1950s Terrace Opening Soon!

February 7th 2022

Beamish, The Living Museum of the North will open its 1950s terrace with a week of celebrations this February Half Term, 19th to 27th February 2022.

Front Street terrace features John’s Café, Middleton’s Quality Fish and Chips, Elizabeth’s Hairdresser’s, and a recreation of the 1950s home of celebrated North East artist Norman Cornish.

Visitors will be able to enjoy an ice cream sundae while listening to the jukebox at John’s Café, a recreation of the popular café from Wingate, County Durham. They will be able to get a 1950s hairdo and pose for photos under the dryers at Elizabeth’s, which is in a recreation of an end-terrace shop from Bow Street in Middlesbrough. Fish and chips will be served at Middleton’s, which recreates a fish and chip shop from Middleton St George, near Darlington. Visitors can try their hand at sketching in No. 2 Front Street, a recreation of Norman Cornish’s Spennymoor home and discover more about the Spennymoor Settlement.

An official unveiling of the terrace will be live-streamed on 18th February on the museum’s Facebook page (online only, the museum is not open this day), starting off a week of opening celebrations from 19th to 27th February.

The terrace in The 1950s Town is part of the Remaking Beamish project, which also includes 1950s Spain’s Field Farm and an expansion of the Georgian landscape, including early industry and overnight accommodation.

All visitors will need to pre-book an entry timeslot to visit the museum – timeslots from 19th February to 27th March will be available to book online from 10am on Tuesday, 8th February 2022. 

Thanks to the money raised by National Lottery players, the Remaking Beamish project was awarded £10.9million by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2016.