AFTER a drop in expected visitor numbers due to the poor weather at the beginning of the school summer holidays, Beamish Museum in County Durham saw figures improve as the sunshine returned.
Three tramcars in operation was the norm for the period, augmented by five or six buses.
Better weather saw the vintage vehicles full to capacity at times on busier days, and the increased footfall put the heritage attraction back on target with around 172,000 visitors over the six-week period as a whole.
In order to ensure that overhauls do not create significant gaps in its pool of operational trams and other forms of transport around the site, a detailed plan has been produced, giving a projection as far as 2028.
Gateshead No. 10 remains the current focus of attention, although work on its restoration slowed down while improvements were made to the machine shop. Its repaint has, however, continued.