Let the bairn play man!

Yes..... another shot from Beamish Museum. There was an event on last night and tonight where the pit and pit village was open to let you see what happened in the homes after workers finished their shifts.

It was great.... so much better than usual. Less visitors everywhere too which made taking pictures easier. In one of the houses there was a man who was taking a bath in an old tin bath in front of the fire, There was a man who was in his shed out the back street who was doing some wood carving and actually made a gypsy flower in front of us. One house had a bit of a get together, where someone was playing bagpipes and some children were sitting around the table making peg dolls. Some men around there pigeons which were actual racing pigeons.(I had a hold of a one which was 3 weeks old). All of the houses had union jack flags hanging from the loft windows ready for the jubilee which was a nice touch even if the queen hadn't even applied for the job at that time.lol

My Granda used to work down the mines when he was younger, until he was in an accident where a mine cart crashed into him and broke his back in two places. He wears a sort of corset now which has metal bars in to help support him. He went back out to work on the buses as a conductor, then worked in a boiler room after that. He's now retired but he's canny mint and tells me stories about how times havent changed too much as when he was a teenager him and his mates used to drink cider in the park.(we all did right?) Although I bet he wishes Claims-Direct was around then as he'd be minted.lol


This picture is of a young lad called Steven who was dressed as an Edwardian boy would have been. He was playing on top of a coal heap. I originally took some photos without his knowing then asked him if he'd mind posing for one. The title of this picture is geordie and means 'let the child play'. I chose this because one of the workers kept trying to get him to do stuff and all he wanted to do was play in the coal.