Wylam Railway Museum - extra weekend opening hours

Wylam Parish Council's small but perfectly formed Railway Museum was opened in 1981 on the 200th anniversary of George Stephenson's birth in the village on 9 June 1781. It is small but there is lots to see and read. It is located in the former village school building and generally opens along with the adjacent library two or three days a week.

The village is notable not just for Stephenson's start in life here, but also for the wider contribution to early railway history of its resident colliery owner and his engineers, well before George got in to his stride elsewhere on Tyneside and the wider region. In the period 1810 to 1815 great steps forward in steam locomotive design and construction were made here, with two key engines Wylam Dilly and Puffing Billy being built and then working amazingly well for many, many years.

The locomotives still exist, in Edinburgh and London, but we have beautiful working models of both here in our museum. They sit alongside lots of detailed information about the early Wylam pioneers from that time such as Blackett, Hedley, Hackworth and Forster as well as about Stephenson and railway development in the area since.

The museum normally has restricted opening hours tied in to the library, but for Heritage Open Days we are opening extra hours on the two weekends. This coincides with similar special opening hours for the National Trust's nearby George Stephenson's Birthplace, which is currently not generally open to the public.

Timings

Sunday 13 September:

10.00 - 15.00

Sunday 20 September:

10.00 - 15.00

Location & directions

Falcon Centre, 1 Falcon Terrace, Wylam, Northumberland, NE41 8EE

Directions:

Go along side lane to the right (east) of the Falcon Centre playground then up the narrow pathway till you come to a pedestrian width gateway on the left. Go through the gateway and head for the library door straight ahead.

Contact on day:

Colin Percy

Telephone number:

+447985003304

Booking information

Pre-booking requirement:

Pre-booking not required

Accessibility details

Contact the organiser in advance if wheelchair access is needed; there is level access but via another route.

Additional information

The museum primarily covers the history of railways in the village and surrounding area. There are models of stations, a nearby iconic railway bridge and early steam engines, backed up by display boards with voluminous information on related people, places and paraphernalia.

Max number of people:

10

Estimated duration:

1 hour(s) 0 minute(s)

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