North East Beamish - the Living Museum of the North

Eleanor · Jul 8, 2025

Beamish 1820s Landscape - Pockerley Old Hall and farm buildings

Pockerley Manor is one of the original buildings on the museum site. Built on top of a hill, it is now at the centre of the 1820s landscape.

The original pele house dates back to the 1400s and would have had a medieval manor house attached to it. This was rebuilt as a more comfortable ‘new house’ around the original pele in the late C18th. It was let to a series of tenant farmers until 1990 when it was taken over by the museum. It has been restored to what it might have been like in the 1820s. In front of the new house is the garden, composing of flower and herb garden, vegetable garden and orchard.

The new house has a large working kitchen with a cast iron cooking range and a brick bread oven in the thickness of the wall. Copper utensils hang from the rafters and a large dresser has a display of blue and white china. There is a splendid grandfather clock.

The scullery and pantry are at the back of the house, facing north. The massive slate slab provides a cool surface.

On the opposite side of the passage way is the living and dining room used by the family - and very different feel to the working kitchen.

Upstairs above the kitchen was the grain and fleece store with huge wooden chests to hold the grain.

Off it is the bacon store. After salting, the joints were hung here to be smoked from the kitchen fire.

Across the landing and over looking the garden are two bedrooms.

The sparsely furnished servants' bedroom was at the back of the house under the roof and north facing.

Beyond was the servant lad’s bedroom. This had a separate ladder access for when he had to be up early to light the fires. This also had a trap door in the floor so heavy trunks could be hauled up to the first floor.

The old pele tower although attached to the new hall was completely separate to it. When built it had a defensive function. By the time the Manor House was added, it was probably let to the Frm Steward.

A doorway at ground level led to the vaulted undercroft with walls up to 1.5m thick. There were no windows and the only natural light would have been through the door. Animals could be sheltered in here in. time of attack, although the main function was storage of both food and valuables.

Above it was the main living room. This could either be reached by an internal stone stair or by the external flight of steps to an outside door. The only light come from a small window.

The room has an open fire which provided heat and all cooking would have been done above this. Above the fire is a rack for drying oatcakes which could be cooked over the fire and were eaten as an alternative to bread.

The room is sparsely furnished and would have seemed very old fashioned even in 1820. Near the fire is a box bed with wooden doors that could be closed for extra warmth.

Behind is a small room which was probably used as a storage area, but is now set up as an extra bedroom which has a very basic earth closet in the thickness of the wall. The wooden Bible box on the top of the chest would have contained the family Bible.

The manor house is surrounded by its farm buildings and pig sty.

One of the farm buildings is set up as a cooperage. Barrel making was very important a, not only for storing beer but also a wide range of foodstuffs.

The Stables and Cart Shed form part of the courtyard building.

Across the courtyard one of the buildings has been converted into the Drovers Arms, a reconstruction of a Georgian Inn, with a large open fireplace and candles for lighting. Beer is served direct from the barrel and it serves a Georgian food menu.

Drovers were responsible for walking sheep or cattle to the markets. As many as three hundred cattle could be driven by one man, assisted by up to three dogs per fifty cattle. This could involve journeys taking several days and the drovers sought overnight food and shelter in inns which were usually part of a farmstead. Three yew trees were often used to advertise an inn.

In another separate building is a small Georgian pottery, complete drying racks and a reconstructed Georgian Kiln.

In the C18th and C19th hundreds of small local potteries were established providing items for domestic use. They could also produce small quantities of bricks and pantiles for buildings along with drainage tiles for fields. However with the the arrival of mass production and large factories,they soon disappeared.

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Eleanor · Jul 8, 2025

Beamish 1820s Landscape cont - St Helen’s Church and other buildings

St Helen’s Church is typical of many country churches found throughout North Yorkshire and Cleveland. It has been moved to the museum from Eston, a once thriving mining community, on the edge of Middlesborough.

The first church on the site was built in the C12th although only part of the west wall survives from that time. The chancel is C15th and the short squat tower is C17th.

The nave was rebuilt in 1822 with funds raised by subscription and selling of box pews. Owning a box pew being a sign of status in the community.

By the end of the C20th the church was no longer needed, was suffering increasing attacks of vandalism and becoming unsafe. There were plans to demolish the church before the museum stepped in and moved it to Beamish.

Now set on the slope below Pockerley Old Hall, it looks as if it has been there for ever.

The inside of the church has been restored to its 1822 appearance with box pews and whitewashed walls. Across the back wall is a small wooden gallery, which provided extra seating.

A small arch leads into the chancel with its bare stone walls. On either side are boards with the Lord’s Prayer, Creed and Ten Commandments. Known as the Decalogue, these had to be displayed at the east end of the chancel after the reformation. They had been removed from many churches by the end of the C19th.

Off the chancel is the vestry.

The stone font looks to be a survivor of the earlier church.

Below the church is a small stone building for the horse drawn hearse.

Just beyond this is the stone built Quilter’s Cottage with its heather thatched roof. This is typical of the many small cottages supporting small cottage industries.

The cottage was the home of Joseph Hedley a well known quilter whose work spread as far as America. Joe was murdered in 1826 and his story was widely reported in the newspapers at the time.

Although the original cottage was demolished in 1872, part of the foundations still existed and the cottage has been recreated at Beamish.

