The Friends of Beamish Museum.A Weekend to Remember for the Friends.
(From Friends Newsletter Summer 2003)
There was no sign of Global Warming in Stanley Bus Station at 06.50 on Friday, 4th April and it was a pleasure to board the "Classic" coach with its heater working full blast. This, of course, is the norm for our weekends.
With a long journey, plus visits to two of Colin's "secret" destinations to be fitted in before reaching our hotel, we have to have an early start.
Sagger Makers Bottom Knocker.
Our first visit was to the GLADSTONE WORKING MUSEUM OF THE POTTERIES. Because there were two coach loads of us (82) our group was split into 4 parties. Guided by a charming young lady who had, herself, worked at various jobs in the industry, we were conducted through the workshops where the mysteries of throwing pots, moulding, flower making and painting were explained.
Finally the clay pots were packed into Saggers, stacked into the bottle ovens (kilns) where they were bricked in and fired for a couple of days and finally taken out of the ovens when they were shipped off all over the country, and even all over the world.
Fascinating stuff, and we even learned the mystery of the Sagger Makers Bottom Knocker. This is, of course, a secret, communicated only to those of us "in the know".
Flushed with Pride.
This was followed by the Flushed with Pride experience where the development of one of the world's most important inventions was demonstrated, including Mr. Crapper's famous WC.
It was as a result of the introduction of sewage disposal that great Beam Engines were constructed to pump waste out of the cities and into properly prepared disposal sites instead of the nearest river as before, resulting in a huge improvement in the health of local communities.
The Last Potters Mill.
It was still only mid afternoon so, on to ETRURIA INDUSTRIAL MUSEUM, Britain's sole surviving potters' mill. Here we discovered how the raw materials were processed - local clay, various stones, including flint, and animal bones for the porcelain.
These were ground in separate mills, driven by belts which were powered by a steam-driven Beam Engine. It's a pity the engine wasn't under steam - these great engines are unbelievably quiet when they are running, with only a light hiss from the pistons.
The Mill site is bordered by the Caldon and Trent and Mersey canals and we were able to lend a hand opening one of the lock gates to enable a narrow boat to enter a lock on its journey upstream.
There was just time for a cuppa in the canteen then it was back to the coaches for the final leg of the journey to Derby, where we were staying at the International Hotel.
Time for a quick shower then down to the Dining Room for an excellent meal, including a free Bucks Fizz. Did I detect Colin's delicate touch here?
Visit to Leeds.
Saturday morning and the day started with an excellent buffet breakfast to set us up for the journey to Leeds, where we were booked into the matinee performance at the City Varieties Music Hall, during what is their Golden Jubilee Year.
Most of us will have watched the show on television and it lived up to its reputation. We were a bit early, however, so off we went on a wander round Leeds, a much bigger city than I had expected, with plenty of food outlets and some interesting shops, where Joan managed to pick up a couple of bargains she had been looking for.
We even had time for a the City Library showing some beautiful hand-made jewellery before having to make our way back to the Theatre.
Leeds City Varieties Music Hall.
Like many theatres today, they are struggling to make ends meet and I suspect that our mass purchase of raffle tickets must have made an impression on their takings.
One of their financial schemes is to persuade Friends to pay £30 a year for 4 years to buy a seat and have their names recorded on a plate on the back. You could have a worse memorial!
A First-Class Cast.
There wasn't time to see more as the lights went down and we were brought to order by our worthy Chairman, Johnney Dennis, wielding his gavel. He introduced a first-class cast, starting with the dancers, Barneys Boys and Girls, leading on to Deborah McAndrew, 'a lark ascending', who used to be Angie Freeman in Coronation Street.
She sang a lot of the old songs, accompanied by ourselves - Our very good selves including songs like Wish me Luck, Goodbye Dolly Gray, They say there's a troopship just leaving Bombay, Don't sit under the Apple Tree. Dare I confess to a slight prickle at the back of my eyes?
Variety is the Spice of Life.
We were also treated to some lovely singing by Clinton Ford 'the beguiling balladier', Ken joy, (tall, and [in the dark] handsome) comedian and magician with his little dog, and another comedian and singer par excellence, Bobby Kay. Also, who could forget Melissa Merran, with her aerial acrobatics.
You will have seen her performing on BBC, just before the 6 o'clock news, rolling down a red ribbon. She's a very tall girl, extremely fit, and apart from her aerial display, she is also an ice-skating dancer and a trapeze artiste.
