A pretty walk of nearly 2 miles round a lake, with options to extend the walk to the beach at Druridge bay or in the woods north of the lake.
There was ample free parking at various car parks by the lake. The first hour is now free and after that there is a £2.50 charge.
Druridge park has a cafe that serves drinks and snacks in the summer months.
While the route shown below crosses the lake on stepping stones it should be possible to go right round the lake by wheelchair.
The postcode for Satnav is NE61 5BX, which is for the visitor centre.
Druridge Bay Country Park is just off the A1068, about 2 miles south of Amble.
Travelling from the south, take the A19 Tyne tunnel road north out of Newcastle and then join the A189 Spine Road past Ashington, then the A1068. Druridge Bay country park is on the right just before the Hadston turn off.
Travelling from the north, take the A1 south to Alnwick and turn off the A1 onto the A1068 at the Alnwick bypass. Follow this road to Warkworth, then turn off to Amble. Druridge bay is about 2 mile past Amble, just after the Hadston turn off.
Click here to see a detailed routemap of the walk. It will open in a new tab.
The walk basically starts at the cafe
and goes round the lake.
At one point on the map it seems like you are walking over water, but don't worry, there are stepping stones over the lake,
or you can carry on a bit more and get round on good paths.
At the eastern end of the lake there is a signposted path that takes you over to the beach at Druridge bay.
The origin of the name Druridge is quite mundane, it simply means dry ridge. The area around Druridge Bay country park was extensively mined last century, first with deep mines, then with open cast mines. Before the open cast mines were dug out, the Lady burn ran down through the fields from Hadston to the Beach, giving the present name to Ladyburn lake. In the 1970s the lake area was a deep hole in the ground, but the old opencast mine workings have been reclaimed and landscaped into the beautiful country park that exists today.
During World War II Druridge Bay was thought to be a possible landing place for a German invasion. An anti-aircraft artillery site was built in the area to protect the airfield at nearby Acklington and the remains of a lookout post can still be seen further up the beach at Hadston Carrs. You can still see some of the large concrete blocks on the beach, built for anti-tank defences. These concrete cubes once stretched right up the entire Northumberland coast though most have now been cleared away.
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