A wagonway has also been built as part of the 1820s landscape. In the early C19th a network of wagonways was established across the area carrying coal from the pits to either the River Tyne or River Wear. Steam locos soon replaced horses or gravity working. The museum has three replica steam locomotives pulling carriages similar to those used on the Stockton and Darlington railway when it opened in 1825.

At the end of the short tramway is a Whim Gin which was used to raise coal and men out of the mines until the early 1800s when they were replaced by more efficient and powerful steam winding engines.

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Eleanor · Jul 8, 2025

Beamish 1900s - The Colliery

In the C19th, mining increasingly dominated the economy of the north east, with the Durham and Northumberland coal fields producing about 25% of the country’s supplies. Coal really was carried to Newcastle from the ever increasing number of pits. Miners were relatively well paid, with their wages being double that of agricultural workers. It was a dangerous job with over 1000 miners being killed in 1913. Children could be employed at 12 but could not work underground until the age of 14.

Beamish is built on the site of a closed colliery. The Mahogany Drift Mine was opened in 1855 and part of the drift has been reopened with guided tours for visitors.

The main part of the site is occupied by the winding gear from a deep mine along with the associated wooden buildings called the Heapstead.

The tall stone winding house came from Beamish Chophill Quarry and contains the stationary steam engine. It was in use from 1855 until the colliery closed in 1962.

At the top of the steps is the jack engine which was used to raise and lower heavy equipment while the mine was being developed. Later it was used as a relief engine.

Next to it is the main winding room. The winding engine was used to raise and lower the cages in the adjacent heapstead building. These were controlled by two large winding wheels which work in opposite directions to raise and lower the cages in the two shafts. The rope was made originally from wrought iron with a hemp core. This was soaked in oil which lubricated the rope allowing it to bend round the winding drums. This had a breaking weight of 18 tons. Later steel was used instead of wrought iron, increasing the breaking weight to 36 tons.

The stationary steam engine drives a single vertical cylinder which was typical of mines in the Durham coal field.

This is carefully controlled by levers and it is important the cylinder stops in the centre of the stroke. At the top or bottom, it is very difficult to restart. It was carefully designed that when the cages stopped at each landing on the way down the pit shaft, the cylinder stopped in mid stroke.

There are two dials for communication between the winding man, the banks man at the top of the shaft and the on setter at the bottom. Coded messages were relayed by a series of bell codes. The winding man can only move the cages when he has received signals from both men. Speed could be controlled and cages stopped to within quarter of an inch.

The winding man had a very responsible job and had to work alone. Very few people were allowed in the building and even the colliery manager had to knock and wait until given permission to enter. The winding men were not allowed to leave the winding gear until their colleague arrived for the next shift, hence the toilet facilities provided in their chair.

The winding man was a very well paid job and they also were given a better house than the hewers at the coal face. The job was passed down in families with the father teaching the son. Many winding men were teetotal or very moderate drinkers and many families were staunch Methodists.

The heapstead building is the rust painted wooden next to the stone winding house. This contains the mine shaft weigh bridge and tipplers. This is typical of the small coal mines found in west Durham, and comes from Ravensworth Park Mine near Gateshead. It contains two pit shafts. Ten minutes were allowed for shift change, marked by a blower sounded from the winding house. Four men were lowered at a time. By the shaft was a token board which let the colliery authorities know who was underground. Each miner had two tokens; a zinc one which was left on the board and a brass one which they always took down the mine with them.

Loaded coal tubs were raised to the surface and pulled by hand into the heapstead building. An empty tub is pushed onto the platform and lowered down the shaft. The floor is made of cast iron so tubs can be rolled across it without the need for rails.

Hewers were paid by the number of tubs they filled. Each tub had to contain a minimum weight of 8cwt. They were pushed onto the weigh bridge and if they were underweight, the hewer would be fined.

If the weigh man was suspicious a tub contained too much stone, the contents were tipped out, the stone collected and weighed on a separate set of scales. If there was more than 20lb of stone in a tub, not only would the miner not receive payment for that tub, he would be further fined.

If the weigh man was happy, the tub would be pushed to the top of the tippler and emptied onto the jigging screens below.

These removed the coal dust, leaving the larger lumps of coal. Workers picked out stone, wood or other rubbish. This was done by boys to young to go underground, disabled or elderly miners and women.

The large lumps of coal were tipped off the end into chaldrons waiting below. The waste was collected and taken along a raised tramway for tipping.

There is a growing and comprehensive network of sidings around the site, along with different types of trucks.

The Engine Shed is a reconstruction of a shed at Beamish secondary pit and is used to house the museums collection of steam locos and chaldron wagons.

Pit ponies were used underground to haul the coal tubs. An Edwardian Stables has been built using reclaimed bricks. The ponies began work down the mines at eight years of age. They were attached to a harness on the underside of the cage, a sack placed over their head and they were slowly lowered down the shaft. The ponies working in the deep mines spent all their working lives underground, only coming to the surface when the mine was closed for annual holidays or by a strike. There were however often problems as the ponies didn’t want to go back down underground at the end of the fortnight. The ponies were well looked after and worked an eight hour shift.

Ponies working in the Mahogany Drift Mine would return to their stables at the end of every shift.

The site also includes the Lamp Cabin, again a re-creation. The Mahogany Drift Mine was free of gas and naked lights such as candles, oil lamps or carbide lamps were used. Deep mines were more likely to suffer from gas, and miners used safety lamps. These were kept in the lamp house with each miner having his own lamp.

