[1] Atkinson was born in Barnsley, West Riding of Yorkshire on 13 April 1924, the oldest son of Ernest, a labourer, and Elfrida, a school teacher and later headmistress.
The aim was to create an "Open-Air Museum for the purpose of studying, collecting, preserving and exhibiting buildings, machinery, objects and information illustrating the development of industry and the way of life of the North of England".
This method of building up the collection proved highly successful and in addition forged links between the institution and the surrounding community.
[7] Beamish was also innovative in its operational arrangements, receiving funding and administrative assistance from a consortium of four neighbouring county councils – Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Cleveland, and Durham; it was the UK's first museum to be run in this way.
Atkinson's hobbies included potholing, an interest he had discovered at the age of 12, as well as photography and collecting Natural History specimens such as beetles, ferns, fossils and minerals.
Richard Evans, the director of Beamish, told the BBC: "The word 'visionary' is often overused perhaps, but in Frank's case it really is true.
[4] Durham county councillor Carl Marshall, chairman of the board at Beamish, said: “Frank’s death is really, really sad news for everybody associated with the museum and culture across the North-East.
[8]As well as an autobiography, The Man Who Made Beamish, Atkinson also wrote several books on the history and traditional pastimes of the North East – amongst them leek growing and pigeon fancying.