Northumbria Walking Forums

[Stuart]

The former Woodhorn Colliery, now a museum and a very interesting museum it is too, though why the Northumberland Record Office had to be moved here, to this out of the way place, is a mystery to me.

Three or four years ago (to my recollection) there were two local record offices, one in Gosforth and one just outside Morpeth. They both had their own car-parks, free of charge, and in addition, they were both on a `bus route, making them easily accessible to members of the public, which after all, is the primary function of a public record office - I woud have thought!

Now, anyone wanting to look at the records has to travel to some God-forsaken place halfway between Ashington and Newbiggin. Entry into the museum is *free, but it`ll cost you £2.50 to park the car (assuming you have a car); forget about `busses - there are no `busses - well, I didn`t see any in the two hours that I was there.

Oh, and it`s a good ten minutes walk from the car-park to the `Study Centre` aka `Archive Centre` (Record Office what was) on the first floor of a horrid looking building called The Cutter - don`t ask! something to do with coal - ie cutting machine - I digress...

I made a complaint to the manager about, among other things, the parking charges, I said they were extortionate and asked why, he replied that the charges were to cover security costs. Pressing him further on this I asked if there were any cameras and he said no, there were no cameras, but there was a man in a yellow coat and hadn`t I seen him!? You may draw your own conclusions!

So, every time I want to do some reseach (it`s for a book) I have to fork out £2.50 for the privilege. No way could I do all that needs doing in one sitting - I have to make several trips, there and back. This is going to be one very expensive project, petrol costs, parking charges considered.

As I said, the museum itself is very interesting and well worth a visit (take the kids). As to being *free, well you decide - it`s a long walk from Ashington (no `busses remember) and it`ll cost you £2.50 to park the car.

Tip: If you go to the Woodhorn Museum, take a brolley: forgot to take mine today, got a right drenching!
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"Heatherland and Bentland and valleys rich with corn, God bring me to Northumberland, the land where I was born" W.W.Gibson