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News and features

Major expansion at Beamish

Beamish Museum is to build a 1950s town and a Georgian coaching inn as part of a major £17m expansion that looks set to attract an additional 100,000 visitors to the region each year. Construction of what the attraction describes as the single largest project ever undertaken, is due to start at the end of this year and will include a replica Weardale farm.

Richard Evans, Beamish Museum Director, says: “We’re really delighted with the news that our exciting development plans for Beamish over the next four years now have planning approval. It is a real milestone in the 45-year history of the region’s living museum. This is the single largest project ever undertaken at Beamish. It will enable us to create a range of new exhibits for visitors to enjoy across the museum site, offering people new ways to experience the history of the North East.

“We will continue to focus on what makes Beamish the special place that it is, using our collections to tell the story of everyday life in our region through time. The new development will demonstrate a time of huge change for the people of the North East and will ensure Beamish tells the story of a period still in living memory, just as was the case when the living museum was first founded back in the 1970s.

“By 2020 we hope to welcome some 750,000 people every year, including nearly 400,000 tourists from outside the region, which will have a huge impact on the economy in many communities. We will also create around 95 new jobs and 50 apprentices at the museum, meaning we should be employing around 500 people by the end of this decade.”

Beamish is working with communities across north east England and has received initial support for a £10.75m Heritage Lottery Fund grant. The 1950s town plans include a cinema, houses, a cafe and aged miners’ homes. The 1820s expansion will feature a coaching inn, where Beamish’s nationally-significant Georgian collections will be displayed, a windmill that was shipped from Sweden to Blyth, and a replica of the home of Joe the Quilter.

Beamish, the Living Museum of the North, brings history to life, with the unforgettable sights, sounds, and delicious tastes of the past at 1820s Pockerley, 1900s Town and Pit Village and 1940s Farm. Visitors to the 350 acre open air museum discover fascinating stories, meet costumed folk and explore homes, shops and other buildings – many of which were moved to the museum from across the region.

For more information, go to www.beamish.org.uk

 

A cinema will feature in the new 1950s town to be built at Beamish
A cinema will feature in the new 1950s town to be built at Beamish

 

Galloway Travel Group acquired

Bernie Miles, who received the Coach Monthly Special Award at the 2015 National Coach Tourism Awards for his outstanding contribution to coach tourism, intends to retire this November as the acquisition of Galloway Travel Group is completed
Bernie Miles, who received the Coach Monthly Special Award at the 2015 National Coach Tourism Awards for his outstanding contribution to coach tourism, intends to retire this November as the acquisition of Galloway Travel Group is completed

Suffolk-based Galloway Travel Group has been bought by Eastern Transport Holdings (ETH), a new holding company directed by Bill Hiron, the managing director of Stephensons of Essex, and past president of the Confederation of Passenger Transport UK.

It is understood that the process of acquisition will be completed by 30 November, with managing director David Cattermole, commercial director John ‘Bernie’ Miles, and financial director Roger Stedman intending to retire from the business.

With immediate effect, Galloway’s directors are delegating day-to-day involvement in the business to their existing management team of Richard Smith, Dan Rogers and Charles Pratt.

Galloway will continue to trade as a stand-alone business, distinct from other operations of ETH, operating from its existing head office and operating base at Mendlesham in Suffolk.

Roger Elsmere receives industry accolade

Roger Elsmere receives the Coach Monthly Special Award from (l-r) event host Anthea Turner, Jane Richardson from category sponsor Hilton Worldwide, and Jessamy Chapman from Coach Monthly
Roger Elsmere receives the Coach Monthly Special Award from (l-r) event host Anthea Turner, Jane Richardson from category sponsor Hilton Worldwide, and Jessamy Chapman from Coach Monthly

Roger Elsmere, the founder and managing director of Bognor Regis-based Woods Travel, has received industry recognition for his outstanding contribution to coach tourism.
Roger was presented with the Coach Monthly Special Award at this year’s National Coach Tourism Awards (NCTA).

Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset won the award for Coach Friendly Destination of the Year, recognition of the work put in by the Project Coach team of Ian Jefferies and Les Barber. Burnham has been a finalist for the last three years; this time, success was theirs.

Blackburn Market won Coach Friendly Shopping Destination of the Year at the first go, testament to the enthusiasm of the market team.

The Ullswater ‘Steamers’ were celebrating having picked up the award for River and Inland Cruise Operator of the Year, some welcome good news after a winter that saw the floods in the Lake District severely disrupt the company’s operations.

Burnham
Les Barber and Ian Jefferies of Burnham-on-Sea’s Project Coach

The NCTA, now in its 11th year, and organised by Diversified Communications and Coach Monthly magazine, is the only national awards scheme to specifically focus on coach tourism, recognising excellence and development among coach tour operators, destinations, visitor attractions, tourism suppliers, hotels and other tourism organisations.
The event, held on Wednesday 16 March, and hosted by television personality Anthea Turner, took place at the Vox, Resorts World Birmingham, at the NEC.

For more information about the NCTA, go to www.ncta.co.uk

Here’s the list of this year’s winners:

Coach Friendly Destination of the Year
Sponsored by My Day Out
Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset

Coach Friendly Visitor Attraction of the Year
Jointly sponsored by Planet Hollywood and Hospitality Line
Grand Pier, Weston-super-Mare, Somerset

Coach Friendly Shopping Destination of the Year
Sponsored by the British Tourism & Travel Show
Blackburn Market, Lancashire

Cross-Sea Carrier of the Year
Sponsored by Edwards Coach Holidays
CalMac Ferries

River and Inland Cruise Operator of the Year
Sponsored by the Coach Tourism Council (CTC)
Ullswater ‘Steamers’, Cumbria

Heritage Railway of the Year
Sponsored by DFDS
Vale of Rheidol Railway, Ceredigion

Accommodation Provider of the Year: Hotel Groups
Sponsored by Fieldfisher
Hallmark Hotels

Accommodation Provider of the Year: Individual Hotels
Sponsored by VisitScotland
Rendezvous Hotel, Skipton, North Yorkshire

Ticket Supplier of the Year
Sponsored by West Midland Safari & Leisure Park, Bewdley, Worcestershire
Encore Tickets

Tour Wholesaler of the Year
Sponsored by P&O Ferries
Greatdays Travel Group

Holiday Programme of the Year
Sponsored by Independent Coach Travel (ICT)
Shaws Coaches, Maxey, Cambridgeshire

Day Excursion Programme of the Year
Sponsored by Warner Leisure Hotels
Johnsons Coach Travel, Warwickshire

Coach Tour Operator Brochure of the Year
Sponsored by Towergate Chapman Stevens
Silver Star Holidays, Gwynedd

Coach Tourism Innovation of the Year
Sponsored by Eurotunnel Le Shuttle
Johnsons Coach Travel, Warwickshire – for ‘Bard on Board’

Coach Tourism Professional of the Year
Sponsored by Group Line
Alan Payling, owner of Coach Drivers Information Pack, Torbay, Devon

Coach Tour Driver of the Year
Sponsored by Cornmarket Insurance Services
Alyn Frankel, tours director at Moving People, Lancashire

Coach Tour Operator of the Year: Small Fleet (1 to 5 coaches)
Sponsored by Norman Allen Group Travel
Fenn Holidays, March, Cambridgeshire

Coach Tour Operator of the Year: Medium Fleet (6 to 15 coaches)
Sponsored by Roadchef
Parrys International Tours, Cheslyn Hey, West Midlands

Coach Tour Operator: Large Fleets (more than 15 coaches)
Sponsored by Wrightsure Insurance Services
Maynes Coaches (Moray and Orkney)

Coach Monthly Special Award
Sponsored by Hilton Worldwide
Roger Elsmere, managing director of Woods Travel, West Sussex