Over the years Beamish Museum has been a favorite place of mine to visit. The attention to detail the curators pay means there are new things to notice every time. It's a pleasure for any visitor to see the buildings, vehicles and artifacts from the 1800's to early 1900's. The difference Beamish has over some other museums are the 'actors' who really allow you an understanding of how life was lived during those times. As you wander round there are so many typical scenes from that time. Interactions between a shopkeeper and his customers, a farmers wife sitting sewing, even simple things such as a housekeeper setting up a fire in a town-house. All of these give a real sense of looking in on the past and appreciating it's hardships.  But for me it also brings a sense of jealousy around a sometimes more simplistic, less complicated life. Although, that's probably an over-romanticised view given the 'simplistic' way we can now live our lives thanks to modern inventions.  After all, I'm old enough to still remember waking up to the sound of coal being shoveled from the bunker on a cold winter morning to start the fire in my, grans' house. Given the choice, would I want to go back to those days? Honestly? No. On my previous visits I've always taken images of scenes but recently I decided I would look more to capture the essence of the museum through it's people. The image below is the result of that idea.