Wynyard Woodland Park is excellent for children and adults. There are plenty of walks to be taken…read morehere and none are too strenuous (all are on flat surface). There is a good woodland walk here which leads to a pond teaming with ducks and wildlife. There are a couple of good play areas for children, and a shop and tea room (on the old station platform). I went to first aid here once after a fall, and the staff there were pleasant. Always plenty of activities to take part in and organised weekends at the woodland park.

We have visited Ropner Park many times as a family since it was refurbished a couple of years back,…read moreand my 7 year old daughter is always keen to go back. I didn't grow up in this area but my husband did and he remebers a time when the park was dirty and almost derelict. This is not the case now however; there is a new bandstand, a cafe selling refreshments and ice creams, and new children's play area, with many different slides, climbing frames etc. for the kids to play on. However I must say that this area of the park is now covered in grafitti, although I guess this would happen anywhere unfortunately; some of the equipment could do with a bit of a clean. Also it is very difficult to park outside the park; we have actually driven round a few times trying to get parked, then given up and gone to Preston Park instead! I would recommend Ropner Park as a good way to keep the kids happy for a couple of hours.

They have cleared all the bushes from the the outside of the park, returning it to its freshly…read morebuilt victorian state and totally destroying the feel of it, in an attempt to stop teenagers from going in parks when its dark. The thing is, when its dark, noone can see anything anyway, so it makes no difference, just ruining the look of things during the day. The Vcitorians i think would have been fuming and probably horsewhipped the councillors involved, while Ropner himself would have asked for his money back.

Brilliant park, scene of all my childhood triumphs and disasters. Back in the 70s there were proper…read moreflowerbeds, tennis courts and a bowling green but I think it's a bit different now. There were plans to remodel which may have come to fruition. There has been a bit of a mania in recent years to clear away the bushes from the borders of parks and here is no exception. Councils forget that after dark, IT DOESN'T MATTER and that's when things happen, so why blame the trees? They'd be better off putting up giant floodlights at night, but that would cost money. Favourite memories: playing in the conrete playground tubes that were just unused pipes, which were always full of broken glass, and the marching bands practising every weekend. Getting sweets from the Monkey Tree or even a Cadbury's fruit and nut.

Beautiful place, great for any age. Dog friendly. Lots for the children to do. Lovely cafe with…read moregreat food.

This park is still well maintained and beautiful to visit with family. Especially during school…read moreholidays. Its ideal place to wear out the kids for the day. Take sandwiches, crisps and pop! Then a few games (google them) 'hidey', 'tag'. 'Chuck stones' Do you remember 'kick the tin'! Hours of fun and running about but also keeping close enough not to worry. It can be made into a really rememberable day with a little thought and dry weather ;)... enjoy your day

Went for walk around this reserve this afternoon. Not being a bird/animal watcher was nice &…read morerelaxing. Lots of wild life to be seen even on a bright winters day. There is a small car park with a visitors centre. It cost £2.50 to park the car, payable in the shop. The walk around the lake (2km) is a well made footpath suitable for wheel chairs with a number of well built hides perched around the lake & other wetland areas, all accessible to wheel chairs also. Well worth a visit, ideal for children. Dogs allowed but kept on lead.

great place to visit, hope they keep up the good work to keeping this open!…read morenice to see reserves like this for the widlife and help them to survive, wish there was more..

Nice country park with large lake not 200 meters from a massive unused by many beach, lots of wild…read morelife to see. Cycling and walking paths around the lake & acces to coastal route north to Amble (4 miles) south to cresswell (4 miles). Large pay a display car parks, £3 all day. A visitor Center with small shop, cafe & toilets available. Large children's play park beside Center. Water sports available. Would return at any time of year.

Love taking the kids here. There's plenty of walks a great park and excise trail is always funread more

Absolutley lovely place. A place to escape the busy hustle of middlesbrough. Easy to get to. A free…read morecar park is at the entrance .At the beginning is a visitors centre where you can get information about The Flatts lane Park.There are good running paths for experienced runners. Cyclists will enjoy usuing the cycle path. You can walk through and link yourself up with Nunthorpe ( Ormesby Bank end) Stunning views over the tees valley. There are some landscaped woodland walks which are fairly basic so families can walk together. Just behind the visitors centre is a basic play area. A must is sledging with plently of good hills to have family snow time fun! We have been this morning and the autumn leaves are stunning. This is such a beautiful part of Middlesbrough and well worth a small journey to relax into!

Great place to go to, a couple of miles from Stockton proper, based along the old branch line that…read morewas one of the Beecham victims. There is also the remnants of a vidauct further along which has a very rude local name, based on the heroine of a famous 18th century novel. We camped out here once in a bit of land belonging to my mate's family and spent the whole night hearing shotguns going off. I think you're alright as long as you stick to the paths, but otherwise it can get a bit Deliverancey. Great ponds as well that friends of mine spent a lot of time deweeding in their teenage years.

We have visited Castle Eden many times as a family; I believe it is now officially called Wynyard…read moreWoodland Park but everyone still refers to it as Castle Eden! It is a really pleasant way to spend a couple of hours, with two parks areas for the children to play, picnic benches, a bbq area, a gift shop, clean toilets and a cafe selling lovely fresh local light meals and snacks. There is also an old railway carriage which is used for many arts and crafts activities, especially during school holidays. The Walkway itself is really long and we've never managed to finish it, and I would say that if you are a woman walking alone or with children I wouldn't walk too far down as a couple of years back there was a flasher in the area, and certain parts of the walk are so remote and overshadowed by trees that I personally wouldn't feel safe being on my own down there!

This is a popular park located in the centre of Cramlington, across from the Sainsbury end of Manor…read moreWalks Shopping Centre. It has a range of play equipment for children and benchs for accompanying adults to sit and watch/chat. There's two sets of swings, one for younger children and one for older children. A big boat provides climbing opportunities and a slide and fireman's pole as well as imaginative play being the captain of the boat. There's an assortment of climbing equipment for older children as well as a baby giraffe slide, little swing and playhouse for very little ones on a softer, squidgy surface. The park is well used but the equipment is frequently covered with grafitti, a complete shame. It occasionally suffers from vandalism and then the repairs can take a while, leaving the equipment cordoned off. It's a nice place to take children but could be better maintained.