Seaton Delaval / Blyth
Plessey Woods Country Park · Photo: Anthony Foster
A woodland morning at a country park, then a Baroque National Trust mansion where children can lose themselves in a hidden woodland play space themed on old theatre machinery. In season, finish at a volunteer-run wartime gun battery in the Blyth dunes.
Nature & gardens · 10:00–11:30 (1h30m)
Woodland play and riverside paths.
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
Historic House · 11:55–15:30 (3h35m)
Brewhouse Cafe lunch, gardens and the Delaval Playdium woodland play space (best 3-11).
A dramatic Baroque mansion near the coast at Seaton Sluice, run by the National Trust, with formal gardens and woodland walks. Children head for the Delaval Playdium, a woodland play space with hidden structures themed on old theatre machinery, and the Brewhouse Cafe is next to the car park.
Photo: Alan J. White
Museum · 15:50–16:45 (55m)
SEASONAL weekends: tour the restored WWI/WWII gun battery in the dunes; donations welcome.
A volunteer-run First and Second World War coastal gun battery in the dunes at Blyth, with restored buildings, guided tours and a small cafe. Entry is free with donations welcome, and it pairs with a walk on Blyth beach.
North EastMarley Hill / Stanley
On a running day, ride Victorian carriages behind a steam engine on the world's oldest railway, which passes the Causey Arch gorge. Then picnic beside the arch itself and finish with a flat stroll or scoot on the old railway path along the Derwent.
Tanfield Railway → Causey Arch Picnic Area → Derwent Walk Country Park
North EastStanhope / Witton-le-Wear
A sit-down scenic ride up Weardale on a heritage diesel railcar, then a gentle afternoon on flat, buggy-friendly paths between bird hides at a wildlife trust reserve where kingfishers and otters are possible.
Weardale Railway → Low Barns Nature Reserve
North EastCraster / Howick
Roam the woodland and riverside paths of the Grey family's gardens and arboretum, following the burn path towards the sea, then lunch in Craster at a smokehouse that has cured kippers since the 1800s. Finish back in Alnwick at the old-station bookshop for its afternoon ice cream counter.
Howick Hall Gardens & Arboretum → L. Robson & Sons → Barter Books
