National Trust sites

Step this way

With warmer weather and longer days, it's the ideal time to get out and explore Northumberland’s coast, countryside, gardens and castles with the National Trust. Here are our summer highlights:

PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD

Whether you prefer a gentle stroll or a challenging hike, there are miles of trails and walks for you to soak up summer sun. Wander in the 1,000 acre estate at Cragside or hike across rugged moorland at Wallington. Keep your eyes peeled for wildlife - red squirrels, otters and white-clawed crayfish all call the Wansbeck valley home. On certain dates you can even join the Trust’s rangers for guided walks where you’ll discover even more about these special places.

PLAY OUT FOR LONGER

Enjoy the great outdoors this summer and get closer to nature with ‘50 things to do before you’re 11 ¾’ activities. Fly a kite on the headland at Lindisfarne Castle, create some wild art at Seaton Delaval Hall, build a woodland den at Allan Banks or set your tootsies free in the open air on Cragside’s barefoot walk.

Get to know Wallington on two wheels on the Dragon Cycle trail. Designed with beginners and little legs in mind, it’s a great way of exploring the Northumberland countryside. With low cost cycle hire available in partnership with British Cycling and HSBC UK it’s easier than ever to get out on the trail.

SEE NORTHUMBERLAND IN A NEW LIGHT.

Take a seat and join the conversation with Conference of the Birds at Cherryburn. Set within Thomas Bewick’s birthplace, artist Marcus Coates has reimagined the birds Bewick immortalised in his engravings and recorded in his book 'A History of British Birds', bringing to life the contemporary challenges facing bird species today.

If walls could talk, Lindisfarne Castle would tell a thousand stories. Discover hidden histories and untold tales brought to life through an immersive new exhibition. Explore the colourful lives of those who have lived in, visited and even conquered this castle (that’s not really a castle), on an island (that’s not really an island).

GO WILDLIFE SPOTTING

The summer sun brings Wallington’s red squirrels out foraging for food. Hunker down in the wildlife hides to see if you can catch a glance of them. The lakes on Lord Armstrong's Himalayan inspired landscape at Cragside make it the perfect habitat for spotting dragonflies and damselflies and from early April to late August, its Tern time on the Northumberland Coast. The Long Nanny Tern Site is home to a big colony of arctic terns and the endangered little terns.

SUMMER GARDENS

In summer and the garden is buzzing, quite literally, at Wallington. Unique in its position, carved into the hillside, the Walled Garden is packed full of colour, texture and scent. Grab a deckchair and soak up those summer rays on the lawn or visit the ‘Nuttery’, home to Wallington’s beehives.

Late summer is also the perfect time to take in the Gertrude Jekyll garden at Lindisfarne castle as it blooms with hollyhock and sweet pea. A former vegetable patch, noted gardener Jekyll transformed the space in 1911.