Woodhorn Museum — Attraction in Ashington

This is a truly special, wonderful and amazing museum about coal mining in the town of Ashington. The museum speaks about the history of coal mining in the local area and delivers the story of coal mining in such stunning informative and interesting detail keeping you interested and focused throughout. The museum is also the site of the former Woodhorn Colliery (coal mining site) and you can see that with the buildings around the site, which look remarkable condition. There are a number of brilliant, exciting things to see at the museum and these include the Coal Town exhibition, The Ashington Group Gallery, Follow The Banner and The Colliery Experience. The Coal Town exhibition is a very engaging, riveting and interactive exhibition with easy to understand displays and is laid out very in a riveting and engaging way discussing what life was Miners who worked in the Colliery of Woodhorn but also the local collieries in the area mining and the exhibition is very heartwarming and thought provoking discussing about how children as young as 13 worked in the mine and people starting to work at one and also the Miners strikes prior to World War Two and also the ones in the 1980s that led to the pit closures and the exhibition is that brilliant it will you moved and amazed about the Miners lives and also their struggles they endeared during their working lives and the exhibition gives you a great insight into the working of life of a pit miner and is one of the best interactive exhibitions around about life in a Colliery. In the Coal Town exhibitions you can see a number of interesting and intriguing exhibits including Miner's Lamps, Glassware, Cut out of a Colliery Cottage and the Jackie Milburn Orchid. The Ashington Group Gallery is probably the most enlightening and insightful aspect of the museum as it is the area where you can see the Pitman's Paintings which are simply jaw dropping and amazing showcasing paintings about the different aspects of life in the Colliery and the attention to detail and colour is exquisite and vibrant. The gallery is wonderfully unique as you will no see anything in other Colliery related museums in the UK and it's great to see how articulate, innovative and inventive the Pit Miners were showcasing their working lives in the Colliery in the form of art and offers another great perspective of lives of miners in the Colliery. The Follow Banner display you can see a number of different banners from the local collieries in the area and it is great to see the pride of these banners on display bringing another great aspect of the story of the Pit Miner. The Colliery Experience is where you can wander around the different Colliery Pit Buildings including the Heapstead, Jack Engine House, Stable Block, The Winding House and Cappell Fan House and Cappell Fan Motor Room where you can see the functioning of the Colliery when it was in operation and get into a great into the Pit's Operations and the highlights are standing over the Colliery's number 2 shaft which descends over 880 feet, The Jack Engine House which transported Miners up and down the shaft in a wooden tub, Cappell Fan House and Motor Room with the only Cappell Fan still in existence, The Winding House is at the heart of the pit and the role of the Winderman and they were the only people to give to the Colliery Manager and The Stable Block seeing the role of the Pit Pony and the conditions they were kept in. The museum buildings give you a great insight into the layout of the Colliery and how it worked. The Cafe sells a great range of refreshments at reasonable prices and the shop has a brilliant range of souvenirs at reasonable prices. Overall this is a very special and stunning place to visit making for a very enlightening, enjoyable and intriguing day out. Definitely well worth a visit whilst...

Unfortunately I have had to submit the following complaint:

Dear Woodhorn Museum,

I visited the museum today whilst on a day off work and brought my support animal with me. My support animal is an African Pygmy Hedgehog called Burt. He has been with me since December 2022 and helps me significantly due to diagnosed mental health and social anxiety issues; I am registered disabled due to this. Before bringing him anywhere with me he has a bath and a clean snuggle sling is always used for carrying him around. He does not shed, does not make a noise and will not interfere with any exhibits or other visitors.

A female member of your staff approached me to tell me as dogs are not permitted in the main building, my hedgehog would also not be permitted. I explained that he is my support/assistance animal and my understanding is that support dogs are in fact permitted in the building (this is confirmed on your website) so I assumed any other support animal would also be permitted. Despite this I was asked to leave and as I left I overheard the staff member radio another staff member about me.

Before leaving the museum entirely I wanted to sit outside of your cafe and enjoy the fresh air with a cup of tea. Whilst in the queue for a cup of tea another female member of staff approached me and loudly advised that I needed to leave the cafe or put Burt outside. I advised he was snuggled securely in his snuggle sling and we were heading outside as soon as I got my cuppa. The staff member then went into the kitchen and loudly asked whether they could serve me, then came back to loudly tell the boy serving that I could only have a takeaway cup and had to sit outside. I felt humiliated. I wanted to sit outside anyway but what if I had wanted to sit in - could I not sit inside with my support animal unless it was a dog?

I note there is an accessibility section to your website, your bathroom doors state "not all disabilities are visible", you have water bowls around for dogs, yet I felt my disability was disregarded.

I was essentially asked to leave due to a disability, and to sit outside due to a disability.

Without Burt with me I would have been unable to visit. I become very overwhelmed in outdoor situations and struggle around other people and social environments. Burt allows me something to focus on and to preoccupy my anxieties with until I feel I can continue. He was securely in his snuggle sling and not padding around shedding fur etc like an assistance dog would be. If I wasn't giving him a stroke at the time nobody would even have noticed him, he is so discreet.

I would also like to reiterate that Burt is an African Pygmy Hedgehog, a breed of hedgehog that are bred as pets, and that are entirely different to the wild European hedgehogs found in our gardens and countryside. He is tame, friendly and completely parasite / disease free.

The staff at your museum today treated me very poorly and with prejudice due to my disability and choice of assistance/support animal. I am extremely upset and put off going out again any time...

Excellent day out. Only £3.50 to park and enter for all day. No admission into the museum except the £3.50 for a car load. The dinosaur exhibition within the museum is very small in comparison (slowly wandered round and saw everything within 20mins) and costs £4.50 for adults and not much less for children, in my opinion not worth the price at all. Considering the colliery museum has so much history to offer with bespoke artefacts, the continued input of locals who have worked and lived around the mining industry. It has interactive pieces to see and experience throughout. It truly is worth a look, even on a day when the weather is not so kind, you can spend hours there. The cafe has a good selection of food at reasonable prices with a prompt and polite service. The tables are clean and presentable (unlike other places where you stick to them after they've been 'cleaned') and you can look out over the colliery buildings. Another plus point, the WC's were clean, with soap and working lights and hand driers. It may seem a strange addition to a review, but the amount of people who always mention WC's in a poor state and holding on until they find somewhere else. For a first time visit and on a whim, I'm throughly pleased I went. As there is no admission and I'm sure to return again, £10 in the donation box I felt was reasonable to help with the upkeep of this fantastic place. The only one observation I can make, there weren't as many buildings open or structures to explore. Perhaps things are less H&S complying and may cost a small fortune to make safe for folk to explore. Nevertheless, 5/5 for this place, well worth an afternoon if...