Beamish Museum ready to reopen - here's how to book a slot and what things will be like when you get there

The open air museum, which is in its 50th anniversary year, is opening on Thursday, July 23, four months after having to close its doors.

All visitors will need to pre-book a timeslot and additional health and hygiene measures in place across the site, in line with COVID-19 Secure guidance.

Rhiannon Hiles, Beamish’s Deputy Director, said: “It is fantastic that we are able to reopen Beamish this Thursday.

“The museum has felt very strange since we closed in March, missing the sights and sounds that we all associate with the museum. Over these last few months, we have remained positive and optimistic planning our reopening.

“The safety of our visitors, staff and volunteers is our number one priority. We’ve reimagined new ways to interpret history within the open air museum setting that meets with COVID-19 Secure measures. There is so much to look forward to and opportunities to engage with our communities and visitors in new and innovative ways.”

Beamish launched a fundraising appeal earlier this month, in response to the major impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

Ms Hiles said, as a charity, 95% of its income is from visitors, including tickets, catering and retail purchases.

She said with no visitors since 20th March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this has had a significant effect.

So far over £10,000 has been donated to help support the museum in getting up and running again and secure its future for generations to come.

Additional health and hygiene measures introduced across the site include social distancing of two metres, enhanced cleaning regimes, handwashing facilities and hand sanitiser stations around site, glass screens, card/contactless payments only, face coverings as specified in government guidance, and COVID-19 Secure training for all staff and volunteers.

Many of the museum’s exhibits are open, including the sweet shop, Herron’s Bakery, Davy’s chip shop (chips only), 1950s welfare hall, school, band hall, chemist and chapel. One-way systems have been introduced for safe visitor flow.

Beamish reopens at 10am on Thursday, 23rd July and will be open daily from 10am to 5pm.

A message from the Editor:

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our advertisers - and consequently the revenue we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you taking out a digital subscription.

Subscribe to the Sunderland Echo website and enjoy unlimited access to local news and information online and on our app. With a digital subscription, you can read more than 5 articles, see fewer ads, enjoy faster load times, and get access to exclusive newsletters and content. Visit here to sign up. You can subscribe to the newspaper with 20% off here. Thank you.