After a day full of activity, I headed home for a quick change to go back out for a meeting – a reminder, if I needed one, that the work the museum does with communities is not confined to the opening hours!  Lisa and I were headed to the Everyman Theatre in Spennymoor to talk […]

Dementia Awareness Week, runs from 15 – 21 May this year and there is lots of activities going on at Beamish, to raise awareness but also to provide opportunities for those with dementia and their friends and families.  On my very first induction day I was trained as a Dementia Friend and it’s great to […]

Today I was out and about in costume at Newbrough Town Hall  finding out about how the team engage communities that are connected to buildings at the Museum.  As part of the planned expansion to the 1820s area the Museum hope to represent the life of Joe the Quilter.  The brutal murder of Joseph (the […]

This evening, I accompanied Gez on a trip to a W.I. meeting taking place at the Coundon and Leeholme Community Centre.  Gez was there to give a talk on the Remaking Beamish project, as the community centre is one of the buildings that will be replicated in the 1950s town.  It was a good opportunity […]

I popped into the office today for a meeting with a lady whose house will be reproduced in the new 1950s area.  Esther’s house was chosen during a public vote in which people from across the North East were invited to nominate a semi from the decade to be replicated at the museum as part […]

Today I was back in costume for the intriguingly named ‘Old King Coal’ event.  I was given a detailed information sheet for the day and from this found out that this event marked the culmination of the Museum’s Great War Festival of Transport and would focus on celebrating the contributions made by the pit villages […]

Today I was really looking forward to having some time on my own, exploring the museum.  I was here before the public opening and it felt like a real treat having it (almost) all to myself.  There was smoke coming from the chimneys, fields full of animals and folks in costume going about their daily […]

Day two of shadowing and being in costume and today’s location couldn’t be more different.  Compared to yesterday’s bustle of the town, today I was in peaceful Pockerley.  So ‘rural’ that I actually couldn’t find it to start with and I soon realised this was a part of the museum I’ve never visited before.  Walking […]

Today was a busy day and an insight into the workings of the museum.  It started off with an OMT (Organisational Management Team) meeting.  That might sound dull but it was anything but – varied doesn’t even begin to describe it.  When the museum is planning an event (and there’s lot of them) every team […]

Today was my first proper day at the museum as Writer in Residence.  I was equal parts nervous and excited.  I had met Gez and Lisa who I’d be working with when we were setting up the residency but today was a chance to start to pin down which projects I’d be working on.  And […]