| Welcome to Beamish, The North of England Open Air Museum, where the past comes to life. Beamish is unique. We're no ordinary museum but a living, working experience of life as it was in the Great North in the early 1800s and 1900s. Beamish, Britain's favourite open air museum, set in over 300 acres of beautiful countryside, vividly recreates life in the North of England in the early 1800s and 1900s. Winner of both the British Museum of the Year and European Museum of the Year Awards, it demonstrates the recent history of the region in a "living" way and provides entertainment and education for visitors of all ages and interests. People from the past welcome visitors and interpret how the people of the North of England lived and worked. Step on board our trams and we'll transport you into the past.  | | New in 2002!
 A magnificent, full-size, working replica of an early 1800s 'lost' locomotive, The Steam Elephant, was unveiled here in 2002. Originally built in 1815 by William Chapman of Newcastle upon Tyne for Wallsend Colliery, the Elephant worked there and at Washington and Hetton Collieries until the 1840s, when it disappeared without a trace. Ride on The 1825 Railway - a unique experience!
 Now visitors can ride in replica 1825 carriages behind The Steam Elephant or the Museum's replica of "Locomotion No.1" built by George Stephenson in 1825. The original Locomotion No.1 headed the first public, passenger-carrying, steam train in the world - on the Stockton & Darlington Railway in 1825. Discover the early days of steam railways!
 A magnificent 1822 locomotive, built by George Stephenson, and reputedly the third oldest surviving railway engine in the world, is the centrepiece of a period Running Shed. Nearby visitors can see "The Engineer's Drawing Office" and the Engine Drivers' bothy. The 1825 Railway is only open during the summer season |  | |  The Beamish tramway fulfils a dual function - it provides a transport system and also gives visitors a period tramride experience.
The fleet of trams consists of several carefully restored trams most of which date from the early years of the century. The tramway runs in a circle for over a mile with tramstops in The Town and near the other main areas of the Museum.
During the summer season a replica bus carries visitors between The Town and The Colliery Village. It is a copy of a double-deck bus owned by Gateshead Tramways in 1913.
Horse-drawn buses and charabancs were once a common sight and during the summer, visitors can often ride over part of the site in one of two charabancs. |  | | Railways were pioneered in the north east of England and spread rapidly throughout the world. Adjoining The Town, Beamish Station recreates a typical branch line country station. The passenger building, which includes a ticket office and waiting room for ladies only, dates from 1867 and came from Rowley,near Consett in County Durham. - Station Building
- Signal Box
- Goods Shed
- Weighbridge House
- Coal Cells
Within the station area is a variety of freight rolling stock including coal wagons and an N.E.R. Class C 060 tender locomotive*, built in Gateshead in 1889, stands beside the passenger building. * Locomotives are not in steam at The Railway Station.
See The 1825 Railway. |  | |  The Manor House
There have been people living at Pockerley for over 1000 years. Now a small manor house and horse yard, this is an ancient defensive site - evidence of a far from peaceful past. The house, gardens and farm buildings are shown as they were in the 1820s when a yeoman landowner, along with his family servants and labourers, ran the surrounding estate.
 The Old House
The old house formed the strong-house wing of the earlier manor. The house is lit by candlelight and candle-making is often demonstrated here.
 Pockerley Manor Gardens
The south-facing terraced gardens contain formal gardens, cultivated vegetable plots and orchards. All the plant, shrub and tree species found here were grown in the 1820s.
The Horse Yard
Horses were used in the 1800s to work on the land, as pack animals and to pull carriages, gigs and carts. Clydesdale heavy horses, once common in the North of England, can be seen at home in the Horse Yard. Dales ponies are used as pack horses and the Museum also breeds Cleveland Bay horses, now a registered rare breed. Pockerley Manor is only open during the summer season | |
