Druridge Bay

What can I do?

• Visit Druridge Bay Country Park, with its beautiful beach and sand dunes, as well as the 100 acre Ladyburn Lake surrounded by woods and meadows.
• In the summer try windsurfing, canoeing and sailing courses on Ladyburn Lake. If you get hooked on these activities, you can join a club.
• Between May and September take a boat trip out of Amble Harbour around the RSPB reserve of Coquet Island (no landing is allowed), home to colonies of puffins, eider ducks and the sole UK stronghold for roseate terns, Britain’s rarest breeding seabird (see the RSPB website)
• Research the Bay’s history – from St. Cuthbert being offered the Bishopric of Lindisfarne at Coquet Island to resistance to a Nuclear power station in the 1980s. The area also has a past of open cast coal mining and was fortified against invasion during WW2 (anti-tank measures can still be seen along the coast). Today the Druridge Bay Management Strategy focuses on conserving the environment.
• Go rockpooling at Hadston carrs or Marden rocks along the beach to the North or from the Low Hauxley Nature Reserve.
• Visit the many nature reserves:

1. Hauxley Nature Reserve – good for seeing waders on migration in spring and autumn and terns in the summer and rockpooling on the shore.
2. East Chevington Nature Reserve – see graylag, pink-footed geese, skylark, stonechat, grasshopper warbler, reed bunting and reed warbler.
3. Druridge Pools Nature Reserve – particularly good in winter with large flocks of wildfowl, swans and birds of prey.
4. Cresswell Ponds Nature Reserve – see large numbers of roosting waders and wildfowl all year round.
5. Cresswell Dunes and Foreshore Nature Reserve – these reserves have a range of specialist wildflowers and are home to lapwings and skylarks during the summer, whilst barn owls are regularly seen hunting along the dunes in the evening.
6. Linton Lane Nature Reserve – attracts a variety of bird species including whooper swan and several species of bat. The reserve also includes an area of mature woodland and hedgerow which attract yellow hammer and tree sparrow.

• Become a conservation volunteer and play an active role in helping to conserve local wildlife

What do I need to know?

• All the reserves and Druridge Park are free to visit, although parking can be limited in some locations. Druridge Park is open daily 9am – 5pm.
• The reserves and Druridge Bay Country Park are not on a public transport route so, if you’re not driving, the 518 bus service between Morpeth and Alnwick stops at Hadston, which is a 15 minute walk to the Park.
• The bay can be windy and exposed in winter so wrap up warm!
• Watersports on Ladyburn Lake in the summer need to be booked through Coquet Shorebase Trust (based in Amble).

Where can I find out more?

• The Northumberland Wildlife Trust manages many of the reserves in the area, has a long schedule of events and opportunities for volunteering
• Contact Coquet Shorebase Trust for watersports on Ladyburn Lake
• Contact the RSPB or the Northumberland Sea Bird Centre for trips around Coquet Island
• The Northumberland Biodiversity partnership has information on getting involved with conservation here

Inspire me

Try our specially designed family activities. Storytelling Walk, Coast Bingo and Soundscapes are all great ways of getting to know Druridge Bay. You can download pdf versions of these activities using the links to the right, or visit the Inspire me page to find a these and other activities in both pdf and Microsoft Word versions (for you to customise if you wish).