Beamish Museum in a Day

Beamish, the Living Museum of the North

Beamish is a world famous open air museum giving an insight the lives and work of people - a truly immersive experience that will stay with you for a lifetime. Telling the story of life in the North East of England from the 1820s to the 1940s, it makes a fantastic and entertaining day out for visitors of all ages - great for families.

The attraction is winner of multiple awards both for the overall place and for its excellent staff, who are there in costume to tell you all about the 'exhibits' and activities. Many, such as those in the drift mine were actually miners themselves originally so you hear it all from first hand experience.

With everything from a Georgian Manor House to Pit Village, and Edwardian town to a WW2 era Land Girls farm, there really is a huge amount to take in. The whole venue is connected by transport from the era, with trams and buses all free to board, though at busy times its an easy and pleasant walk from the entrance to either Pockerley or the Pit Village to start your day.

The scale of Beamish is deceptive and larger than you'd expect. Even on Easter Monday when these photos were taken, having driven into a very full car park, once inside the grounds you'd never have guessed and rarely were there queues - apart for Davy's chippy (at lunchtime) and the sweetshop!). There are so many directions you can go once inside.

This map gives an idea of the scale and what there is to see:

The map opens in a new window, or download the pdf for your tablet ( links to Beamish Museum website).

There is a lot more on the Beamish Museum page on this website to give you more of an idea of what there is to see and do.

Remember that on busy days such as summer weekends and Bank Holidays, the entry queues can be long, so buy your tickets online and save the queueing. These will last for a full year, so you can return as often as you wish to make sure you don't miss anything!

Terrace Cottage in Rookhope is less than an hour away, so an ideal base for a Beamish visit.

Chris Tradgett 2015