Take a tram to the past at BEAMISH It is simply the best open air museum. There’s a town, a mining village, a farm. Mind you we didn’t get to the farm because you cannot see round Beamish in one day! I think that when visitors from abroad come there, the price of entry should reflect that but instead they give you access for a year and most visitors can’t take the benefit. But even so it is worth going there. There was so much more to see than last time I visited.

During their stay, Jenesta and Nathan explored the history of mining a bit by a visit to Woodhorn Colliery Museum but at Beamish there’s a chance to experience a little of what the real thing was like.

Those helmets are NOT for show. It’s dark, damp and low. Children as young as seven used to work in the mines.