Thursday 17th October

Today the weather was being kind, the forecast was to be cloudy and mostly dry.  So this is when we decided that today we would go to Beamish.  Mathew had never been before but I had - we were both looking forward to having Beamish fish and chips and I was hoping there would be some of my favourite sherbet with boiled sweet lollies to dip into it!

We made our way there and the weather got brighter and brighter, the sun coming through and blue sky emerging.  The traffic was a little heavier than expected, but we made reasonably good time and headed straight in.  The first stop was the Pit Village and Colliery where we had a tour of the mine, followed by a demonstration up top in the Colliery itself.  We then had a little look in the Cottages, Chapel and School before we realised that it was lunchtime - and we had already decided we were having fish and chips which have quite the reputation!  We went to Davy's Fish and Chip shop - Mathew had a fish and chips whist I had a dab and chips (a dab being half a fish).  They had been fried in beef dripping and oh....my....goodness it was so incredibly tasty!  Lovely.  Topped off by Mr.Fenwicks Lemonade. Yum!

We made our way to Home Farm and said hello to the piglets before hopping on a tram to make our way into the Town which is comprised of real buildings which have been taken down brick by brick and rebuilt onto a brick paved street.  Everyone who works here is dressed in period costume, and we also noticed that some of the school groups had also dressed up!

Our first visit was to the sweet shop, or rather Confectioners where I bought my favourite sherbet (one orange and one raspberry/cherry) and some ABC letters which are an old favourite of mine.  I was given extra lollipops with the sherbet - bonus!  We continued along the street looking at the houses which were used for businesses such as the Dentist and Solicitor before making our way to the Railway Station which had a fairground next to it.  On our way back into the town we stopped off for an ice cream with raspberry drizzle which was rather nice.  It was still sunny with blue skies - why not have ice cream outside in October while the weather was good?

We continued having a look at the other shops - tha haberdashery, grocers, and hat shop which had a print shop upstairs - in which the guide was a very good storyteller!  We also popped in to the Masonic Hall, Barclays Bank and the Bakery which I don't remember from last time I visited.  I later learned the Bakers only opened earlier this year so that explains that!

We continued on our way to the Georgian Landscape where we explored a house and made our way to the Waggonway where we went on a small and bumpy ride on a steam train which was actually meant more for freight - and we discovered why as it wasn't the most comfortable!

After deciding we had finished exploring the place quite thoroughly, we headed back on foot to the entrance where we had a look in the gift shop before leaving.  Back in Alnmouth the day turned grey and drizzly again, and we weren't sure if it had actually been bright at all while we had been gone.  All in all a good day out with a the best weather of the week!  Back in the cottage we relaxed and had some sausages for dinner which Mathew had bought in Alnwick.