Earlier this week we stepped back in time. Beamish is the North of England's open air museum, telling the story of the North East region from the 1820s to the 1940s, over a 350 acre site. We started off in the pit village where we poked our noses into the row of colliery worker's cottages and met a lovely lady making a cake, explaining to my daughter that it couldn't be chocolate because cocoa wasn't readily available in 1900, so vanilla it was. We got caught up in other things, so didn't get back later for a slice, unfortunately.
Next, we took a vintage bus into the town where we pottered about the shops, awed by the carbolic soap, the mangle and by the hollow wooden balls that rolled around a track to take customer account information into the office. The sweet shop was a major attraction to my daughter and friends, as was the fairground with its steam powered 'gallopers'.
We stopped by the Resource Centre where they archive donations to the museum - everything and the kitchen sink! The museum has recently received funding to bring about a 1950s town on site, and it looks like they already have more than enough to furnish it.
Our final stop on this visit was the 1940s farm, where the Land Girls were warming themselves by the fire, discussing how they could do anything that a man could, although the oldtimer accompanying them disagreed! It wasn't quite in keeping to see men who would have probably been at war out stacking the hay, but what a sight it was!
We ran out of time for the 1840s manor house and didn't explore the colliery fully either, but as our entry tickets were 'pay once and visit free for a year' we'll be back!
Next, we took a vintage bus into the town where we pottered about the shops, awed by the carbolic soap, the mangle and by the hollow wooden balls that rolled around a track to take customer account information into the office. The sweet shop was a major attraction to my daughter and friends, as was the fairground with its steam powered 'gallopers'.
We stopped by the Resource Centre where they archive donations to the museum - everything and the kitchen sink! The museum has recently received funding to bring about a 1950s town on site, and it looks like they already have more than enough to furnish it.
Our final stop on this visit was the 1940s farm, where the Land Girls were warming themselves by the fire, discussing how they could do anything that a man could, although the oldtimer accompanying them disagreed! It wasn't quite in keeping to see men who would have probably been at war out stacking the hay, but what a sight it was!
We ran out of time for the 1840s manor house and didn't explore the colliery fully either, but as our entry tickets were 'pay once and visit free for a year' we'll be back!