Friends of Beamish Museum.BEAMISH and BOWES MUSEUMS WIN MAJOR ARTS COUNCIL FUNDING
Beamish and Bowes Museums in County Durham have won national funding from the Arts Council today that could be worth as much as £2 million over the next three years.
The two award-winning museums have joined forces to develop their outstanding collections and attract new audiences. They join a select group of 16 Major Partner Museums in England, supported by the Arts Council’s new programme of Renaissance funding for regional museums.
Arts Council funding will help secure the future growth and development of both Beamish and Bowes, enabling them to become international leaders in their field. Beamish is about to embark on an exciting decade of development, to position it as a world leader and the largest open air museum in the UK. Money will be used to invest in research and develop events and exhibitions, and set up a new graduate training scheme.
Richard Evans, Museum Director at Beamish, said: “We are truly delighted to receive this backing from the Arts Council - it really is fantastic news for Durham and the North East. Working together with Bowes this new money will help us build on our recent success, which saw almost half a million visitors through Beamish’s gates last year. We are excited by the opportunities that lie ahead, as we develop our museums to be truly world-class. It is great to see two County Durham museums recognised on a national stage. The award is a tribute both to our self-reliance and to the support we have from our communities that make us the success that we are. ”
Horse Drawn Sweeper
The T Baker and Sons "Albion" Road Sweeper will be in use again later this year.
Can You Help?
This wonderful piece of social history has recently been donated to Beamish. It is a sidecar which was originally fitted to a tandem bicycle. It dates fom the 1930s and was used to transport a child.
We have a suitable tandem bicycle in the collections and would love to attach the sidecar and display them on site at Beamish.
Unfortunately, we do not have the wheel or frame to go with the sidecar. Do you have a suitable frame and wheel or one we could copy? We are reasonably certain that Sandum used a different design to the more common Watsonian sidecars
40 Years of Beamish
2010 marked 40 years since the birth of Beamish and founder Director Dr. Frank Atkinson helped cut the cake to celebrate this special occasion. He is seen here with Richard Evans the current Director.
Coffee Pot Steams at Beamish
Events you must not Miss.
Events for Friends
Throughout the year, the Friends organise many special events only available to members. These include, our annual Chair's Christmas Treat, our yearly Weekend Trip, day visits, guided walks and special behind the scenes visits at Beamish.
Don't forget our Friday Evening Meetings which take place from September to April normally on the last Friday of the month - see Social Events and Activities.
Join us now and take part in the fun.
Major Events
There's always something to see at Beamish.
Heritage Cubes
The Heritage Cubes project is a unique joint initiative by Beamish and Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.
It offers free storage, collections care advice and exhibition opportunities to local groups that have a collection of objects that they wish to keep in museum standard facilities.
Local history groups who would like to find out more about Heritage Cubes, should contact the Heritage Cubes Team on 0191 370 4000 or visit www.mailtalk.ac.uk/heritagecubes.
Lamp Cabin Opens its doors
Did you see the opening ceremony of the latest attraction at Beamish?
Join now and enjoy.