Bellingham Heritage Centre

Useful Information

Location:	Bellingham
Open:	Easter to mid-OCT Mon, Fri, Sat, Sun 10:30-16:30. [2008]
Fee:	Adults GBP 2, Children (3-18) GBP 1, Concessions GBP 1.50, Family GBP 5. Groups (10+): Adults GBP 1.50, Children (3-18) GBP 0.75. School parties by prior arrangement free. [2008]
Classification:	Coal Mine mining museum
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	The Heritage Centre, Station Yard, Woodburn Road, Bellingham, NE48 2DF, Tel: +44-1434-220050. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1970	Founded by a group of volunteers..

Geology

Description

The Heritage Centre at Bellingham is a small museum which preserves the heritage of the North Tyne and Redewater area of Northumberland, England. Beneath an display on the railroad, the robbers of the 16th century, and the photographs of W P Collier, there is an exhibition on the mining heritage. The museum displays all kinf of memorabilia of the coal mines, iron works and quarries of northern England.

About 100 years ago the landscape was dooted coal mines, iron mines, blast furnaces and quarries. This is hard to understand today, as it is today an idyllic farming countryside. But many of the houses of today were built to house the industrial workers. As the industries are almost all gone, industrial archaeology tries to preseve the knowledge about the lives of the old miners and their communities. The Heritage Centre primarly displays maps and photographs, but also all kinds of relics.

The location of the Heritage Center at Bellingham is also connected with its past. Bellingham was a thriving industrial town, when the Hareshaw Iron Works on the banks of the Hareshaw Burn still existed. There were collieries at Hareshaw, Lewisburn and Plashetts. The Ridsdale Iron Works in Redesdale produced iron for the High Level Bridge in Newcastle.