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Eleanor · Jul 8, 2025

Beamish 1900s cont - The Pit Village

Generations of families worked down the pit and the region’s prosperity was based on coal. Many of the villages and towns in the North East began as pit villages, with rows of terraces houses being built to house the mine workers and their families. Many of the houses were tied and provided by the colliery owners. The communities were close knit with neighbours helping each other out.

A typical pit village has been built by the site of the colliery.

The Francis Street houses were built in the early 1960s by the Hetton Coal company. Six of the original row of twenty seven houses have been rebuilt here.

The houses had front gardens which were used to grow fruit and vegetable. The men were very proud of their vegetables and there was an annual competition to see who could grow the largest leeks. Families also kept chickens and many men had pigeon lofts with pigeon fancying being a popular hobby.

The cottages also had a back lane giving access to the back yard. Next to each gate was a slate with the time for the ‘knocker up’ to make sure the menfolk were woken in time for their shift.

The coal store (coal being provided free) and the earth closet were in the back yard.

At the end of the terrace was a communal bread oven, important before the housewife had their own kitchen range.

The end cottage is furnished as a mine office, with a brass plate on the door announcing Lambton Hetton and Joicey Collieries Ltd Office.

Mining families were large and there could be as many as 12 people living in the house. These had a similar layout with a living kitchen to the rear with the coal fired range which provided heat, hot water and was also used for cooking.

The front parlour was very much kept for ‘best’ but could also double up as a bedroom.

Steps lead to the attic which provided extra sleeping accommodation for the children.

Each of the houses is furnished differently. No.2 is the home of a Methodist family with father and sons all working in the pit. They were comparatively well off and could afford good quality furniture. No.3 is is the home of a well off Irish Catholic immigrant family containing many items of value, which could be sold off in times of need. No 4 is the home of a miner’s widow, who is allowed to remain as her son also worked in the pit. Money was tight and the rooms are poorly furnished. The widow supplemented her income by taking in laundry, doing mending and by making quilts and rag mats. These were made from scraps of fabric. New mats were often used as a bed cover before going down for use as mats.

Every village had a school and education was compulsory until the age of twelve. Attendance in rural areas dropped during haymaking or harvest. Girls would often stay at home on Mondays to help with the washing.

Each school was built on a similar plan with a small playground and separate entrances for boys and girls at either end of the building and separate cloakrooms.

The School building at Beamish came from East Stanley and dates from 1892. It would have had about 150 pupils.

There were three classrooms connected by a corridor. Lessons were very much learning by rote, with the main emphasis on reading, writing and arithmetic. Some geography, history and science, Music and religious instruction were taught. Girls did domestic science and needlework with boys doing woodwork.

Methodism was very strong in the North East and many mining families were Methodists. This encouraged thrift, independence, hard work and self improvement. The chapel was very much the focal point of the community and hosted a number of social as well as religious activities.

The Methodist Chapel dates from 1850 and was built in Beamish village, not far from the museum.

The inside is very plain with whitewashed walls and a small central pulpit. The chapel has a replica of a double lensed acetylene powered lantern which was used for magic lantern shows.

Many of the pit villages boasted a brass or silver band. The Hetton Silver Band was formed in 1887 and originally practised in a tin hut until it was able to build a brick hall using prize money from a competition. The Hetton Silver Band Hall was donated to Beamish when the band merged with a neighbouring brass band. It is thought to be the only purpose built band hall in the region.

The village also has a recreation of a typical Tyneside fish and chip shop, which closed in 2007. Davy’s Fried Fish Shop has three coal fired ranges including one from the original shop as well as the original counter and tiles. It still uses dripping for frying and used specially printed newspaper for wrapping.

The Sinker’s Bait Cabin would have provided snacks and a place to dry out for the ‘sinkers’ who were responsible for excavating new mine shafts. It now serves light refreshments for visitors.

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Eleanor · Jul 8, 2025

Beamish 1900s Town - Ravensworth Terrace

The 1900s town site with its cobbled street, trams, shops and pub is always busy.

At the start of the town is Redman Park with its grass, flower beds and bandstand. Public parks were important open spaces for relaxation, exercise and to escape from the industrial environment. Now it hosts regular brass band concerts.

Opposite is Ravensworth Terrace which has been moved here from Gateshead. It was built for professional workers and their families who would have been able to afford a live in servant. The front is built from brick which which was expensive and very highly desirable. They had a small front garden with decorative metal railings and gate; all an indication of the status of the occupants. The backs and other areas were built of much cheaper stone.

A back alleyway lead into the back yard with the coal house

Number 2 is the home of Miss Florence Smith, an unmarried teacher of pianoforte, singing and elocution. The house is old fashioned with a lot of Victorian bric a brac, suggesting that she probably inherited it from her parents.

Music lessons at a cost of 6d were given in the front parlour. Behind was the kitchen with a large cast iron range which would have needed black leading everyday.

Stairs, lit by a stained glass window, led to the bedrooms on the first floor. There were two bedrooms as well as a small room for the maid.

The middle two houses, Numbers 3 and 4, belonged to the dentist. Dentists practised in their own homes with Number 3 the surgery and Number 4 the dentist’s home. This was very up to date with the luxury of a bathroom and flushing toilet.

