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fter a day at Woodhorn Museum , you’ll never have a problem getting the kids to tidy their room again. Not once they’ve spent the day walking in the shoes (and clothes) of a pit boy and experienced what life was like working in a coal mine.

In fact, life above ground was often just as difficult for the unfortunate youngsters, as you’ll all find out. At weekends you can climb the steep stairs of the Victorian engine house and watch demonstrations of the heavy winding gear.

Don’t worry, though, it’s not all hard graft here; there’s Sunday Crafternoons, a creative project where even the most inartistic are encouraged to contribute and, on the last Friday of the month, you can listen to local folk musicians over a coffee in the museum’s café.

And if you’ve still got some energy left, why not take a trip on the Woodhorn Railway’s Narrow Gauge train?

The dark and damp of the mine feels a million miles away as you keep an eye out for endangered red squirrels, while chugging through Queen Elizabeth II Country Park.