Slowly but surely, Beamish returns

BEAMISH: The North of England Open Air Museum – recipient of a £585,000 CRF grant – has unveiled its plans for the phased reopening of its transport exhibits.

The phasing recognises the need to reach key milestones, including the easing of Covid-19 restrictions, the availability of resources and the progress that can be made with retraining and assessing staff for competence, as well as turning around deferred annual maintenance.

The County Durham museum will reopen its grounds on April

12. No buildings will be open but an historic fairground will be in operation. On May 1, the Colliery Railway will reopen with a mini-gala, featuring three standard gauge and two narrow gauge steam locos in action. Afterwards, the line will run at weekends and during holidays, using the 1877-built Stephen Lewin 0-4-0WT No.18 and the 150-year-old Head Wrightson 0-4-0VB Coffee Pot, plus the Seaham chaldron waggons.

Restrictions allowing, a 1950s bus service will run on the museum’s road network from May 17. On May 28, the Pockerley Waggonway will restart with the Puffing Billy replica.

Due to the number of staff needed to run it, and that the team who worked on it are on furlough, the tramway will not reopen until early September.

The NER branch line at Rowley station will not operate in 2021. Chris Beet’s Peckett 0-4-0ST No. 1370 will be relocated to the Colliery Railway and operate on some dates from May 1, giving a chance to see it in an industrial setting for the first time in many years.