THE brilliant Beamish Museum is a national treasure and we are delighted to hear that it is about to become even better.

It may attract 700,000 visitors a year but we feel that the open-air site near Stanley, County Durham is still one of Britain’s hidden gems and doesn’t get the acclaim it deserves on the national stage. If it were located in the south it would likely be promoted as one of the nation’s premier tourist attractions alongside London’s galleries and museums.

Nevertheless, securing a £10.9m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund - the largest single investment ever seen at Beamish – will expand the range of ways people can experience North-East heritage.

Ironically for a centre that celebrates the past, the cash will also enable Beamish to keep up with the times and expand the pioneering vision of founder Frank Atkinson who took inspiration from the folk museums of Scandinavia to start a centre that would help preserve the north’s industrial and cultural history, customs and dialect.

Its well-established 1820s area, along with the 1900s town, village and colliery, and 1940s farm have delighted visitors with recreations of the various eras. At the heart of the new scheme is a fresh attraction which will focus on the 1950s, with a fully operational cinema relocated brick-by-brick from Ryhope, Sunderland, period houses and shops. The post war era may be fresh in the minds of many Echo readers but for younger visitors the sight of a 1950s living room will be like a scene from ancient history.

The funding will support a five-year overhaul with the aim of attracting more visitors, creating jobs and apprenticeships.

This comes at a time when many museums are facing closure and is a welcome piece of good news for culture in the north, which has been hammered by government cuts.