Rainy Day Activities: Explore mining history at Woodhorn Museum

After a day at Woodhorn Museum, you’ll fully appreciate the comforts we enjoy in modern life. Spend the day walking in the shoes (and clothes) of a pit boy and experience what life was like working on an operating coal mine. 

At weekends, take the opportunity to 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 at Woodhorn Museum; 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, take a trip on the Woodhorn Railway’s Narrow Gauge train to experience how miners used the railway system to move about. 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.

Entry into Woodhorn Museum is £7 for adults and free for children under 16. The museum is open from 10am to 4pm every day of the week (except Tuesdays).