Beamish

Beamish is a village in County Durham in northeast England. The village is just a straggle of miners' houses and the only reason to visit is the extensive open-air museum.

Stanley is a former mining town two miles west, with a population of 19,427 in 2021.

Get in
Beamish is on A693 five miles west of the main north-south transport corridor, with the A1(M) and East Coast main railway line. The nearest railway station is Chester-le-Street.

Go Northeast Bus 8 runs every 30 min from Sunderland via Washington to Chester-le-Street, from where it takes 15 min to Beamish museum gates and continues to Stanley.

Bus 28 runs hourly from Chester-le-Street to Beamish then meanders north via Birtley and Gateshead to Newcastle.

Bus X31 runs hourly from Newcastle Eildon Square and takes 40 min to Stanley, where you need to get off at East Street just over a mile from the museum entrance. It alternates with Bus X30 which returns to the city via East Street.

Get around
The museum is actually big enough to have its own tram network.

See

 * No Place should not be marked on any mortal map, but it's the little settlement half a mile south of the museum around Mary Inn. The origin of the name is unknown, maybe it was Like Home. In 1983 the council tried to change it to Co-operative Villas, but were told where they should go.
 * No Place should not be marked on any mortal map, but it's the little settlement half a mile south of the museum around Mary Inn. The origin of the name is unknown, maybe it was Like Home. In 1983 the council tried to change it to Co-operative Villas, but were told where they should go.

Do

 * Golf: courses are Beamish Park by the hotel, Roseberry Grange, South Moor and Hobson.

Buy

 * ASDA Supermarket in Stanley is open M-F 6AM-midnight, Sa 6AM-10PM, Su 10AM-4PM.

Eat

 * Mary Inn: see Sleep.
 * The Fish Inn is a fish & chips takeaway in the centre of Stanley village, open M-Sa 11AM-10PM, Su 4-10PM.
 * Mary Inn: see Sleep.
 * The Fish Inn is a fish & chips takeaway in the centre of Stanley village, open M-Sa 11AM-10PM, Su 4-10PM.

Drink

 * Hill Top is on East Street in Stanley, open daily 11AM-11PM.
 * Ball Alley, Board Inn, Blue Bell and South Causey Inn are others in Stanley.

Connect
As of April 2024, Stanley, Beamish and their approach roads have 4G with O2, Three and Vodafone, and 5G with EE.

Go next

 * South to historic Durham, with a well-preserved medieval centre.
 * North to buzzy Newcastle, and a surprisingly elegant townscape.
 * Gateshead south of the River Tyne has the Baltic Gallery.
 * East to the 1964 new town of Washington. George Washington's family originated here.