100 Happy Days Day 26: A Trip Into The Past

Since the day we decided to visit our friends down South, we had planned this day out. We visited the open air museum of Beamish, which "tells the story of life in North East England during the 1820s, 1900s and 1940s". The museum is made up of 300 acres of countryside and has a town, railway station, pit village, 1940s farm and more. The people working and volunteering here are dressed in Victorian-era styled clothing and will talk to you as though you are part of the town in the 1800s. 

To get around the museum, you can either walk or take a tram like this one.

We took the tram to the town first, where you can enter the various shops and find them just as they would have been in the 19th century. We popped into the pub to get a ginger beer each before looking around the houses, again made to look just like homes from long ago. 

These pictures certainly do not do them justice but I think these were two of my favourite rooms to explore. I find the first one both beautiful and terrifying, since it reminds me of a horror film and I found myself, the entire time, waiting for a creepy 'little-girl-ghost' to jump out at me. The kitchen was incredibly warm and homey and there were fresh, homemade scones to try. 

After exploring the houses, we took another tram down to the pit village, where the miners and their families would have lived. 

Again, we were able to take a look around the houses, which were a lot smaller and quainter than the town homes. There was also a school to explore, with a man dressed as a teacher heading up a classroom, and old playground games to try in the courtyard.

I had an amazing time at this museum and would urge anyone who has the means to to go and take a look for themselves. It really is incredible and I hope to visit it again as much as possible throughout my lifetime as they are constantly adding new attractions.