Landscape In Rowlands Gill , Tyne And Wear
A short but sweet 0.8km sculpture trail in Thornley Woods.
Thornley Woods is part of the bigger Derwent Walk Country Park in Gateshead, which is a huge 18km long. There are maps online if you want to plan your visit, but you'll be spoilt for choice on what to see.
Thornley Woods is about half way along the country park and the sculpture trail is a 0.8km walk around Paddock Hill Wood. It's a fairly flat, easy wander with around 10 sculptures to see, all created by wood sculptor Tommy Craggs. It will take around 20-30 minutes to complete the walk.
The trail was created in 2011 and Tommy used fallen trees to make his sculptures. There are badgers, butterflies, otters and probably the stand-out sculpture on the trail, a huge Red Kite - the iconic bird of the Derwent Valley.
You can pick up a sculpture trail leaflet from Thornley Woodlands Centre and while you're there, you can have a cuppa too. You can also pick up a hide key here for around £5 if you fancy doing some twitching. The nearest hide is just across the road over the A694, but the key also gives you access to hides at Shibdon Pond, Clara Vale, Lamesley Pastures and Far Pastures (also on the Derwent Walk).
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What three words
arena.vast.hogs
Lat / Long
54.935142, -1.724686
Show Place On Google Maps
The sculpture trail is clearly marked from the car park with yellow arrows.
What three words
thinks.sports.clues
Lat / Long
54.938079, -1.722527
There is a free car park for Thornley Woods, which has around 15 spaces which fill up very quickly.
Contributed by Sandra Clemens
I love the great outdoors and have been a National Trust & English Heritage member for years. I also love going off the beaten track and finding places like Sharp's Folly or Rothley Castle which are hidden gems in Northumberland. My favourite recent hike was climbing Red Screes in the Lake District on a whim, not fully grasping how high 776m was. It was still an achievement to conquer a Wainwright walk and I hope to do more one day.
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