The front room of Number three was the waiting room with the surgery next to it.

The technician’s room for making dentures, was on the first floor. It was a common practice to give daughters a set of false teeth as a 21st birthday present, to save the husband cost of dental treatment after marriage.

The dentist’s home next door is furnished in the Edwardian style and is much lighter and less cluttered than Number 2.

The kitchen boasts a gas cooker as well as the cast iron range. This could be used in the summer months when the range may not be lit. Upstairs, one of the bedrooms is furnished as a nursery.

Number 5 is the Solicitor’s Office. The office is at the front of the house with his desk facing the window.

Behind was the clerk’s office for two clerks, which was also the public reception area. Ledgers, plans and legal papers were kept here.

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Eleanor · Jul 8, 2025

Beamish 1900s Town cont - Annfield Co-op and the other shops

The Co-operative movement began in the mid C19th selling quality goods at reasonable prices, breaking the monopoly of the truck system. Co-operative stores rapidly appeared across the country. Families became members of the organisation with their own divi number and profits were returned to members based on how much they had spent. The Co-op also manufactured many of the goods on sale in its stores.

The Annfield Co-op building dominates the 1900s town. Dating from 1870, it had three departments, grocery, drapery and hardware. It is a splendid builing with a canopy protecting shoppers.

Money was carried by the Lamson-Paragon ball cash carrying system. Cash was placed inside a hollow wooden ball which was carried on overhead tracks to the cash office where a record was made of the transaction. Change and a receipt were placed back in the ball and returned to the shop. This was later replaced by pneumatic tubes.

Most Co-ops began as Grocery Stores and priority was given to CWS brands made specifically for them.

Many goods were sold loose and would be weighed and packeted for the customer, with the colour of the wrapping being colour coded. Sugar was always wrapped in a blue bag. If the wrapping got wet, it wouldn't stain the sugar inside and would infact make it look even whiter...

Butter arrived in barrels and was shaped into portions using wooden pats before being wrapped. Sides of bacon were hung from the ceiling and sliced to order. Pies, sausages and cheese were displayed on a marble slab to help keep them cool.

The Drapery Store sold clothes, household linens, material as well as haberdashery. There was a lovely display of ladies hats in the window.

Materials and household linens and smaller items of clothing were kept on shelves to be displayed to the customer. Larger items of clothing might be hung from the ceiling.

The Hardware Shop sold everything the housewife might need from pots and pans, china and pottery, to gas lights and cleaning equipment. Many items were suspended from the ceiling to give more space.

Next to the Co-op building is the Garage. Few people could afford to own a car and the showroom also has examples of bicycles and motor cycles. At the rear is the repair workshop.

A small parade of shops has now been built round the corner from the garage. These include a Chemist.

As well as a dispensary this also includes a photographer’s studio and an aerated water’s section, with a soda plant. Soda water provided a non-alcoholic drink when many areas still did not have access to clean, piped drinking water. The aerated drinks were also presumed to share the same health benefits as non-artificial ‘mineral waters’, enjoyed at the many Spas. Chemists became one of the main manufacturers of these aerated waters.

At the far end is the Bakery. Mining families would still make bread at home but middle classes moving to the suburbs were increasingly buying bread.

Bread is still made on the premises using traditional techniques and baked in an electric oven which was increasingly replacing wood or coal fired ovens.

There is also a Sweet Shop with the family living above the shop. At the back of the shop is the factory making traditional sweets which are sold in the shop.

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Eleanor · Jul 8, 2025

Beamish 1900s Town cont - the rest of the buildings

Even small villages had a pub and towns would have had several. The Sun Inn was originally a one up and down cottage, which expanded as business increased. It came from Bishop Auckland and was donated to the museum by Scottish and Newcastle Breweries.

It has a front and back bar, both basically furnished with wooden floors. Pubs were open from 6am to 11pm and were the preserve of the menfolk. Women did not go into the pub, although there was a hatch for sale of beer to be consumed off the premises which they could use.

As well as serving beer, the Sun Inn also sells traditional snacks and pies. It is always busy!

Reached through an archway next to the pub is the Stables. In the 1900s, horses were still the main method of transport and the town stables was often sited near the pub. Horses could be rested while the passengers used the pub.

As well as stabling for horses and a tack room, there was a Carriage Shed, with examples of the different sorts of carriages in use at that time and which would have been available for hire.

Next to the pub is the Printer and Stationer’s Shop.

The Print Shop is on the first floor and was responsible for printing posters, bills, invoices and address cards for local businesses and locals. Newspapers would have been printed elsewhere. Most of the machinery came from a small printer’s in Barnard Castle.

On the ground floor is the branch office of the Sunderland daily Echo and the Northern Daily Mail. As well as selling newspapers over the counter, it also distributed newspapers to street vendors and newsagents. Staff also took orders for advertising copy as well as subscriptions.

On the other side of the doorway is a Stationer’s Shop. As well as selling all sorts of cards, writing paper, pens and inks, it also sold artist’s supplies, cash boxes and ledgers.

At the end of the street are the Bank and the Masonic Hall.

The Bank is an imposing brick building with a red granite facade designed to give an air of stability and confidence to its customers. Barclay and Company Limited was formed in 1896 from the amalgamation of three large regional banks; Backhouses of Darlington, Barclays of London and Gurneys of Norfolk. As it grew, it took over other smaller banks. The local head office was in Darlington.

