ONE of the country’s best-loved historical attractions has got a whole host of new features opening up this summer.
There are plenty of places across the country where people can get a taste of what life in the UK would have been like in the past.
However, few places do it as well as Beamish in County Durham.
The open air museum tells the story of life in the North East from as far back as the 1820s, all the way through to post-war Britain.
The site has an old fashioned pit village, a 1900s town, a farm from the 1940s, all with working shops, bars, businesses and even a fair, recreating life from the past.
However, it has recently been working on a new 1950s town, with parts of it already open to the public.
And from the start of next month, several exciting new additions will also be available for visitors to explore to learn more about the time period in the country just after the second world war.
They include a toy shop, where visitors can see toys on display from the museum’s collection, see a dolls’ hospital and purchase 1950s-style toys.
A new record store has been added to the site, complete with booths where guests can listen to 1950s tunes as they take in the surroundings of the shop, recreated to look as it would’ve more than 70 years ago.
A radio rentals shop is also found beneath the record store, showing off the greatest advances in technology from the 1950s, including televisions, radios and other electrical appliances from the decade.
However, the best place to see what audio visual entertainment would have been like in those days is the retro cinema, which has been recreated to look exactly like the Grand from Ryhope in Sunderland.
Beamish visitors will be able to watch Pathé News reels, adverts and films from the 50s in the surroundings of the impressive theatre, which contains some of the original parts of the venue it’s based on.
The Grand was a hugely popular cinema during the 1950s before it was repurposed as a bingo hall.
The original building underwent a full architectural survey to assess which materials could be salvaged and re-used.
Any such parts and features have incorporated into the cinema at Beamish, providing an extra layer of authenticity.
The cinema and the new features, which also include a milk bar, will be open to the public from July 6.
Another place to sample life in the past in the UK is at Iron Bridge Gorge in Shropshire, which I was lucky enough to visit last year.
I found myself standing in front of a Victorian blacksmith’s hut, making way for a horse and carriage, feeling very much like I was in the late 1800s.
Its Blists Hill site offers a truly immersive experience, that lets people get a pretty good understanding of how life would have been more than 100 years ago.
The living town invites visitors to “step back and experience the sights, sounds and smells of Victorian life” through recreated buildings and staff dressed up in authentic outfits that would’ve been worn during the time.
The experience became all the more enveloping in places like the pub, the confectioners and the chip shop, where products can be bought and enjoyed on-site.
Away from the town centre, the village green provides more insight into Victorian life, with a fairground in operation.
Simple rides, coconut shys and dart games are accompanied by traditional fairground organ music that can be heard far and wide.
The well created exhibitions and the ardent members of staff really breathe life into their surroundings and make you feel like you’re witnessing a day in the life of a real Victorian town.
So much so that it felt strange walking through the exit and getting into my car and driving off back to modern life when it was sadly time to leave.
A single entrance ticket to Blists Hill Victorian town costs £23.50 for adults and £14 for children and students.
However, there are other new attractions that have already opened at the museum, including a new pub and place to eat.
The new Drovers Tavern in the 1820s part of Beamish aims to tell the story of drovers who walked hundreds of miles moving livestock and carrying goods across the country.
On their journeys, they would often stop off at taverns, like the one that has been created at Beamish.
Guests can pop in and sample some of the food, and the booze, that they would have sampled while on their arduous journeys.
The tavern’s menu is is inspired by popular Georgian food and drinks, including potted ham, rarebit, soup, stew and salmagundi (a Georgian salad).
Meanwhile, at a new pottery exhibit, visitors will be able to learn traditional pottery skills, while also having a go at making some of their own pots.
Rhiannon Hiles, Beamish’s Chief Executive, described the new additions as “a major moment in the museum’s history“.
She said in a press release: “Our Remaking Beamish project is the biggest capital development in Beamish’s history and has brought many new experiences and co-curated stories to the museum.
“At Beamish, we welcome over 800,000 visitors a year from across the UK and the world and we can’t wait for everyone to experience these fantastic new additions.”
Entry to Beamish costs £27.95 for adults and £17.25 for children, but visitors can re-use their tickets for free as often as they like for a whole year.
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