We spent a wonderful weekend last week in the historic city of Durham and managed to squeeze in a trip to the Beamish Museum where you can step back in time and explore a 1900s Pit village and town.  The museum has aquired original buildings and reconstructed them at Beamish literally brick by brick (you can see the numbered bricks on the outside of the old Village School).

I absolutely love living history museums and tirelessly poke around in every corner to make sure I don’t miss anything!  Which unfortunately meant we spent so long at the Pit village that when we arrived (via a fantastic vintage tram) at the 1900s town, we had to dash around to fit it all in.  Joy turned to heartbreak when I spotted J.R. Edis photographer’s studio because we were too late to get our photograph taken.  The studio even offers to mount photographs on authentic looking cabinet card mounts!  Oh well we will just have to book another trip to the North East in the future.

Find out more about the Beamish Photography studio and J.R. Edis here including why ‘pea green’ was thought the best colour to decorate the studio.

These photos show a view of the recreated J.R. Edis Photography studio at Beamish, the studio when it was situated in Sadler Street, Durham in the 1920s, and a portrait of 2 elegant ladies named Rawes taken by J.R. Edis 1914.