Dr Frank Atkinson, the Museum’s founder and first director, had a vision for Beamish.

Frank was inspired to establish an open-air museum for the North East after visiting Scandinavian folk museums in the early 1950s. He saw that the rapidly changing area was losing its industrial history. Coal mining, shipbuilding, iron and steel production, and the towns that supported them were all vanishing.

The new museum, according to Frank, should “illustrate vividly” the way of life of “common people” and bring the region’s history to life.
Beamish’s ideals are being followed today, and he brings history to life for hundreds of thousands of tourists each year.