early years of the 20th.

Now it is planning to devote an area to the 1950s after being offered four pre-fabricated concrete council houses from Kibblesworth, near Gateshead.

Airey houses, designed by Sir Edwin Airey, were built throughout the country - along with other types of prefabricated housing _ and had a prefabricated concrete columns clad with a series of ship-lap style concrete panels. They were usually built in semi-detached pairs but the terrace was peculiar to theNorth-East

More on http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/ne...trial_heyday_museum_plans_1950s_area/?ref=rss

This photograph of mine, taken 13/11/11 shows one of the pairs of typical Airey houses at the Kibblesworth site ( hosted on Photobucket)





The properties are currently in process of being demolished and new build constructed - as can be seen by posts in Gateshead Developments thread.

KEN
 
#21 ·
200th anniversary of the John Pit, Felling mining disaster of 25 May 1812 - the Felling community at Beamish Museum 26/05/12

Below are some photographs (hosted on Photobucket) taken by myself on the afternoon of 26/05/12 concerning the event held to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the event when 92 miners (men and boys) lost their lives when a major explosion happened at the John Pit, Mulberry St, Felling

This event, following that held on 25/05/12 (covered in post above), was at Beamish Museum and involved a lot more of the Felling community marching with pride behind their new banner on a brilliantly hot and sunny day, with the Follonsby banner near the rear









Other events held across the museum site included

Lingey House School choir performing miners songs / film on mining life created by the school

The play "A Monster in the Mine" being performed by Brandling Primary School

Exhibition of the History of Felling area as created by the community

A 2 hour Felling Band session at the bandstand
 
#23 ·
Past pays for Beamish Museum as it plans expansion
by Ruth Lognonne, The Journal, August 22nd 2012


Beamish Museum director Richard Evans demonstrating road repairs 1913-style

THE REGION'S biggest tourist attraction is looking to the past for dramatic future growth after upping its visitor numbers by 200,000 in three years and investing £4m in new attractions. Beamish Museum expects to invest £20m over the next decade, to push its sales up by nearly half in the next five years and take on another 100 staff at the same time.

It attracted a record 497,000 people to its site near Stanley, County Durham, last year, after suffering a lengthy period of stagnating visitor numbers. Three years ago the open-air attraction regularly drew around 300,000 people through its gates, but was struggling to generate enough cash to pay for the rising cost of running the museum. Museum director Richard Evans said that the museum was not making enough money to employ its 175-strong workforce and there was a danger that redundancies would be made if the business did not rapidly change its fortunes.

He said: “We reviewed the business and decided to re-invest much of our earnings which saw the opening of new attractions, including a fish and chip shop in the pit village last year. We also extended our opening season into autumn and winter and re-assessed the value that the ticket presents."


Read More (Two Pages) - http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/busines...-museum-as-it-plans-expansion-51140-31670110/
 
#24 ·
Beamish Museum nears half a million annual visitors
by Neil McKay, The Journal, January 7th 2013



A NORTH EAST MUSEUM is poised to smash the half million visitor barrier for the first time in more than 20 years. It was back in 1990 that more than 500,000 visitors last passed through the gates of Beamish Open Air Museum in County Durham in a single year, but museum bosses are confident that number will be surpassed in this financial year.

Museum spokeswoman Jacki Winstanley said that, depending on the weather during January, the museum was hopeful of topping the 500,000 visitor mark by the end of this month. She explained that the museum’s new financial year begins on February 1, and not April 1 as in many organisations, to avoid a situation where Easter can fall twice within one financial year and not at all in the next, therefore skewing visitor figures.

Museum director Richard Evans, in a report to local councillors who are members of the Beamish Museum Joint Committee, said: “A good start to the Christmas season was reported. Figures showed that the Museum were ahead of budget on visitor numbers for November and they were on track for receiving 500,000 visitors for the year."


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-...illion-visitors-61634-32558120/#ixzz2HHJiLCds
 
#25 · (Edited)
Middlesbrough church rebuilt brick by brick at Beamish
The Journal, January 26th 2013


St Helen's Church, rebuilt at Beamish

A VANDALISED MEDIEVAL church has been resurrected after it was taken apart brick by brick and rebuilt 40 miles away. St Helen’s Church has been painstakingly transported from its former home at Eston, Middlesbrough, and rebuilt at Beamish Museum in County Durham. Each individual brick of the church, which is around 900 years old, was removed from the building and numbered in 1998. It took four labourers a month to dismantle the church and transport it to a site near Georgian Pockerley Manor, owned by the museum.

The blocks were stored on palettes, whilst the remaining rubble of the church was taken by skip. The bricks were kept in a field while Beamish Museum, which funded the project, waited for enough money to become available to complete the move. The decision to transport the church followed years of vandalism, including a fire which destroyed its roofs. The vestry had been illegally demolished while stonework and furnishings, such as the font and medieval cross were stolen. Tudor stained glass was smashed out and in the mid 19th century a cast iron chancel window was taken for scrap.

By 1987 St Helen’s was in a serious state of disrepair and in 1998 Durham County Council and English Heritage gave permission for the grade II listed building to be de-constructed and rebuilt by Beamish.


Read More - http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-...rick-at-beamish-61634-32682508/#ixzz2J4QGaLrS

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#26 · (Edited)
'Mr Beamish' in line for national Tourism Superstar Award
by Iain Laing, The Journal, January 31st 2013

Anthony Gales

ANTHONY Gales may look like he lives in the past but he has just been listed as the only North East finalist to be named England’s Tourism Superstar. Gales is described as living and breathing life at Beamish Museum where he is head of operations and his efforts earned him a nomination in the awards for tourism workers who go beyond the call of duty to look after visitors. He lives and works at the museum and he is available at any hour to help visitors. He sets up events, runs the popular winter ice rink and looks after visitors with passion and dedication.

When Anthony heard about his nomination he said: “I do whatever I can to make sure every visitor has a great day out at Beamish. I am responsible for the smooth running of the site, all 300 acres, and from the moment that people arrive to when they head home at the end of the day my team takes care of them,” he said. He was nominated for the Visit England awards by Visit County Durham, the destination management organisation for Durham.


Read More - http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/busines...ional-tourism-superstar-award-51140-32715067/

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