Morpeth
Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum · Photo: The original uploader was Tzdelski at English Wikipedia.
A quirky free start in a medieval chantry full of bagpipes you can listen to on headsets, then a woodland-and-riverside country park with a wooden playground and cafe, ending at a lake with flat paths for scooters on the edge of Ashington.
Museum · 10:00–10:45 (45m)
Short free museum visit; headsets let children hear the pipes.
A small free museum in a medieval chantry building in Morpeth devoted to bagpipes from Northumberland and around the world, with headsets to hear them played. Quick and quirky, good for a short rainy-day stop alongside Carlisle Park.
Photo: The original uploader was Tzdelski at English Wikipedia.
Nature & gardens · 11:05–13:45 (2h40m)
Woodland playground, riverside paths and cafe lunch.
A council country park of woodland, meadow and riverside along the River Blyth, between Bedlington and Cramlington, with a woodland-style playground near the visitor centre and cafe. It is an easy, cheap outing for toddlers and young walkers.
Photo: Anthony Foster
Park · 14:10–15:30 (1h20m)
Level lakeside loop for scooters and buggies.
A lake ringed by young woodland and grassland on the north edge of Ashington, with level paths for scooters and buggies. It sits right beside Woodhorn Museum, so the two make an easy free-to-cheap pairing.
Photo: Martin Dawes
North EastNewcastle city centre (Haymarket)
Three free stops within a mile of each other: a natural history museum with a T. rex and Egyptian mummies, Newcastle's oldest park for a picnic and a run-around by the lake, then the city's science and industry museum. It works in drizzle because two of the three stops are indoors.
The Great North Museum → Leazes Park → Discovery Museum
North EastRowlands Gill (Gateshead)
A free green day on Gateshead's western edge: a flat old railway path along the Derwent for scooters and buggies, a picnic deep in a big Forestry England wood, then the ruins of a medieval castle above the Tyne at Prudhoe. Good for families who want fresh air without paying entry fees.
Derwent Walk Country Park → Chopwell Wood → Prudhoe Castle
North EastWallsend / North Shields
Three free stops with free or cheap parking: a big country park on reclaimed colliery land with a community farm and sand-and-water play, a wooded Victorian dene with a pump track, and a little sheltered beach to finish. Pack a picnic or use the park cafes.
Rising Sun Country Park → Northumberland Park → Cullercoats Bay
