A gem of a place, an engineering marvel I'd say. Great for anyone with an interest in railways, mining or engineering. I enjoyed a three hour guided tour. The workings of the rope operated railway were explained and the tour included the wagon shops, joinery shop and engineering workshop among others. Most of the equipment in these workshops is original, left when the railway closed. The Bowes Railway started operating in 1826, 200 years ago this year. This milestone deserves recognition and celebration. Visit if you can.

The bowes is a lovely train museum ran by warm and welcoming volunteers/ staff members. I often visit in the summer with my little boy to help in the allotment/family fun days but Recently attended the Christmas wreath making session, the staff were extremely helpful, held a great demonstration, shared useful tips and supplied us with plenty of refreshments. Handy to buy tickets for events in advance but your welcome to show up too.

A fantastic museum and well worth a visit but only open two days a week at present due to a lack of volunteers . Friendly welcome and lots to see on site with a great display of mining memorabilia from the Durham coal-field as well as locomotives and rolling-stock . You need to visit.......

Went a few years back for the 1940s weekend I believe. There was loads on that day including WW2 displays and stalls, was a lovely day out. The museum side to Bowes was nice and very interesting. I would give 5 stars but unfortunately there's just not enough events on at Bowes and only open certain days.

Really great first time visit to this fascinating site. Enthusiastic and very friendly volunteers are happy to tell you anything you want to know as they take you around. Will be returning to take more photos very soon!