Notes For Teachers From The Museum Education Officer: Booking And Facilities On Offer Click here to book school visits online Thank you for your interest in the Beck Isle Museum. We hope that you will find the following notes of some help in planning your visit. If there are any other points that you wish to raise, please do not hesitate to contact me. After your provisional booking has been made, I will contact you to complete the arrangements. Opening Times March to November 10.00 am to 5.00 pm. If you wish to visit at any other time - please contact me for information. Cost £1.50 per child. Accompanying adults free. Preview Visits Preview visits are recommended and free. Please bring your confirmation details with you and ask at reception to be shown the Education Room and its facilities. Lunches There is a picnic area beside the stream in front of the museum, or if it is wet you may use the Education Room, but we do ask that it is left clean and tidy ready for the next group. Toilets We have a new toilet block available with facilities for people in wheelchairs. Wheelchair Access We have a ramp at the main doors for wheelchairs. To view the upper gallery there is a chair lift provided. A video of the upstairs display rooms can be viewed at any time on the ground floor. Education Room The room offers a changing programme of "hands on" activities which compliment the themes of the museum. We invite and encourage you to make full use of this facility. Please allow time for the children to see both the exhibits in the Museum and use the hands on equipment. We recommend at least two hours for the children to get the full benefit from their visit. What Can You See At Beck Isle The Museum collection reflects many aspects of domestic, agricultural and commercial life in a rural area during the Victorian and Edwardian periods. The displays are mostly shown in room or shop scenarios, rather than glass cases. A brief tour of the museum starts in the Print Shop. The large Victorian Colombian printing press in full working order takes pride of place. This could be working if volunteers are available during your visit. There are two smaller hand-fed Platen machines, which are used to print the paper bags we use in the shop. There are examples of print accessories and printed work. Some very fine Quarter Scale models of rural horse-drawn vehicles are on display in the Model Room, together with models of farm machinery, matchstick models and corn dollies. The Passage has two Welsh Guardsmen painted by the famous artist Rex Whistler, when he was an army captain stationed in Pickering in 1943. The Photography Room has a large display of cameras, enlargers, projectors and other equipment. The photographs mounted around the room are from the extensive Sidney Smith collection held in the museum. In the Passage outside the Photography Room are displays showing some of the history of Pickering. This leads to the Dairy where there are cream separators, butter churns, pats and markers, a milking machine with milk cans and measures. The Cobbler's Shop has much equipment and many examples of work done by a cobbler. Before you climb the back stairs the Cooper's has a selection of tools used for making wooden casks and barrels. At the top of the stairs is the Victorian Pub, with an authentic bar and fittings. In the next Passage are cabinets containing tools used by Moses Morley of Cropton, a local inventor, and equipment that would have been used by local vets. The Chemist's Shop has a drug run, with 116 individual drawers, and many samples of medicines and medical equipment. The Barber's Shop has a rotating chair and an array of razors, brushes, shaving mugs and other items. In the Costume Room are garments and accessories or the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Children's Room has cots and prams, clothes, school equipment, dolls and toys from the last two centuries. The Upper Corridor has display cases showing a variety of items from Victorian life. The Village Shop has a counter and shelves stocked with sugar, flour, tea, coffee, sweets and many other groceries. The Gent's Outfitters has a wide variety of articles from a typical village draper's shop, with the more high-class stock of a gent's outfitters in a market town. Hanging by the Main Stairway are quilts made by a Pickering Sunday School in 1888 and 1988. The Victorian Parlour is a typical Victorian sitting room with furniture, decorations and examples of Victorian ladies' and girls' handiwork. Next door is the Cottage Kitchen with its black-leaded range, sink and pump, and a selection of cooking utensils, crockery and cutlery. In the outside Yard there are farming implements, machinery and vehicles and a section devoted to Forestry Equipment. The Blacksmith's Shop has a forge with bellows, and around the walls and on the floor are relics of the blacksmith's craft. The Gallery, formerly storage rooms and hayloft, now displays many different aspects of rural employment and activity. Back in the yard, the Tack Room has Bonny the horse with harnesses, and biers and a hearse from local Undertakers. The Hardware Shop is filled to overflowing with a large assortment of goods. Click here to book school visits online

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