Visit to Scotland - Day 5 - Beamish Museum

View of the Museum Entrance

The Beamish Museum is an outdoor museum formed of small villages scenes and industrial sites around which visitors can wander.

The initial view of the museum is the large white fronted building that houses the offices, shop, restaurant and entry halls. The entrance has its own gate guardian in the shape of a coal tub of the type originally used in the area.

Once through the entrance you get a view of the huge area that the museum covers.

Once down the steps you get to the first of the tramway stations where you can board trams in either direction to visit the separate areas in the museum.

A tram full of visitors awaits its departure

You can walk around the site as well using a spider web of footpaths through the site, a good way to see the many exhibits. This is fine for those who can walk well, but as there are several steep areas, those of a less mobile fitness level are better off using the Trams and the buses that also run around the roads.

The driver awaits her passengers.

The Wife walking round the village

The museum has many wonderful buildings from Homes to Businesses as well as churches, schools and other civic buildings.

Most are open for the visitor to step back in time and visit doctors rooms, a dentist, carpenters, engineers, shops etc all complete with the tools, items and possessions that the original occupants would have used.

 As well as the Trams and Buses there are also a couple of railway's offering short rides behind steam engines. There is also a garden railway which has regular operating sessions in the summer.

The farm buildings

Mine area

Most areas have characters that show you what life was like in the days that these buildings were in use. You can take part in a school day, watch artisans create various items and watch a band play in the village hall.

There are also various places to get meals and snacks plus the main shop which carries a lot of books, souvenirs, toys, sweets etc.

The museum certainly can keep a family happy for a whole day and more and with unlimited visits for a year you can revisit at any time and find all those bits you missed first time.

Well worth a visit or two.

Bus picking up outside the school