Warm friendly staff, good food friendly atmosphere'. If you are in the area well worth a visitread more

Perfect location for a walk around the lake, nice little cafe to take refreshments if required. I…read morewould certainly drop in again in passing. Water sports and fishing available on or around the lake. Plenty of wildlife about also.

Killingworth Lakeside Park is a lovely local escape, with, as its name suggests, a good-sized Lake…read moreat its centre! The Lake is a well-stocked resource for local fishermen, and there is a lot of lovely wildlife to see in and around the park. You'll regularly see wildlife photographers taking snaps. Check out the visitors boards describing the wildlife around the park. The park also has a model boating club, a small café shack (open only during popular hours) and a good play area for kids, with a wire slide, roundabout and other apparatus to keep the nippers amused. There is ample parking for visitors, and it's a good walk around the lake. In short, I love visiting the park here to take a walk, relax and unwind! How lovely to have these kinds of parks on our doorstep.

The park has been tidied up over the last couple of years. Facilities for cycling and canooe-ing…read moreand also horse riding. During 2009 a grey heron made its hangout on one of the lakes Check out my webpage of the park. http://www.hetton-online.com/park1.html The park has taken a battering from the last few weeks weather and looks like a long recovery period.Weather is a bit more settled now so the park is recovering the resident swans have built another nest and it is sitting on eggs now lets hope it is left alone this year. Swans have managed to hatch 8 cygnets this year hope they raise them all.

This park is very well maintained and our dog loves going for walkies here! there are lots of other…read moredog walkers usually out and about which is nice for them to meet other canine chums! It's also nice to go and feed the ducks/birds in the lake. Walking around the park is great on a summer's day and having a picnic is even better and a lovely change.

So my quite frankly surreal and random love of water is a bit of a problem for someone living in…read moreYorkshire isn't it? Ha, I laugh in the face of your chortles. Of course not. We have water and plenty of it. We've also got electricty and phone lines outside of London too. I know, it's surprising. What I'm talking about is "real" water and what better place to go than Eccup Reservoir. It's a pearler of an area for some real clarity and fresh air. Beautiful walks ahoy then sailor and more natural splendor than you can shake a stick at. They've also invested heavily in preserving the glourious Red Kites and it is now home to over 100 of the bad boys. Great to see them in full flight. So twitchers can have a field day and the rest of us can also enjoy the array of wildlife on offer. There are also rumours and various sightings (not sure if Special Brew was involved) of a mysterious big cat in the area. Personally I don't believe them as the Yeti would've eaten it. A sure fire hit and worth a trip out to Alwoodley for anyone's money.

My boyfriend convinced me to go on a cycling mission to Eccup reservoir recently. He has a knack of…read moremaking a million miles away sound really close and as I was pressed for time I began to whinge part way there when I realised this wasn't the 15 minute bike ride I'd planned for, being about seven miles up hill! Upon arrival I stopped whingeing immediately. The sun was just beginning to set, and the reservoir, which is HUGE looked absolutely breathtaking! We stopped to catch our breath and as we gazed out across the water I couldn't believe we were within cycling distance of home. Before it got too dark to see much we cheekily jumped a couple of gates to get closer to the water. The reservoir was so still and the trees formed silhouettes against the darkening sky as we stood on the pebbly shore. If you feel the urge to get out of the city for some peace, fresh air and beautiful views, Eccup reservoir is the perfect place!

I am in awe. This is one of the loveliest and most beautiful national parks that I've ever had the…read moreprivilege to visit. I immediately, upon arrival, fell in love with the picturesque landscape and the calm rain that was persistent in our week stay in Coniston. We were told it has been an unusually rainy season this year, but nonetheless, it still made for a beautiful week. There are lots of wonderful places to get lost in, the Lake District is a wonderful place to explore. With better weather, there are options for canoeing, a steamboat ride, horseback riding, bicycling, simply walking, and hiking the mountains. The shops in town have delicious coffee as well as food, fun vintage items, and dogs... literally EVERYWHERE! The people here are sweet and everyone seems to know everyone, as they do in small towns. I definitely recommend coming here on holiday for the beautiful views to relax!

The Lake District in Cumbria, England is a national treasure. There is so much to see and do here…read morethat there is never enough time to do it all. The numerous lakes, the fabulous walks, all the water activities, to name just a few, will keep you enthralled for weeks. And then there is the amazing history, including sites of Viking villages, old churches, standing stones, museums, and much more. And of course there is the home of William Wordsworth, as well. This is definitely a place I will return to spend time in the future.

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.

I have been a couple of times now it is a hidden gem! it has a nice cafe that does a great breaky…read moreand propper coffee's too! they have just started doing a sunday roast. The lakes are well maintained and the staff are friendly and best of all the place is dog friendly!

it is a good place to fish and some days will fish very well and some not i find the bend of the…read morecarp lake is a good peg i have cought plenty from that peg

Tarn Hows is a beautiful setting in the heart of the Lake District National Park. There is a small…read morelake and a lovely circular easy walk with wonderful views all around. Some of the walk is on higher ground and some is through woods but the path has been kept very flat to make it as easy a walk as is possible. Very much a young family walk or an older persons walk. It is a relatively flat walk and easy to do - many pushchairs have been there in the past. This is particularly nice with the Autumn tints or snow on the hills. The National Trust Car park gets very crowded at peak times so be early so as not to be disapointed. Parking charges apply for non National Trust members.

Tarn Hows is so lovely and its a really 'do-able' walk for people of all abilities. Really nice.read more

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..