Bow Street Runners and decades of policing in Beamish Museum's Long Arm of the Law

Exhibition: Long Arm of the Law, Beamish Museum, County Durham, June 30 – July 1 2012

In a special two-day exhibition, collections from the North East Police History Society – birching stools, uniforms and all – will go on show in a picture of crime and punishment in the Durham region during the 20th century.

Appropriately for a display held in the Collections Study Room, this cabinet of constabulary curiosities will be accompanied by members of the society, offering insights and more details on some of the documents and photographs on display, many of which hold personal memories.

Items relating to London’s first police force, The Bow Street Runners, are among the highlights.

• Open 10am-4pm. Admission included in entry to Beamish Museum (£10-£17, free for under-5s, family ticket £32-£46, book online.) See more of the Beamish collection online.