Beamish Museum and Puffing Billy

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Beamish (www.beamish.org.uk/ ) is an open air museum, set in 300 acres of countryside in County Durham. It tells the story of the people of North East England in around 1825 when the area was still mainly agricultural but about to witness the great upheaval of the Industrial Revolution, and later in 1913 when the heavy industries of the region, particularly coal mining, were at their peak.

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Shown in the first photo is a working replica of Puffing Billy which was an early steam locomotive named after, and built by , William Hedley, in 1813-1814 for use at Wylam Colliery near Newcastle upon Tyne where Hedley was the resident engineer. The original is on display at the National Railway Museum in York.

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