October Half Term 2024

26th Oct to 3rd Nov

Enjoy a half term with a difference at Beamish Museum!

‘Women in Protest’ is a nine-day event organised in conjunction with National Women Against Pit Closures (NWAPC) to mark the 40th anniversary of the 1984/85 miners’ strikes.

Activity will centre mainly on the 1950s welfare hall with a display of banners by the group and the ‘Shifted’ exhibition by East Durham Artists Network (EDAN) which was inspired by the anniversary of the strikes and the women of the Durham coalfield.

No More Nowt will run a family activity in the 1950s welfare hall – children will be able to have a go at making a placard to protect something which is important to them today.

The cinema will show a programme of mining-related films. Click here to view the full schedule. At 2.30pm each day we invite visitors to see a march featuring the women’s banners starting outside the welfare hall.

Elsewhere in the museum, visitors will be able to find out about other women in protest, including the story of Annie Errington in The 1900s Pit Village and the different forms of protest used in the movement to enact women’s suffrage in Britain in the 1900s Town. At Pockerley Old Hall visitors can also learn about the 1795 ‘Revolt of the Housewives’.

Join in with a Suffragette march each day in The 1900s Town and attend a talk in rebuttal to the use of violence as a tool of protest by the National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). At The 1940s Farm, you can find out more about the Land Girls’ strike.

Use your Beamish Unlimited Pass or Friends of Beamish membership to enjoy this special event. Pay once and visit free for a year!

Beamish reserves the right to alter events, activities, facilities, operations and opening times without prior notice.