Every day during the school holidays, from Saturday, 21st July to Wednesday, 29th August, there’ll be amazing activities taking place across the museum for all the family to enjoy.
From explosive experiments to Suffragette marches, Home Guard drills and solving a murder mystery, it’s set to be a fantastic Summer of Fun at Beamish.
- Enjoy Melodious Mondays with a whole host of traditional music around the museum. Sing, dance and perform early 1900s scripts as you join in with music hall rehearsals in Hetton Band Hall in The Pit Village.
- Learn new skills and have a go at traditional games during Try it Tuesdays. There are different activities each week, ranging from croquet, proggy mat making, help the maid, Georgian costume try-on, pill making and hag stone making.
- Listen to the stories of the Suffragettes during Women’s Wednesdays, grab a sash, and march for your right to vote in The 1900s Town at 11am, 1pm & 3pm. Don’t forget to make a rosette in The Pit Village school – purple for loyalty and dignity, white for purity and green for hope. Visitors can discover the story of North East Suffragette Connie Lewcock, is she guilty or not guilty? Decide at 11.30am, 12.30pm, 1.45pm & 3.45pm at Rowley Station. Plus, there’ll be the chance to have a go at writing secret letters at The 1940s Farm.
- Durham County Cricket Club will also be running cricket sessions on the Events Field on 25th July, 1st, 15th & 29th August at 11am, 1pm & 3pm.
- In The Pit Village chapel, see the explosive Just One Spark demonstrations as you discover the dangers of working down a coal mine at 11am, 12pm, 1.30pm, 2.30pm & 3.30pm during Thunderous Thursdays. There will also be Tangram puzzles to try in Hetton Band Hall.
- Have a go at football skills with the Newcastle United Foundation on the Events Field on 26th July, 9th & 23rd August, between 11am & 3pm.
- On 50s Fridays, visitors can explore the 1950s front room in Ravensworth Terrace in The 1900s Town or visit the band hall in The 1900s Pit Village to learn more about 1950s NHS clinics, Red Cross Cadets and 50s teenagers.
- Learn to drill with the Home Guard at 11am, 2pm, 3pm & 4pm at The 1940s Farm on Soldiering Saturdays.
- Join us for Sleuthing Sundays and be among the first to visit our newest attraction, Joe the Quilter’s cottage. Become a detective as you try to work out who killed poor old Joe. The Parish Constable will be carrying out investigations into crimes he’s heard about at 11am, 1pm & 2.30pm, and you better be on your best behaviour if he wants to speak to you!
There’s something happening at Beamish every day of the summer!
Plus, come and see the newly-opened “lost” cottage of murdered Georgian quilter Joseph Hedley. The exhibit, in our 1820s Landscape, is the first completed building in our £18million Remaking Beamish project. Find out more about quilting and Joe’s murder, see the chickens and admire the vegetables growing in the garden.
This year’s Summer of Fun has something for everyone, from singing, dancing and performing on Melodious Mondays to becoming a detective and trying to work out who killed Joe the Quilter on Sleuthing Sundays – there really is something fun for all the family to enjoy!
Jonathan Blackburn, Engagement and Participation Team Assistant.
Rowley Station will be offering steam train rides throughout the summer holidays and a steam roller will be in action around the museum every Monday and Friday.
Thanks to the money raised by National Lottery players, the Remaking Beamish project has been awarded £10.9million by the Heritage Lottery Fund.