Tattooland

Gosforth Park Nature Reserve

North Gosforth · 7.5 miles

Extensive woodland, wet carr and reed-dominated wetlands provide breeding grounds for species such as reed warbler, water rail and reed bunting, while winter brings birds like bittern, kingfisher and shoveler. Aquatic mammals including otter, water vole and water shrew are recorded, and the site supports England’s second-largest colony of coralroot orchid. The semi-natural forest, chiefly oak and birch with some conifer plantings, hosts mammals such as badger, fox, roe deer, stoat and a remaining population of red squirrel, alongside a diverse invertebrate community that includes nationally rare beetles and solitary bees. A small meadow adds heather and northern marsh orchid to the botanical mix. The reserve lies within the historic Gosforth Park estate in Tyne and Wear, north-east of the Whitebridge Park housing estate and close to the former village of North Gosforth. Medieval ridge and furrow evidence points to its agricultural past; the Brandling family later landscaped the area, creating a lake between 1810 and 1820 and planting much of the woodland in the mid-19th century. After the estate was sold in the late 19th century, the Natural History Society of Northumbria acquired shooting rights in 1924 and assumed full management in 1929, maintaining the area for wildlife. Designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1977, the reserve remains privately owned by Arena Racing Company but is leased to the Society. Public entry is limited to Society members and visitors holding a day pass; non-members may purchase a pass on arrival. Dogs are not permitted, there are no public rights of way, and opening times are listed on the Society’s information page. Regular open days and educational activities for schools are organised by the Society.

Cliffords Fort

The Lawe · 8.7 miles

Clifford's Fort was a defensive gun battery established near the mouth of the Tyne during the Anglo-Dutch Wars in the 17th century. It subsequently served as a submarine mining depot and survives today as a scheduled monument in the historic Fish Quay area of North Shields, Tyne and Wear, in North East England.

Arbeia Roman Fort and Museum

The Lawe · 8.7 miles

A Roman fort stands on the Lawe Top overlooking the mouth of the River Tyne at South Shields, Tyne & Wear, a short distance from the town of The Lawe. Constructed in 129 AD, the site was intended to protect the sea-supply route to Hadrian’s Wall and the small port on the south side of the Tyne. Initially a small cohort fort, it was altered several times: a dividing wall created a northern store for ship-borne supplies and a southern garrison area, while later phases added a new principia, barracks and up to twenty-four granaries, indicating a role as the main supply base for the wall. The fort was finally abandoned around 400 AD after a fire and subsequent conversion of some granaries into barracks. The remains are presented as a museum operated by Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums and managed by North East Museums under the name Arbeia, South Shields Roman Fort. Visitors can view reconstructed sections such as the West Gate, rebuilt in 1986, and a collection of monuments that illustrate the cosmopolitan character of the garrison, including stones commemorating a British woman, Regina, and a former slave, Victor. The museum also displays an altarpiece to an unknown deity and a tablet bearing the name of Emperor Severus Alexander, deliberately erased in a practice known as damnatio memoriae. No modern buildings remain on the site following clearance in the 1970s.

Jesmond Dene

Jesmond · 9.9 miles

A narrow, steep-sided valley carved by the Ouseburn river runs through the east end of Newcastle upon Tyne, forming the public park known as Jesmond Dene. The valley’s name, meaning “mouth of the Ouseburn”, reflects its geographical setting. Laid out in the 1860s by Lord Armstrong and his wife, the design intentionally mimics a rural landscape, incorporating woodland, crags, waterfalls and a series of pools. After Armstrong presented the park and his Banqueting Hall to the city in 1883, it opened to the public the following year and remains under the ownership of Newcastle City Council following its return to council control on 1 March 2025. Visitors can wander the wooded paths, view the ruins of St Mary’s Chapel – Newcastle’s oldest religious building – and cross the iron-constructed Armstrong Bridge, now closed to road traffic but used for the Jesmond Food Market on the first and third Saturday of each month. A free-entry petting zoo, Pets’ Corner, has attracted families since the 1960s, while the nearby Jesmond Dene House operates as a luxury hotel. The park benefits from the Friends of Jesmond Dene and Volunteer Rangers, who fund small improvements and maintain paths, shrubbery and litter. Recent developments include a 2011 redevelopment of the field area and Pets’ Corner, adding a new road and bridge over the Ouseburn, and the removal of graffiti from the Old Mill after a 2014 incident. Access is via the suburb of Jesmond, and admission to the park and its petting zoo is free.

Bede Museum

Jarrow · 9.9 miles

Jarrow Hall is a museum in Jarrow, South Tyneside, England which celebrates the life of Bede; a monk, author and scholar who lived in at the Abbey Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, Wearmouth-Jarrow, a double monastery at Jarrow and Monkwearmouth,, England.

Exhibition Park

Haymarket · 11 miles

Connected to the south-eastern corner of the Town Moor in Newcastle upon Tyne, Exhibition Park provides a variety of recreational amenities within a historic environment. The Town Moor Improvement Act of 1870 set aside two 35-acre parcels for public use; one became Leazes Park and the other developed into the present park. Initially designated as Bull Park, the site later hosted the Royal Mining Engineering Jubilee Exhibition of 1887, after which the name Exhibition Park entered common usage. A surviving grade II-listed bandstand dating from 1875 remains from that period. The most visible legacy of the 1929 North East Coast Exhibition of Industry, Science and Art is the Palace of Arts, the sole building left from the event, which subsequently housed a science museum, a military vehicle collection and, since 2016, the Wylam Brewery. Current facilities include two croquet lawns, a pair of tennis courts, a basketball court, a fenced playground with safety surfacing, a lake that has been re-engineered for wildlife, a café, a skatepark at the main entrance and a miniature railway operated by the Tyneside Society of Model and Experimental Engineers. The park is fully step-free, providing wheelchair access throughout. Public transport is served by Haymarket Metro and bus stations, and a taxi rank sits on Park Terrace close to the entrance. Visitors can also attend events such as the annual mela in August and the Northern Pride festival each July.