In the window is a large clock face. The windows for the bank tellers are in the front of the building with a huge big safe behind them.

The manager’s office is at the back, with his desk positioned so he could see everything that was going on.

Masonic Halls were common in North Eastern towns and the frontage comes from Sunderland. On the floor of the entrance hall is the masonic badge.

The main hall takes up the full height of the building. When I visited, this was set up with demonstrations featuring 100 years Of the WI in Durham. Off the main corridor is the robing room. Another room is set up as a small exhibition area.

Eleanor · Jul 8, 2025

Beamish cont - Rowley Station

Rowley Station was the first relocated building to open at Beamish.

The North East was at the forefront of railway development in the C19th with a network of lines serving mines, towns and villages. Rowley Station opened in the mid C19th providing passenger and goods traffic between Consett and Crook. Passenger services were withdrawn in 1939 with goods services ceasing in the late 1960s. The station building was dismantled when the line was lifted and reassembled at Beamish.

It is a typical North Eastern rural station with station yard. It was lit by oil, never having gas or electricity.

It has an open waiting area with ticket office and large waiting room complete with earth closet . It also has a large tiled map of the North Eastern Railway. These were once common but few now still exist.

The signal box at the end of the station comes from near Consett.

It has a cast iron range for heating. There is a token machine for single line working as well as the lever frame and signal handles. These no longer work and points are operated by hand track side levers.

The two footbridges at either end of the station are typical of those found at rural stations.

The station yard contains the goods shed and the coal yard. Many station yards had a small coal merchant’s office, supplying coal to the neighbourhood.

The Beamish Rural District Council Depot has been reconstructed in the station yard and contains a 1931 steam roller.

There are a variety of wagons typical of those found throughout the area, displayed around the site.

When I visited in 2017, Bon Accord, an ex Aberdeen Gas Works loco built in 1897 was running a ten minute service along the line, with a royal saloon used by Edward VII and Queen Alexandra to take them to Sandringham.

More information

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Eleanor · Jul 8, 2025

Beamish - 1940s farm and buildings

The Home Farm dates back to the C18th, when it was part of the estate of Beamish Hall. In the C19th it was rebuilt as a model farm incorporating a horse mill and a steam-powered threshing mill. The farm is laid out on either side of a public road with the farm house and farm buildings on one side. On the other are a pair of cottages with an outside two seater earth closet (netty), bull field, duck pond and large shed.

The Home Farm originally depicted farming in Victorian Times. In 2015, it was ‘modernised’ and brought into the 1940s, presumably as a move to cash in on the school curriculum and WW2. The only real difference seems to be electricity and an Aga supplementing the coal fired range. It now shows life on the Home Front during the Second World War. Petrol was rationed, so a horse drawn trap was used rather than a car.

Horses were still used around the farm, although tractors were beginning to appear.

The Home Farm is a long low building with an attached stable, and a dove cote on the wall. Only the ground floor is open and the first floor is private and lived in by the tenant farmer.

Inside, a large kitchen and living room stretches nearly the length of the farm house. At one end is the coal fired range left over from the Victorian Farm. Horse brasses hang on either side and above is a display shelf It is surrounded by a tall, high backed wood settle, rocking horse and and comfortable arm chairs. The stone slab floor is covered with linoleum for added warmth. The rest of the room contains a long table with bench seating where the family and workers would have their meals.

This half of the room has a piano, sewing machine, radio and on one of the walls is a Welsh dresser.

There are just two small light bulbs giving light. With the door open, there was a cooling breeze and the room was pleasantly cool even with the fire burning and outside temperatures in the mid 20˚s.

Next to the kitchen was a small office used by the farmer but which also functioned as the local Home Guard office.

At the far side of this was the pantry, with rabbits hanging from the ceiling and jars of preserves on the shelves. However, a screen on the door made it difficult to make out details.

Off the kitchen is a doorway (locked) with steps leading down to the cellar. At the back of the house is the scullery with a two door aga and drying rack above.

Outside the back door is a massive stone cheese press, typical of those used in Tynedale.

The back of the house has been added onto. There is a small paved drying yard. House leeks grow on the stone slab roof.

The farm had an extensive range of buildings attached.

The Stable Block is attached to the farm house with spaces for three shire horses. Tack hangs from the walls. Outside is a water trough used by the horses.

The rest of the farm buildings are arranged round a courtyard.

There is a long Open Barn used for storing carts and equipment.

The Horse Gin was no longer used by the 1940s, having been replaced by a stationary steam engine for threshing.

There are large Stone Barns to house the cows.

Another building houses the calves as well as the milking parlour.

Near by is a Hay Barn.

There are small Pig Sties near the farm house as well as larger ones in the far corner of the yard, with storage above.

This housed a very large saddleback boar which loved having his back scratched.

cont...

Eleanor · Jul 8, 2025

Beamish 1940s Farm cont - the farm worker's cottages

The two original farm workers cottages are across the road from the Home Farm. These would have been tied cottages housing farm workers and their families. As part of the 1940s farm, Garden Cottage housed billet members of the Women's Land Army. Orchard cottage next to it would have housed a family of evacuees.

The two cottages date from the C19th and have slate roofs. Next to Garden Cottage is a small allotment growing vegetables. The front garden of Orchard cottage is also used for growing vegetables.

