*This post was last updated May 2019.
Plessey Woods Parking
Plessey Woods is a lovely dog-friendly countryside park in Northumberland near Bedlington and definitely one of our favourite family days out in the North East. There is a bus stop just outside (Hartford Bridge/Hall or Shields Road Bus Stop) with regular buses from Newcastle and Morpeth. The postcode is NE22 6HZ and the car park is open during daylight hours. There's a small visitor centre, public loos, lots of space for picnics, woodland walks, streams to paddle in, an art trail, play park, forest school and more.
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Parking at Plessey Woods is FREE for one hour but you still need a ticket. I've heard of people receiving fines for not having a ticket so please don't forget. If you're planning on staying longer than one hour, please bring change.
Plessey Woods Cafe
Plessey Woods has its own cafe which is open on weekends and school holidays (although not always guaranteed). The cafe serves inexpensive drinks and snacks and there is both indoor and outdoor seating. Many people choose to bring their own picnic. There is nearly always an ice cream van parked by the car park too with prices from £1.50 for a standard cone.
Plessey Woods Play Park
A new play park opened at Plessey Woods in Spring 2019. I have heard there are plans to enclose the space in the near future. It's a brilliant park with something for all ages and it's ideally located next door to the cafe and loos. Here are some photos.....
Plessey Woods Art Trail
If you're visiting Plessey Woods with children I would recommend following the free art trail. You can start at the play park at the visitor centre near the car park (although it was too cold for that today) and then head down into the woods following the animal trail signs as you go.
There are lots of points of interest across the trail that will keep children young and old entertained. First up is a woodland drum kit which the kids had a blast playing.
Then you need to look out for the Ogre swamp and his cupboard. We didn't spot the actual Ogre today but we had fun looking for him.
Next up is a picnic area which will be lovely in summer. There are trees to climb, games to play and puzzles to solve. We had a lovely time playing noughts and crosses......well until Jack had a melt down when he didn't win!
There's a nice walk down to and along the river and we had fun spotting magical doors in the trees and wondering who lives there.
It was fairly muddy though and we needed to change our shoes when we got back to the car. Along the river there's a steep climb up some steps back to the meadow which leads you back through the woods to the car park.
In the summer, you can paddle in parts of the stream/river and there are jettys to sit on too. It's lovely and such a sun trap around there. Plessey Woods is also home to its very own Forest School which you can read about here.
Pin Me For Later
Ahh! Plessey Woods is such a great day out. It's been a few years since we were last there though....It looks like you had a fantastic time.
ReplyDeleteLove having trails to follow and odds and ends like this to spot on a walk through the woods.
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