Looking Back - 2011 at Beamish
Well, the decorations are down and Father Christmas and his helpers are on holiday for another year, so we decided to pause for a quick breather and look back over the last 12 months.
We had a great 2011 here at Beamish, with new buildings, new arrivals and new plans for 2012! Here are just some of the many highlights:
Spring and Autumn saw a scattering of new arrivals at Home Farm, with lambs, calves, and not forgetting our 9 saddleback piglets who arrived in September. They proved to be very popular with everyone who saw them!
In February our Learning Team and local school children came together during half term to commemorate the 1917 Washington Children’s Strike. Thousands of children in Washington and Usworth refused to attend school in protest of their Mining community’s drop in wages following World War One. The children were starving and demanded the right to receive free school meals.
In June we opened Davy’s Fried Fish and Chip Potato Restaurant in the Pit Village, which serves authentically fried fish and chips in beef dripping from a coal fired range, wrapped in newspaper of course!
In summer the Entrance Building revealed its new layout, with refurbished Coffee Shop, landscaping, orientation exhibition and kiosk.
The Dainty Dinah Tea Room also received a makeover with a new layout, a fantastic new range of home cooked meals, and a fully accessible ramp from the Town Park.
2011 also saw busy times in our popular events programme. In April, the Great North Steam Fair rolled into Beamish with a whole host of visiting transport in operation. The big story was two engines reunited for the first time in many years - visiting Fletcher Jennings engine 'Captain Baxter' and our own Head Wrightson 'Coffee Pot No.1' which both originally worked at Dorking Greystone Lime Company.
In June, the Georgian Fair saw record numbers enjoying the wonderful weather over the four day event at Pockerley Waggonway. We had traditional music, exciting entertainment, market stalls, the Squire of Pockerley in fine form and much more besides!
September saw all manner of vehicles - electric, horse drawn, steam powered and more - in action at Power from the Past. One of the star attractions was Blackpool 11, a VAMBAC controlled tram which was visiting from the East Anglian Transport Museum. We also had a rather special tram cavalcade on the Town street which saw a procession of our entire Tram Fleet (minus 196) - a very special moment.
September’s Agricultural Show saw hundreds of entries into our Industry Classes, with everything from Crafts, baking to misshapen vegetables! Local schools also entered the animals made from vegetables competition, with some very impressive results. We also witnessed a bumper turnip crop not long after!
In autumn we launched our new Short Courses, which include opportunities to try things such as proggy mat making, driving a steam engine and Victorian Christmas cooking. The courses have been extremely well received and our 2012 programme is available now! Click here to find out more.
There were spooky goings on in October as Beamish opened the doors for another two Halloween spook-tacular evenings! Staff and visitors alike dressed in their creepiest costumes, haunted the museum for the evening, and enjoyed activities such as trick or treating, watching entertainers, and scaring themselves Beamish style!
In November, Beamish was delighted to host the regional live broadcast of BBC's Children in Need. We were joined by Pudsey Bear, Colin Briggs, Paul Mooney and Charlie Charlton who together put on a great show for visitors who came to donate, and for folks around the region watching on television.
2011 has been a very successful year for the museum, with almost 500,000 visitors coming to enjoy the museum, the highest number since 1991!
We also received numerous awards, including the North East England Tourism, Gold, for Best Large Attraction, the Sandford Award for Education, and the British Travel Awards, Silver, for Best UK Heritage Attraction. We are also very proud of our two volunteers who received Museum Volunteer Awards - well done Ian and Jack!
Christmas at Beamish saw the site transformed into a traditional winter wonderland and we also had two very successful evening events. The visiting Father Christmas' grotto at Pockerley Waggonway proved to be a magical experience for everyone who visited.
2012 will see the continued progress of St Helen’s Church in the Georgian landscape, the Bakery in the Town, and the start of the Hetton Silver Band Hall reconstruction in the Pit Village.
Why not visit our Flickr photostream to see many more photos...Happy New Year from everyone at Beamish!