Woodhorn Museum / About the Museum / Learning

Woodhorn Museum offers a unique and immersive environment for children to discover their local mining heritage and culture.

We offer schools a full day visit with a range of activities and workshop linked to the national curriculum for EYFS, KS1, KS2 and KS3.  School visits cost £5 per pupil.

At Woodhorn Museum, education groups can take part in a range of learning workshops, including:

• Working Down the Pit KS1/KS2: Get dressed for dirty work down the coal mine where you’ll feel the darkness as you crawl through tunnels.  Discover the tools that helped keep the miners safe underground and find out what it was like to bend your back digging for coal.
• Colliery Tour – All ages: Explore original colliery buildings and watch machinery whizz into action to illustrate how the shaft was sunk, how the mine was ventilated and how the cage lowered men into the ground safely.
• The Art of Mining – All ages: Be inspired by the paintings of the Ashington Group, also known as the Pitmen Painters, and have a go at recreating some of their best loved work in a workshop which introduces pupils to some of the techniques used to create the paintings (including perspective, light and dark and details).
• Home Life – KS1: Roll up your sleeves and discover what life was like for the miners’ wives.  Wash clothes and make ‘proggy mats’ in our 1930s kitchen.
• Death, Danger and Disasters – KS2/KS3: Investigate past mining disasters using historical sources including documents, images, maps and letters.  An excellent introduction to historical sources and archives.
• 1984/85 Miners’ Strike: Consider the conflicting view points in the 1984/85 Miners’ Strike as you explore the effect of the strike on families in Northumberland.  Research newspapers, letters, television footage and interview a former striking miner to help you decide – strike or scab?

 For further details of what we offer, please contact the team.

Our family activities are always linked to our wonderful collections or our temporary exhibition programme, so see what delights are on offer when you next visit. There’s a fun hands-on activity waiting for family visitors each weekend and during the school holidays.