Take a trip into the olden days
View Map
Recommendation added: 12/04/2006 16:24
By: phoenix06 (YSUK rating +25)phoenix06 has been thanked 6 times for this contribution
"One of the greatest areas I've ever been to has to be The North of England. There's just so much to do, whether it be shopping (Metro-Centre), entertainment (home of Newcastle United), leisure (Wet 'n' Wild water park) or history, you're sure to find a great way to experience is all in the viscinity of Newcastle and Durham. The reason I've been to all these attractions and think so highly of Newcastle and the surrounding area is that I frequently visited my brother over the past five years (who now lives at home in Glasgow) as he lived there whilst completing his PhD.
He was selling up and coming home in the Summer of 2005 and I realised it'd be the last chance I'd get for a while to go and enjoy all the things I've come to take for granted.
Although there're so many things to do, I decided the first thing should be to go back to where my love-affair with the North-East started..Beamish Open Air Museum in County Durham.
There's nothing I can say bad about this place, what an idea it was to transform a bit of open land into one of the most visited attractions in the North East of England by purchasing old buildings, dismantling them, transporting them to Beamish and reconstructing them exactly the way they were before. When we went they were still adding new features, something which they wouldn't even need to do as people will visit regardless, but the workers are devoted to constantly improving the site.
When you arrive at Beamish you feel as if you've stepped back in time a few decades (some parts are set in early 1800s and 1900s) and this feeling just pulls you in, making you extremely eager to explore.
You'd think transportation around 300acres of land would be a problem, but this is one of the best aspects of it, once your in Beamish you can hop on and hop off as many TRAMS as you like, you can even be ferried around by old-fashioned taxis.
There are many areas to visit such as a tour of the old mine (yellow hard hats are essential for this!), the home farm where you can meet many a pot-bellied pig and sheep-galore, the old-fashioned town where you can visit traditional sweet shops, dentists, lawyers offices etc.
I feel that what really 'made' the experience was the fact that all the workers were dressed so amicably. Wearing precise copies of clothing from the 18 or 1900's and going about their daily business in the same style as you'd imagine people from the olden days. You even have the opportunity to dress up and have your photo taken in old-fashioned clothes (not as embarassing as it sounds).
This really is an incredible day out which would suit families, couples and groups. I believe they even run educational tours for schools and groups of people. There's so much to keep everyone interested, and they've even managed to squeeze in a huge playpark for children.
I can't recommend it highly enough - there's so much more to beamish than what I've mentioned, but it's probably better if you keep that as a suprise for when you visit - and added to everything else there is to do around the area, it's more than worthwhile making the trip!"
Was this recommendation useful?
|
