Beamish Museum, County Durham, United Kingdom

4TyneAndWearColumbus 5:00 PM Oct 10, 2022

Great visit but tea room is very poor
I've just visited for the second time this year and really enjoyed my visit. It's a massive area and you do need to be quite fit to walk around the site. There are lots of Staff in character in the various locations and they are very knowlegeable and good to listen to. There are trams, buses and other vintage people carriers and as you see them it feels like you're back in time. I liked the garage and the old co op store, very interesting exhibits. We also played a game of crazy golf in the 50s area which was good fun. The mine shaft was closed again this time, so I still haven't had the chance to go below ground. There are lots of seats and picnic areas around the site and quite a lot of places to buy drinks and food. The one place I feel lets the site down is the tea room. On both occasions I've visited there have been lengthy queues to get in. Service is very slow and the food is quite average. The first time I visited an argument broke out as people queued for the food as a member of Staff told a group they could go in the middle of the queue if they only wanted cold food!. After people had queued for over 25 minutes the idea of people pushing in didn't go down well. Food is quite basic. Hot meat sandwiches are £5.95, soup and bread £3.95, jacket potatoes around £6, scone with cream and jam £3.20, tea £2, filter coffee £2.50. It would help if there was a big sign or blackboard at the entrance showing what was on offer and what the prices are. Instead of prices most signs had calorie content. It's only when you get to the till that you find out what some of the prices are. There's clearly a demand by people wanting to eat here and with a revamp of menu and design this place could be a goldmine. A lot of people probably take their own food after their first visit, because of how bad the tearoom is. Beamish is a great place to visit, but it's a shame they aren't using this tea room to it's best advantage.

4Fifer7 5:00 PM Sep 27, 2022

Lovely informative, fun and nostalgic visit
First time visitors. Spent most of the day there from late morning. Entry fee includes ticket for a year, great value if you are able to arrange multiple vists. Worth the price anyway for a day visit. Pure nostalgia is fun and a big plus for older visitors as we were, but there is so much as well that is informative if you are younger and enjoy history. Talk to the people in the shops etc. They are full of facts and descriptions of their particular area. The transport systems, vintage busses and trams which run continually are excellent for getting around. Our favourites were the Pit Village with its incredibly accurate School and cottages and a very informative pit head, with working steam engine which sent the miners down to the coal seam and up again (hopefully) in cages. I admit a personal bias in this but you learn a lot about times now gone. A good way to visit also is bring a picnic, there are plenty places to walk and sit. Dogs are indeed welcomed but not in every place..understandably. I would add that, as usual, I first check the one stars reviews on TA community and noted very many were about queues, closed facilities etc. So I will admit that our visit did not experience those issues. The living museum is just that, supported by volunteers, its not a theme park and we liked that. I understand some vistors demand efficency and a seamless process these days. However, to get the best of Beamish, put in some effort yourself and dont expect a plastic Disneyland. Beamish offers an opportunity to find out about real life, not too long ago, in a factual and detailed way. The volunteers do a great job in trying to inform in a fun way for visitors. Maybe if we arrive in multi coachloads with our little darlings in tow at school holidays it may not be quite the experience demanded by some. We loved it and intend to make several 3 hour drives in the next year to enjoy the anual ticket. Thank you to the volunteers who made our day wonderful.