The cottages are similar in design with a large front room and small back scullery reached down a short flight of steps. The bedrooms were accessed a flight of stairs through a door off the main living room.

Garden Cottage is more basically furnished and still has its cast iron open range providing heat, hot water and for cooking. It is the original stone slab floor. Chairs are arranged round the range and there is a small side boards and table set against the wall.

The back kitchen or scullery is reached down a short flight of steps, and has a door leading to the outside. It still has a large corner boiler for washing clothes. The water was heated by a small coal fire underneath.

Against the wall is a kitchen cupboard. There is also a basic bathroom.

The single bedroom, tucked away beneath the eaves, is very basically furnished with two single beds, wardrobes, dressing table and chest of drawers. This reflects the few possessions Land Girls were able to take with them.

Orchard Cottage is much better furnished and more modern, boasting an enamel range rather than the cast iron range found next door, although it still has an open coal fire. The stone slab floor is covered with linoleum and there is a display cabinet and piano.

The back kitchen has a coke stove to supply hot water as well as a large sink.

In the orchard next to Orchard Cottage is an Anderson shelter, which has vegetables growing over the roof.

Although the wartime focus was on growing crops, there were lambs in the orchard and a splendid, and very noisy, cockerel.

During the war, commercial pig production fell because land was needed to grow crops, but there was a big increase in pig clubs, where several families would get together to feed and raise an animal. In the field opposite the cottages is a very large sow, who would have been fed on household scraps.

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Eleanor · Jul 8, 2025

Beamish 1950s Town - Front Street and the shops

The latest project at Beamish has been the recreation of a 1950s town with shops and houses typical of that time, recreating the look and feel of a post war community.

This was a time of rapid change from the 1930s with the enamel range being replaced by a kitchen with cooker and the radio being replaced by the television. Telephones were beginning to appear.
Houses had running water and electricity. New houses even had a bathroom!

Some of the buildings have been demolished and rebuilt here, along with the stories of the people who lived and worked in them. Others are modern reconstructions.

In the 1950s, children played outside and many new housing developments included a recreation area with children’s play area. Coronation Park, named in honour of the Coronation of Elizabeth II features slide, roundabout swings as well as crazy golf and a sand pit..

Bowls was a popular sport throughout the north east and there is a bowling green with a pavilion.

Entering the town, Front Street is a recreation of a typical mining town street with cinema, shops and a fish and chip shop.

The Grand Electric Cinema from Ryehope has been reassembled here, with its ticket office and stairs to the main auditorium and then up to the gallery and a curtain across the screen.

Money was no object in making the auditorium as luxurious and comfortable as possible with stained glass windows, decorative frieze and art deco lighting.

The projection room had two large projectors and needed two projectionists. They were not allowed to leave the room during a performance and their only communication was by phone. A reel only lasted 20 minutes and there was a marker telling projectionist when to swap projectors.

A smaller slide projector for showing adverts during breaks.

The cinema now shows films, period newsreels and adverts.

Next to the cinema is a small row of shops including a Milk Bar, which would have served frothy coffee, milk shakes or ice cream, but now sells drinks from the counter onto the street and the electrical shop.

A Reece Ltd, Radio and Electrical Services is next. Electricity was now taking over in the home and the housewife now wanted an electric cooker to replace the range, washing machine, fridge, food mixer and processor as well as television sets and record players. Smaller items along with radios were enticingly displayed in the windows offering very attractive hire purchase terms.

Larger items were displayed in the shop with a helpful assistant to aid the purchase.

At the back of the shop was the repairs department. Goods were expensive and were expected to last for many years and be repaired.

Above, reached by an external flight of stairs is the Record Shop complete with listening booths to listen to a record before deciding whether to buy. It also has a selection of Televisons. These would have been a major expense in the 1950s offering easy payments over a long period. A Television set could cost between £60-£70 when the average weekly wage was around £10 .

Next to Reece Electricals is the Toy Shop, which was inspired by the shop owned by Romer Parish in Middlesborough. The North East had the highest number of toy shops outside London and was where manufacturers would test new toys before their official launch at toy fairs across the country.
This is a wonderful collection of original toys and games from the 1950s along with modern versions for sale.

There are dolls and string puppets.

There is a Hornsby three rail model railway set out as well as items with their 1950s prices. This would have been an expensive hobby.

At the back of the shop is a doll’s hospital where well loved dolls could be brought for some loving attention.

Across the road, the block of shops includes a hairdressers, cafe and fish and chip shop.

Elizabeth’s Hairdressers, complete with its space age look hair driers, is based on a shop from Bow Street in Middlesbrough.

It is even possible to have a 1950s style hair do, although from memory the metal curlers are to be avoided... The variety of hair grips could cope with all hair styles and hair colours.

John’s Cafe from Wingate in County Durham was owned by one of the Italian families who settled in the area selling ice cream. Giovanni (John) Baptista Parisella opened a cafe in1957 and it soon became the social hub of the village. Courting couples bought ice creams. Unemployed men could meet up for a hot Oxo drink, or striking miners could stay warm in here.

When John died in 2005, the family donated the interior of the cafe to Beamish. It has been carefully restored complete with its distinctive wooden seating booths with glass panels (dating from 1925), padded red leather sets and marble counter tops.

The back room was more informal with bar style counters and stools.