Back to Derby.
The whole show was a real treat, and if you haven't seen it, take a trip to Leeds. Well, all good things come to an end so we climbed back aboard the coaches for the return to Derby, our evening meal - it was noted that "some" people had two puddings!! and finally THE RAFFLE.
True to form, Colin had "obtained" loads of prizes and he went on to distribute these - some donated by ourselves, others 'provided' by the organisations we had visited, including one or two who may not have known on Saturday night what their duty would be the next day.
Prizes were many (37) and varied, and ranged between chocolates, a free day out with Classic Coaches to the Star Prize of the Evening, £100 Cash, the winner who, for his own safety, shall remain anonymous.
A Sad Goodbye to Derby.
Well, Sunday morning was bag-packing and sadly saying goodbye to Derby. I must say it was very cold that morning and we were quite happy to sit on the coaches until the sun tried to break through, not very successfully, I might add.
We were moving Northwards through some fine rolling countryside when a small signpost announced CRICH, which is somewhere near Matlock in Derbyshire. CRICH TRAMWAY VILLAGE, home site not unlike Beamish.
Crich Tramway Village.
It stretches from the village, uphill to a quarry and they have a great variety of trams taking passengers on the round trip which lasts about 20 minutes and includes an interesting commentary by the conductor.
For the princely sum of one penny (the real penny, none of this modern decimal stuff) you can travel up and down all day although we had to bear in mind that there was a long way to go yet.
Still we managed to go around the tramways display area, looked in at some of the shops, discovered the engineering workshops, and also had a snack before returning to the coaches. A very interesting visit.
An Island in the Middle of Shefffied?
Our next, and final, stop, was to Kelham Island. I had no idea where this was, thinking vaguely it must be somewhere near Scarborough, but no, it lies right in the middle of Sheffield. Only Colin could come up with something like that!
I must say that this was my favourite place on the whole trip, once the drivers had managed to squeeze us up to the door. We were met at the gateway by a huge Bessemer converter, symbolic of the World-famous Sheffield Steel Industry which came into being about 400 years ago, but which really took off with the Industrial Revolution about 200 years ago.
Sheffield always had Iron Ore, timber for charcoal and water to power the mills and grind stones for sharpening their tools and cutlery, but with the introduction of carbon for the steel and steam to drive the huge engines, they never looked back and the town became the world-famous Steel Capital of England, if not the whole world.
It must have been a hard life here in the old days, but having been around quite a few similar places with our Friends outings, it was a hard life for everyone then.
Lots of Horse Power at Kelham.
The Kelham Island museum had examples of both ancient and modern ironwork, including a Boneshaker just like ours, a Penny-farthing with some fancy silver work on it as well as a back brake, a Crossley Gas Engine popping away happily in its own room, a mechanism to enable steam engines to be reversed, and any number of belt-driven lathes, drills, etc.
I could have stayed on there, but at least there was time to watch the 'River Don Engine', built in 1905 to drive an armour plate rolling mill. Rated at 12,000 Horse Power, the mill was capable of rolling a plate up to 16" (40cm) thick and 50 tons in weight.
It was, and still is, run on steam and is one of the largest and most powerful steam engines in existence. We were just in time to see its last run of the day and it was a real joy to see and to feel the power as the engineer put it through its paces. Fast and slow, forward and reverse. This was incredible.
Harry Ramsdens' Fish and Chips.
Minutes before closing time, we set off on the final stage of our journey, which was to White Cross, Guiseley, the spiritual home of Harry Ramsden, whose original Fish and Chip Shop is still to be found here.
I don't know how they managed to produce 82 plates of Fish and Chips, plus Tea and Bread and Butter, as well as a pudding all at once (nearly), but produce it they did, and may the spirit of Harry Ramsden rest here in peace for evermore.
End of the Road for the Friends.
This really was the final item on Colin's agenda for this year, and all that remained was to get us home safely which he did by about 10 o'clock. It had been another of these FRIENDS quiet weekends which I'm sure everyone enjoyed, be they 17 years old or 94 - no names, no pack drill - and our thoughts can turn to next year.
Where to, Colin? I really can't wait for a whole year to find out. Thanks from all of us, not forgetting the drivers and everyone else who contributed to the week-end.
Jim Douglass.