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Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life facts for kids

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Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life

Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life is a cool museum in Coatbridge, Scotland. It shows what life was like and how things were made in the past, especially in the Lanarkshire area. The museum is built on the old Summerlee Iron Works site, which was a big factory.

You can explore 22 acres of land, including old buildings, a fun play area, and even a real mine! There are also old trains and a working tram line you can ride. The museum aims to show how people worked in engineering, mining, steel making, weaving, and farming. It has lots of hands-on displays, and the best part is, entry is totally free!

Exploring the Miners' Homes

Have you ever wondered what homes looked like 100 years ago? At Summerlee, you can visit the Miners' Row, built in 1991-1992. These houses show how workers lived from the 1880s all the way to the 1980s.

You can see different styles of homes, like a 1940s house with a "dig for victory" garden, just like people had during wartime. It even has an Anderson shelter, which was a small shelter used during air raids. There's also a sweet shop in the row where you can buy old-fashioned sweets! These homes are so real that they are often used for filming movies and TV shows.

  • Summerlee Miners Row 1840 to 1910

    Homes from 1840 to 1910

  • Summerlee Miners' Row 1940 to 1980 General View

    Miners' Row from 1940 to 1980

  • Summerlee Miners row 1980s Living Room

    A living room from the 1980s

  • Summerlee Miners Row 1960s Living Room

    A living room from the 1960s

  • Summerlee Miners Row 1910

    A home from 1910

  • Summerlee Miners Row 1840

    A home from 1840

  • Summerlee Miners Row 1940 kitchen

    A kitchen from 1940

  • Summerlee Miners Row Gardens

    Gardens at the Miners' Row

  • Summerlee Miners Row 1880

    Inside an 1880s home

  • Summerlee Miners Row 1960s Bathroom

    A bathroom from the 1960s

  • Summerlee Miners row 1940s living room

    A living room from the 1940s

  • Summerlee Miners Row 1960s Kitchen

    A kitchen from the 1960s

Riding the Summerlee Tramway

One of the most exciting things at Summerlee is the working heritage tram line! The Summerlee Transport Group helps keep the trams running. The tramway first opened in 1988. It was the first working tram line in Scotland for over 25 years!

The museum aims to use old British trams, especially those with local connections. Here are some of the cool trams you might see:

Original System Car Number Built Seats Livery Status What's Special? Image
Lanarkshire Tramways Company 53 1908 59 Green and white Operational This double-decker was used on routes from Hamilton. It was in a crash in 1917. Later, it was sold to a farmer and used to store hay! The museum restored it, and it started carrying passengers again in 1995. Coatbridge. - geograph.org.uk - 80756.jpg
Düsseldorf 392 1951 10 Cream Operational This tram came all the way from Germany. It has special access for wheelchairs. It was bought for only DM1 (about 33 pence)! Summerlee - Scotland's Noisiest Industrial Museum - geograph.org.uk - 436893.jpg
Glasgow Corporation Tramways 1017 1904 20 Orange and cream Operational This tram was first a double-decker. It became a "School Car" for training new tram drivers from 1925 to 1959. All tram drivers in Glasgow learned on this very tram! Cumoan, Gerraff! - geograph.org.uk - 1471801.jpg
Glasgow Corporation Tramways 1245 1939 64 Orange, green and cream Undergoing long-term restoration This "Coronation Class" tram used to run through Coatbridge. It's being restored and will be the only working Coronation Tram in the world! 1245 at summerlee museum.jpg

Cool Railway Vehicles

Summerlee also has a collection of old railway engines and carriages. You can see different types of locomotives that worked in mines and factories.

Name Number Builder Type Date Livery What's Special? Image
11 Gibb and Hogg, Airdrie 0-4-0ST 1898 Dark Green This is the only surviving engine from this builder. It worked for coal companies and is now on display inside the museum. Old Tank Engine, Summerlee - geograph.org.uk - 1471973.jpg
9 Hudswell Clarke 0-6-0T 1909 Light Green This engine also worked for coal companies. You can see it outside near the main railway line.
Springbok 4112 North British Locomotive Co. 4-8-2+2-8-4 Garratt 1956 Black This huge engine came all the way from South Africa! It's on display outside the main exhibition hall. Summerlee Industrial museum - geograph.org.uk - 1017521.jpg
Robin Sentinel 4wVB 1957 Blue This engine worked at a local foundry in Coatbridge. It's on display outside.
5 Barclay 0-4-0DH 1966 Red You can see this engine on display outside near the railway line.

Electric Train Carriages

The museum also has parts of an old electric train, known as a "Blue Train" from the 1960s Glasgow railway system.

Number Builder Type Current status Date Livery Photograph
Unit 311103 (parts 62174+76433) Cravens BR Class 311 Undergoing restoration. 1966 BR Blue 311 103.summerlee.jpg

Other Cool Transport

  • The Vulcan Barge: You can also see a copy of the 1819 barge called Vulcan. This was the very first boat ever made entirely out of iron! The replica was built for a festival in 1988. It's probably the last boat built on the Clyde River using old-fashioned hand riveting. It's now on the Monkland Canal at the museum and you can easily walk onto it.

See also

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