Families visiting Beamish Museum this summer will be able to take part in six new interactive trails inspired by different periods of North East history.
The activities will encourage visitors to explore the museum while completing challenges, solving problems and learning more about the people who lived and worked across the region.
One trail focuses on historic transport, while others invite visitors to step into the roles of a Georgian drover, an Edwardian household servant, a wartime evacuee and a teenager living in post-war Britain.
Activities will take place across the museum’s 1820s Landscape, 1900s Town and Pit Village, 1940s Farm and 1950s Town.
Connor Emerson, Curator of Social History, said the trails had been developed using stories connected to different parts of the museum.
“This summer, we have been inspired by stories from different areas of the museum to create a series of experiences that visitors can use to explore, compete with each other, solve problems together and be creative,” he said.
“There is something for everyone to enjoy and a different experience available on each visit.”
The wider summer programme will also include demonstrations, quizzes, traditional crafts and activities exploring subjects such as mining, women’s suffrage, wartime communication and rural life.
Visitors will be able to learn about weaving and embroidery in the 1820s area, see mining demonstrations in the Pit Village and join suffrage rallies in the 1900s Town on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
At the 1940s Farm, activities will examine the lives of evacuees, semaphore signalling and wartime toys. The 1950s programme will include a radio-style quiz and a teddy bear clinic inspired by the early years of the NHS.
A traditional carriage driving competition is also due to take place on 18 and 19 July, while a separate weekend event will mark 50 years since Rowley Station became the first relocated building to open at the museum.
The station was officially opened as an exhibit in 1976 by Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman.
The programme will continue beyond the school holidays with the North East Horticultural Society and Beamish Museum Annual Show on 5 and 6 September 2026.
The event will feature competitions for vegetables, flowers, crafts and homemade produce, with categories available for gardeners, museum visitors, staff and volunteers.
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