In pride of place in the front of the cafe is a juke box complete with a selection of 1950s records.

At the end of the row is Middleton’s Fish and Chip Shop, which is based on a shop from Middleton St George near Darlington. The original chip range was donated to the museum and is still used. The chips are served in cones of specially created 1950s style newspaper.

cont...

Eleanor · Jul 8, 2025

Beamish 1950s Town - the houses

Number 2 Front Street tucked between between the hairdressers and John’s Cafe, is a reconstruction of the terrace house from Bishop’s Close in Spennymoor that Norman Cornish, his wife and two children lived in from 1953 until 1967.

Norman had worked in the mines since the age of 14, only finishing as a result of a back condition. He then became a full time professional artist, renowned capturing everyday scenes in Bishop Close. There is a trail around Spennymoor covering many places he painted.

Before his death, Norman arranged for the contents of his studio, including some unfinished work, and some furniture from his home to be donated to the museum. These are now displayed in Number 2 Front Street.

This is a typical two up, two down terraced house with an outside netty (toilet) in the back yard. The front room served as a living room and all cooking was done on the enamel range. The additional income from his paintings means the house was more stylish with the latest fashions in furniture and modern electrical devices, including a television

The radio is still important and there is a treadle sewing machine - an essential in many households where the mother still made clothes for the family.

Behind is a large walk in pantry with some of the latest kitchen gadgets.

The scullery has a sink, washing machine and small working area.

Upstairs there were two bedrooms. The parents used the larger front bedroom which had a wash basin and jug.

This has Norman’s easel along with examples of some of his paintings.

Next to it was the children’s room.

Extending into a room above the Hairdresser’s shop is what is described as an accessible art space with a display of paintings and where visitors and groups can take part in art activities.

The paved back yard had a coal house and outside toilet. Hanging on an outside wall is the tin bath as there was no bathroom.

The Police Houses at the end of Front Street and are a replica of the police houses from Gateshead. The two houses were separated by the single story police office in the middle.

At the back was the outhouse containing a wash house, coal shed and storage shed. There was no lock up as any serious crimes would be dealt with elsewhere.

Both houses were built to the same plan with dining room, lounge, and kitchen on the ground floor with two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs. One house was for the Sergeant and the other for the Constable. They were on call twenty four hours and the posting was temporary and they could be moved at short notice.

The Sergeant’s House has more modern furnishings and electrical equipment and boasted a television set.

The Constable’s House was less well furnished, reflecting his lower pay.

Next to the police house are two Semi-detached Council Houses from an estate in Sunderland. Following the Second World War, there was an acute need for new housing to help reduce overcrowded slums, as well as replacing houses damaged during the war. In the 1950s, the North East undertook one of the largest expansions of council housing in Britain, with new housing estates on the edges of the towns and cities.

The houses were well built with a small garden and had a living room, dining room, kitchen and scullery/outhouse on the ground floor. Upstairs there were two bedrooms and a bathroom - a real luxury!

Many Poles came to England to fight with the Free Polish Forces during the Second World War, and many later settled in the area with the help and support of the Polish Resettlement Corps. Roman Malecki settled here in 1949, working in the mines in Ashington. His family have worked closely with Beamish to help furnish Number 47, to tell the story of Poles in the North East. Copies of documents are on display.

The kitchen has basic wooden cupboards and a gas cooker.

The outhouse has a washing machine as well as a burco water heater.

The stairs to the first floor have a carpet, securely held in position with brass stair rods.

The bedroom has a large dressing table and matching wardrobe. The bed has blankets and an eiderdown.

The Esther Gibbon and her family moved into a council house in 1952 from a property in Monkwearmouth with no kitchen, bathroom or running water. The outside toilet and tap were used by several families.

Esther died in 12019 and the museum have worked closely with her two daughters to recreate Number 45. Here the wall between the living room and dining room has been removed to form one large room.

The kitchen is very similar, but with an electric cooker.

Upstairs, the larger of the two bedrooms is big enough for a child’s cot.

cont...

Eleanor · Jul 8, 2025

Beamish 1950s Town - the Aged Miners Cottages and the Welfare Hall

The Aged Miner’s Cottages overlook the bowling green. Durham Aged Mineworkers’ Homes Association was established in 1898 to provide homes for retired mineworkers. They believed that a man who had worked in the mines all his life should not be evicted from his tied house without anywhere to live when he retired. Starting from small beginnings, they began to build homes and single men’s hostels in nearly every pit village. They were some of the earliest forms of social housing to help elderly members of mining communities. The Association is one of the largest and oldest Almshouse charties in the country and still own more than 1700 homes in eighty villages.

A small weekly levy voluntarily donated from miners’ wages, plus donations of land and materials from mine owners and others, allowed the homes to be constructed and let free of charge. Any retired miner and his wife could apply for a cottage, unless they had children living close by, when it was assumed they would go and live with them. Only married couples were allowed to live in the cottages as the Association didn’t think men could look after themselves without a wife. Widows could remain in home but widowers had to move out and live in sheltered accommodation run by a matron, who was responsible for all cleaning, cooking etc.

The row of cottages on the far side of the bowling green, are a replica of the cottages in Marsden Road in South Shields. The row of cottages was originally built in 1914 and had an indoor toilet. At a time when houses were being built with an outside toilet, this shows the commitment to the high standards of care by the Association.

