Beamish, the Living Museum of the North Reviews Summary

Visitor Experience

Pros:

• "An incredible visitor experience. A must for social historians."
• "Absolutely magical Christmas night at Beamish, the smells the warmth from real fires, the decorations and everything else it was perfect."
• "What an absolutely fantastic place a real step back in time."
• "Really feels like you are taking a step back in time."
• "Absolutely brilliant open air museum, with loads to see and a lot to learn about for anyone under 40 within memory of how we used to live."
• "Beamish is a truly immersive museum of Britain, with streetscapes, farms, shops, a mine, and working buses, trains and trams that literally transport you to another time!"
• "This museum is probably the closest humanity will ever get to having a Time Machine."

Cons:

• "Difficult to see everything in a day if, like us, you have someone unsteady on their feet."
• "Too much to see in a day."
• "The museum for very young children on this event is probably not ideal because the place is so dark, there is a fair ground which they would enjoy."
• "Sometimes felt a bit of a raddle they learned by heart."
• "The 1950s town was a little crowded by this time, but there wasn't a lot to see at this point."
• "Especially at the end of the day when even the staff did not know if they were still running."
• "Couldn't get near the bakery, confectionary, fish and chip shop etc."

Staff and Volunteers

Pros:

• "The volunteers were friendly and informative and brought the place to life."
• "All the staff are very friendly and knowledgeable always willing to chat!"
• "Really nice, helpful, cheerful staff and volunteers, who love and want to be there?"
• "Everyone that works there is lovely and really knowledgeable."
• "The staff were so knowledgeable and friendly. They really made the experience enjoyable."
• "Very knowledgeable staff telling the stories of the past."
• "The staff / volunteers are amazing and contribute to the whole experience."

Cons:

• "Would have asked them about the history but a lot of people wanting to do the same thing."
• "In all the years I've been to the Christmas Evenings I've never made it into the bakery, sweet shop, pub or chip shop.. due to the massive queues!"
• "The staff were in character for the period that you were travelling to."
• "I still don't know if they all have or just some of them??!"
• "The event was very well staffed, all in character."
• "People around are really kind and knowledgeable about the history of the place."
• "The staff are friendly and knowledgeable."

Accessibility

Pros:

• "Limited access for wheelchair user but staff very helpful and there were some good accommodations such as a wheelchair accessible bus service and ramped access to some exhibits (but unfortunately not all and not always clearly signposted)."
• "Great value for money. Your entry price covers a whole year of entry."
• "Tickets are valid for a year, which is handy as there's too much too enjoy in just 1 day."
• "Accessibility is really good and wheelchair hire available."
• "Plentiful toilets and the new 1950’s town has full wheelchair access."
• "Good accessibility for wheelchair users with a bus that can be requested to take you between areas."
• "Great for wheelchair users too, some of the exhibits have through the floor lifts."

Cons:

• "Many building are not accessible for wheelchairs."
• "Wheelchairs can't get on the many trams or buses that travel around the site."
• "Some of the other locations might prove more challenging since they are original buildings that were moved to the park."
• "As the tickets gives us access for a year we’d like to come back in the summer and spend the day looking around."
• "Some slops and uneven surfaces."
• "Although there are lots of toilets everywhere in the museum but each place have one or two toilets, again you have to wait for your turn."
• "Facilities such as toilets are discreetly provided in all of the settings."

Value for Money

Pros:

• "Book tickets early as the event sells out quickly, totally worth the price."
• "Your ticket lasts a year so you can return and you will, there is a lot to see."
• "The ticket seems a little pricey at first but considering what you get in the attraction (trams, buses, museum experiences) and that you can visit for a whole year, it really is great value."
• "Also the ticket price is really good for a family of 5 £20.00 each which also covers for the whole year."
• "The tickets give you unlimited visits for a year, so it's good value too."
• "It's not just a day out but it's a year's worth of days out as when you pay to enter, your pass is for a year."
• "Pay once and you get a pass for the whole year which is pretty good value."

Cons:

• "The only draw backs were the queues for everything."
• "But transport not able to handle so many families with buggies which caused a lot of stress given it was a family event."
• "It's a nice place to have a walk around, but be warned, there are few places to eat, you'll stand in queues for a month before you do eat."
• "The queues for food & drink were not handled well, they need more staff at lunchtime in their bakery, fish & chip shop and pub."
• "Could do with more food outlets to cope with numbers. Queued 30 to 40 mins for a sandwich at the quietest cafe, 45 mins for ice cream (which was very nice)."
• "The ONLY downside for us was not enough drinks vendors, it was a warm day and the places that sold drinks were so busy with very large queues and few and far between."
• "Negatives are too few food outlets for the number of visitors."