BEAMISH, The Living Museum of the North is reopening its outdoor areas from Monday and timeslot tickets are available to book online.

The County Durham open air museum is able to open its grounds only under Step 2 of the government’s COVID-19 roadmap. Visitors can explore the museum and enjoy takeaway treats, including from Davy’s fish and chip shop, Herron’s Bakery and Jubilee Confectioners. They’ll also be able to take a ride at the Fairground, do a spot of Edwardian shopping at The 1900s Town stall and complete the family flower trail around the museum.

Under the Step 2 rules, the museum cannot yet open its indoor attractions and buildings, or run its transport, with the exception of the wheelchair accessible bus, which will be operating on an on-call basis.

Rhiannon Hiles, Beamish’s Deputy Director, said: “We are so pleased to be welcoming visitors back to Beamish and are really looking forward to seeing people enjoying the grounds around the open air museum site.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on the museum, while closed we have been keeping costs to a minimum but there has still been the care and welfare of our animals to consider, as well as the upkeep of the museum, and we are very grateful for all the funding and support received up to now.

“The feedback from visitors has been phenomenal and it is clear that Beamish has a special place in the region’s heart.

“We are really grateful for everyone’s ongoing support and are looking forward to reopening on Monday, with the safety of our visitors, staff and volunteers remaining our top priority as always.”

Beamish is a charity, with 95 per cent of income coming from its visitors, including tickets, catering and retail, and the Covid-19 pandemic continues to have a severe effect on the museum.

Beamish, which was due to have a year of 50th anniversary celebrations in 2020, has been closed since December under the most recent Covid-19 lockdown.

As reported last week, the museum was delighted to be awarded £585,000 from the government’s £1.57billion Culture Recovery Fund towards helping the museum recover and reopen following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Beamish has introduced a range of Covid-19 Secure health and hygiene measures across the museum, including pre-booked timeslot entry tickets, social distancing, enhanced cleaning, hand sanitiser stations, one-way systems and contactless card payments.

All visitors must pre-book a timeslot online, and can currently book for visits from April 12 to May 16. The museum will keep everyone updated about booking tickets beyond these dates, in line with the government’s COVID-19 roadmap.

Beamish’s outdoor areas will be open daily from 10am to 5pm. For more information and to book a visit, go to www.beamish.org.uk.