Each of the cottages had a living room with kitchen and larder beyond. On the other side was a bedroom and bathroom. Two of the cottages are open. The others are being used by Beamish’s Health and Wellbeing Team as a space for people living with dementia or other long-term health conditions.

The two cottages that are open are very different. The first was the home of Margaret, a widow whose husband died in 1943. It is still furnished very much in the style of the 1930s and she still used the enamel range in the living room for cooking.

The kitchen had a sink and was mainly used for food preparation. The kitchen cabinet with a drop down door to provide an extra working surface.

Next to it was a large walk in larder.

The bedroom had a brass bedstead along with a metal foot warmer.

The chest of drawers has an old fashioned china dressing table set which had hardly changed since Victorian times.

Margaret still used the washstand with bowl and jug.

The Second cottage belonged to a married couple who moved in during the 1950s. It is much more modern. An electric fire replaces the enamel range in the living room.

There is a gas cooker in the kitchen

The larder now doubles as wash room with a sink.

Opposite was the bedroom

There was a basic bathroom with toilet and bath.

Welfare Hall
The Welfare Hall is a replica of the Leasingthorne Colliery Welfare Hall and Community Centre, near Bishop Auckland. which was built in 1957 from miners' subscriptions.

With its stage and kitchen facilities, the hall hosted a wide range of activities and events, including ballet and tap dancing classes, whist drives, wedding receptions, plays and pantomimes, garden fetes and youth clubs.

At the back of the hall is a NHS mother and baby clinic. Clinics were attended by expectant mothers to receive free antenatal care. Once the baby was born, mothers would bring them to the clinic to be weighted and make sure they were growing well, as well as receiving advice and welfare foods such as national dried milk, orange juice and cod liver oil.

There is a bottle steriliser.

On the walls are a series of pictures intended to instil healthy habits!

cont...

Eleanor · Jul 8, 2025

Beamish 1950s - an upland farm

The 1950s was a period of change for agriculture, with new legislation and regulations affecting farming. The changes affected the size of farms and their profitability, including milk production. Many upland farms were no lomger economic and were being abandoned.

Spain’s Field Farm from Eastgate in Weardale was such a farm.

There may have been a farmstead there since the C14th, although the stone farm dates from the late C18th and was extended during the second half of the 19th century.

Generations of the Raine family lived at Spain’s Field from the 1870s, with other family members living in nearby farms. Elizabeth, George and Joseph Raine lived in the farm until the 1950s. They were virtually self sufficient, keeping sheep, cattle and poultry, growing their own fruit and vegetables, making butter, cheese, jam and their own bread. It was very much subsistence farming and the men earned extra money from casual employment in the nearby quarries.

It was a hard existence with no electricity or running water. Lighting was by oil lamps. Water had to be carried from a nearby spring. There was only a rough track to the farm.

In the late 1950s, the family moved out of the farm to look after their mother. The buildings were left to fall into ruin although they continued to graze the land until the 1970s.

The farm buildings and furniture were donated to Beamish by the family. A road had to be specially built to the farm which was dismantled stone by stone to be transported and rebuilt at Beamish. It now depicts the harsh realities of 1950s life on an upland hill farm

It is surrounded by grazing and woodland. There is the remains of the sheep dip and shearing pens by the road.

In front of the house is the small vegetable patch.

As there was no running water supply to the farm, there was just an earth closet in a small shed in the yard.

The long low stone building contained the farmhouse with barns for the cows and sheep and stable attached. These were also used to store some farm equipment. The animals were well cared for and walls kept whitewashed.

Hens ran free, nesting in niches in the walls.

The main farmhouse had two rooms on the ground floor with two bedrooms above.

The kitchen was the main living area and the cast iron range was used for both cooking, providing heat and a constant supply of hot water. It still has the stone flag floor with a peg rug. (In many ways, it hasn’t changed much from the 1820s kitchen at Pockerley Manor).

Off is a small larder.

Next to the kitchen is the best room with a cast iron range providing heating. It also has a stone slab floor but does have the luxury of a bought carpet square as well as the peg rug in front of the range. It is basically furnished and must always have been cold and draughty with an outside door.

A steep staircase between the rooms leads to the bedrooms. The Men’s bedroom was spartan with just an alcove to hang clothes and a small modern chest of drawers.

The treadle sewing machine looked out of place, but perhaps there wasn't space for it elsewhere in the house?

Elizabeth had a much prettier and cosier room with a fireplace, wardrobe and dressing table as well as a washstand with a painted mirror above it.

Between the two rooms is another small storeroom for storing dry goods

On the far side of the farmhouse is the coal shed and pig sty with a splendid saddleback pig.

PatrickLondon · Monday at 12:26 PM

Fascinating! Beamish has won the Museum of the Year award and I can see why. I think a weekend in Newcastle beckons, and some "We had one of those" nostalgia time.

Eleanor · Monday at 2:00 PM

It's well deserved too Patrick!
I've been to Beamish many times and have enjoyed every visit. There's so much to see and take in and each time I see something I hadn't noticed before. The costumed interpreters are excellent. Most of those in the 1950s town were youngsters and their mouths dropped in amazement when
'us oldies' started talking to them about what it was like to live in those times...

daydreamer · Tuesday at 1:37 PM

Thank you for posting, Eleanor.

North East Beamish - the Living Museum of the North

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