Last week Jim, Clara and John were joined by Beamish’s Active Aging Officer, Michelle Kindleysides in a visit to some of Durham’s Aged Mineworkers’ Homes (www.durhamhomes.org.uk), with Damha CEO, Paul Mullis, and Head of Asset Management, Brian Stobbs.
Jim’s initial drawing of what the Aged Miners’ Homes might look like at Beamish.
We’re planning to construct several Aged Miners’ Homes in our 1950s area as part of the Remaking Beamish project, and Paul and Brian, and some of their tenants, were kind enough to show us round some examples.
High Spen Aged Miners’ Homes.
Stargate Lane Aged Miners’ Homes.
We especially liked the idea of gas lighting over the entrance gate, the remains of this can still be seen at Stargate Lane.
We had a really insightful day, visiting several complexes of Aged Miners Homes dating from the First World War through to the late 1930s. We even had fish and chips for lunch! We’ll now continue to research and draw our designs together before determining which set of homes to replicate.
Clara and John with some Gnomes at Stella AMHs– which seem to be a very common feature of Aged Miners’ Homes!
Marsden Road Aged Miners’ Homes, South Shields
A photograph of the Officials and Committee of the Marsden Road Aged Miners’ Homes, kindly loaned to us by DAMHA.
Beamish Buildings 