- Play Hard
- 31st Jul 2026
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Why Woodhorn Museum is our new favourite summer day out
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You know that feeling when you realise the perfect day out has been sitting 25 minutes down the coast road the whole time? That’s Woodhorn Museum.
Tucked into Queen Elizabeth II Country Park just outside Ashington, this old colliery-turned-museum has quietly become one of the North East’s best excuses to get out of the house this summer, whether you’re after culture, cake, or just somewhere green to let the kids run wild.
IT’S SO CLOSE TO NEWCASTLE
No epic road trip required. Woodhorn sits just off the A189, roughly a 25-minute drive from Newcastle, so it’s an easy after-work or lazy-Saturday-morning job.
Don’t fancy driving? The Arriva X21 runs straight from Haymarket Bus Station, or you can hop on the Northumberland Line train from Newcastle Central to Ashington and walk it from there. Kids go free on the bus in the school holidays, and there’s a 25% ticket discount if you turn up with a bus ticket in hand. Parking, by the way, is free.
PACK A PICNIC, FIND A PATCH OF GRASS
The old pit head towers over a genuinely lovely stretch of parkland, and Woodhorn actively wants you to bring your own lunch. Picnic tables are dotted all round the site, and there’s an outdoor seating area right by the café (complete with a retractable canopy, because this is still Northumberland). Add in the wider Queen Elizabeth II Country Park on the doorstep and you’ve got a full afternoon of wandering, sitting, and doing absolutely nothing productive, in the best way.
BRING THE DOG
Well-behaved family dogs are welcome across the site (on a lead), with water bowls provided in the car park and by the main building. Just leave them out of the café and the main galleries.
CAKE FIRST, CULTURE SECOND
The Winding House Café is open Wednesday to Sunday, 10.30am – 3.30pm, and daily through the Northumberland school holidays, serving up hot and cold drinks, sandwiches, scones and cake. Bonus for parents: as part of Great British Summer Savings, kids’ menu items are discounted from until Tuesday 1st September.
WHAT’S ACTUALLY ON THIS SUMMER AT WOODHORN MUSEUM
If you’re looking for unique things to do in Northumberland, this is where Woodhorn Museum earns its keep as a proper day-out destination rather than just a nice building to look at.
What’s on the calendar right now:
Wild Wednesdays
Every Wednesday through August
Weekly nature-based fun, bug hunts and creative activities running throughout August.
Summer Storytime Stay & Play
Most Thursdays through the summer holidays.
Story time plus a craft session, running throughout the school holidays.
Community of Coal: Six Canny Tales from the Woodhorn Collection
Until Sunday 13th September
A fresh trail through the collection celebrating local history.
Arts and Crafts in the Pop-Up Ashington Group Hut
Running until Monday 31st August
Six weeks of hands-on craft sessions.
The Woodhorn Mining Disaster Commemorative Concert
Thursday 13th August
A poignant one-off marking 110 years since the 1916 Woodhorn Mining Disaster.
Sound Down Sundays
Sunday 23rd August
A lower-sensory visit ideal for neurodivergent visitors or anyone after a calmer trip round the exhibitions.
For the full, constantly updated line-up, check the Woodhorn What’s On page.
THE PRACTICAL BIT – WOODHORN MUSEUM TICKETS
Adult admission is £10, under-18s go free, and your ticket doubles as an Annual Pass for unlimited return visits over the next year, so this really can become your regular Sunday spot rather than a one-off.
Full details on tickets, access and getting there are on their website.
So that’s your summer sorted: Newcastle to the pit head in under half an hour, a picnic blanket, a slice of cake, and a genuinely good story about coal, community and the Pitmen Painters thrown in for free.
DISCOVER WOODHORN MUSEUM
Rachael Ellis
Head of Content
After gaining a first in her BA Media and Journalism degree at Northumbria University, Rachael worked at Newcastle’s leading regional newspaper with her stories being picked up in national and global newspapers. She spent two very successful years giving a voice to those communities across the North East who otherwise…
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