Beamish, The North of England Open Air Museum

Beamish is no ordinary museum but a living, working experience of life as it was in the Great North in the early 1800s and 1900s.

Beamish is a world famous open air museum. It tells the story of the people of North East England at two important points of their history - 1825 and 1913. In 1825 the region was rural and thinly populated. The industrial revolution, especially the coming of the railways, accelerated change. By 1913 the region's heavy industries were at their peak.

Beamish is not a traditional museum. Most of the houses, shops and other buildings have been "deconstructed" from elsewhere in the region and rebuilt here. A few, the Drift Mine, Home Farm and Pockerley Manor were here already. All are buildings filled with objects, furniture and machinery - real things from the extensive collections.

You will find here no glass cases and few labels. Within the buildings you will find costumed people who are trained to talk to visitors and to answer their questions. The staff are proud of their heritage. The museum believes that the reality of human beings is better than technological virtual reality. It is this belief that distinguishes it from other museums.

New for 2006 - Opening at Easter in The Town at Beamish is a fascinating Masonic Hall, giving an insight into the world of Freemasonry in 1913. The only one of its kind in Europe permanently on show to the public.

Visit the authentic Masonic Hall, recreated in the 1913 Town and discover the mysteries of the Freemasons or take a ride behind Puffing Billy, a replica of one of the world's oldest surviving steam locos at Pockerley Waggonway.

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