The North-East - Beamish, the Living Museam of the North

The North East – and Beamish, the Living Museum of the North

Well, I chose a good weekend, I thought, for getting away from the southwest to the northeast. The weather forecast predicted storms and heavy rain for the southwest but sunshine and dry weather for the northeast. This was something of a relief for my allotmenting as we have had a period of very dry weather which, even the weeds, have not found encouraging.

I went to visit my son in Newcastle-on-Tyne. Each time I go there I am amazed by the benefits, beauties and blessings of this city and the surrounding countryside. I had never suspected it before I started to visit my son here. However, to coin a phrase, ‘It’s chilly for June’.

We had planned to visit Alnwick Castle and Gardens – somewhat north of Newcastle. Historic   and wildlife locations in the NW are impressively abundant and well worth visiting, I have been to a few now and am impressed by the quality of the experiences which have been available. My favourite my still be The Farne Islands, off the Northumberland coast.

However, the day we had allocated to Alnwick was wet and very cold. Would you believe, 9ºC?

Instead my son and I went to a garden centre and as well as getting some good ideas, we purchased a few plants and equipment for his back yard and his allotment. Like many Newcastle Victorian and Edwardian houses, there is, effectively, no garden. This is why he has invested his time and patience in an allotment there.

On my last visit to him, we established a bedded garden in his back yard. Light is a problem in this area. However we planted a herb bed with a wide collection of annual and perennial herbs, and I’m impressed by the quality and vigorous growth of these plants, an indication of what will  grow successfully in the future. His beans and onions, although growing, are struggling. It was interesting to visit his allotment and talk to the ‘oldtimers’, who were complaining of the very ‘late’ year. Growth, crops and progress is, at least, a month behind the usual – much like here in Bristol. Okay, we should just accept that it is slower this year but, in the meantime, on my plot, pigeons and slugs are anxious to feed themselves and their growing families and are eating crops they would not normally touch – a tray of 15 little pots of Orange-flavoured thyme has been munched off; a row of coriander and a row of French beans-purple tepee have disappeared – just little stalks left. Really, there is only so much I can cover with nets!

Anyway, back to the north west, we decided that a trip to Alnwick was out – we could have visited the castle on its own but, this is expensive and the purpose was to see the gardens. Too cold, too wet!

A couple of years ago my son took me to see, what he said, was an impressive – ‘living museum’ – Beamish. When we got there it was closed as it was out of season [worth checking before you go there]. However, we had an excellent lunch in the restaurant close to the entrance. On the way from Newcastle we passed that icon of the North West – The Angel of the North. He tells me that when he has been to Bristol and has to drive back, he just loves it when he drives over the hill and sees the Angel and knows he is almost home. In itself, it is a bit disappointing. Although there is now a small car-park, it is difficult to get a good camera view of this recently established icon of the northeast without being some miles away.

However, we decided that, on this trip, visiting Beamish – The Living Museum of the North – was probably a good place to visit on the half day we had available when it was dry and I then had to take my late flight back to Bristol.

It is not so far from Newcastle – 8 miles SW from Newcastle-on Tyne, on the A1M – come off at junction 63 and follow directions for Chester-le-street. This site is, in fact, in Co Durham. It museum is well signposted from there. If you are using a SatNav – enter DH9 0RG. However, do Google for details of the  venue.

When we got there, we were a little stunned by the price of the tickets but, we decided that, since we had made the effort to get there, we should pay the price and spend some time there. Yes, the entry cost is quite high but, the ticket is for a year and family tickets are quite economical. On the plus side, there is no way we could have seen, even half, of the interesting stuff there is available. One friend said that it took at least three visits before he felt he had seen much of what was available to see. It is a great place to take children as there is so much for them to see and experience.

The site covers 300acres and covers the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian eras in rural Britain. There is a Pit Village, a Home Farm, A fairground, the home of a wealthy farmer[local landowner]- Pockerley Hall and a town which is a pocket-sized small town of the Victorian/Edwardian eras. This little town is truly delightful – the small shops, a garage with its amazing collection of vehicles – evolving into the early 20^th Century. Across the road is a courtyard where, in the past, you might have been able to hire a range of carts and carriages and horses to pull them. Although these beautiful horses are still there, one suspects that little is demanded of them these days. One of the websites suggests that pony-trap rides are available for hire. Thereis also a station with a working stream train beside a small park with a playground which includes a steam- powered carousel. However, we were totally captivated by the late 19^th and early 20^th century transport around this extensive site and took every opportunity to experience  - the trams and a range of early buses.

We spent some time in the town and the Home Farm but, even this took up a complete afternoon. We hadn’t felt that we had totally covered these settings and we hadn’t even glanced at some areas of this wonderful place. But our ‘Annual’ ticket will allow us to visit FREE for the next year. For my next visit to the North East, I guess we will make a return trip to Beamish.

Of course, this is not the only ‘Folk Museum’ in the UK. Some years ago I visited the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum in Holywood, Co Down. When I visited that site, the transport museum was not a part of it, so I can’t comment on that but, the rest of the site is really impressive. One of several similar venues in Northern Ireland.

These ‘museums’ .... and I’m sure there are other similar museums throughout the UK, are truly amazing. As my son said of Beamish – the effort which has been put into collecting the artifacts, vehicles and machinery and re-creating the scenes is truly impressive.

There is so much more to say about this site and so many more views to share, I might write another blog on it in the near future.