Post lockdown visit to Beamish Museum

We decided to book ourselves in for a day out at Beamish Museum to make the most of a forecasted sunny Saturday.

Beamish is a fantastic open air museum which is less than half an hour from our home. Our last family visit was way back in February when it was pretty chilly!

Your ticket is valid for a whole year so we try to make the most of it and there’s so much to see and do you can definitely visit more than once.

During this “new normal” post lockdown, like most businesses, Beamish have had to bring in lots of changes to be covid-safe one of which being you have to book a timeslot for your arrival via the website.

I booked ours on the Thursday for that Saturday as the weather forecast looked really good. Keep an eye out on their website or social media channels for the next wave of timeslots.

As part of your booking you have to provide information of the lead person of your booking for NHS Test and Trace purposes which I think is really good and you receive a few emails prior to your visit with useful information.

You can pre-book food including traditional, savoury and children’s Afternoon Tea boxes, picnic bag and kid’s lunch bag which need to be ordered a minimum of three days before your visit and you collect from the 1950s welfare hall between 10am and 4.30pm on the day of your visit.

With the sun already shining we set off just before 10am and made the short drive to Beamish.

As usual we were greeted at the entrance and provided with an explanation of how things would work and where we had to go.

You have to wear a face mask or covering (unless you’re exempt) in any enclosed space in Beamish but you didn’t have to wear one outside.

We made our way to the pit village to check what time Davy’s fish and chip shop opened as we wanted Elsie to try her first dab and chips.

We had a leisurely walk around the pit village and the farm showing Elsie some of the animals – the fresh air and excitement was a bit much for her and while she had forty winks we had a sit down in the shade.

I was impressed with just how much cleaning was going on all around, we saw metal gates and picnic tables being sprayed and wiped down by staff throughout our visit which makes you feel at ease during the current pandemic.

Shortly before 11:30 we made our way round to Davy’s for traditional coal-fire cooked fish and chips.

At the moment you can’t eat inside Davy’s so we found a nice spot on the grass and I set up camp while Steve joined the queue for our food.

We brought a picnic blanket and Elsie’s Easytots mini mat aswell as our own cutlery so we could cut up Elsie’s food for her and she had her own plate.

Elsie really enjoyed her first dab and chips (half fish) and even tried to eat some of Steve’s!

Once we’d devoured our dab and chips, cleared up our mess and reapplied sun cream, we explored further.

Some newer additions to Beamish include an extension to the 1820 Pockerley such as Joe the Quilter’s Cottage and St Helen’s Church which we hadn’t explored before.

We then headed to the 1900s town where we changed Elsie’s nappy and had a sit down in the shade and let Elsie have a drink and crawl around.

The queue for the sweet shop was well organised for social distancing but we decided to give it a miss this time.

I did however pop into the bakery and picked up some sweet treats for us to enjoy back at home. The ginger biscuit I had was absolutely delicious I just wish I’d bought two!

They have a market stall area set up in the town where you can buy pre packed sweets and treats as well as gift shop goodies.

It was great to see some progress being made with the new 1950s development which looks like it will be a brilliant addition when it’s complete.

We then had a slow walk back to the main entrance stopping to show Elsie some beautiful horses which she loved!

The trams and buses aren’t currently running so we clocked up more than 10,000 steps at our visit so I’d definitely advise wearing comfy shoes.

We got back to the car just before 14:20 so we’d had a good few hours at Beamish and it was a glorious day which we’d thoroughly enjoyed.

It’s clear that a lot of hard work has gone in to make Beamish covid-safe with clear signage explaining one way systems and when masks should be worn as well as screens, hand sanitiser stations and additional regular cleaning.

There’s lots of picnic tables for you to sit and enjoy a drink, ice cream or something yummy to eat.

There’s lots of grassy areas and benches throughout and you can bring in your own food too which lots of people did. But we felt we really wanted to support Beamish as they’ve lost 95% of income due to COVID-19 so we bought drinks and food on site.

We felt really safe at our visit and wouldn’t hesitate to return.

Beamish is a great day out for all the family – we saw lots of families, couples and grandparents too.

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Where is Beamish Museum?

Beamish Museum
Beamish
County Durham
DH9 0RG

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Beamish Museum ticket information

The Beamish Unlimited Pass is valid for 1 whole year from the date of purchase, and includes daytime events, ensuring you do not miss any of the exciting activities that Beamish has to offer. They offer family tickets as well as senior and student tickets.

Friends of Beamish Membership you’ll get a fantastic package of free entry, free quarterly magazine, discount on a guidebook, plus other great discounts and exclusive offers. There are tickets for couples, young people, families and seniors.

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Other North East related posts

Here’s 10 reasons to visit Newcastle (and Gateshead) this summer

I recently discovered what’s on offer for tourists in the North East

Here’s how we spent a lovely day at beautiful Bamburgh

If you’re planning a city break then check out why you should visit Newcastle in my proud Geordie moment as Newcastle named number 1 place to visit in 2018

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