| Tourist Information
FIVE GABLES COTTAGE
BINCHESTER
is an ideal centre for touring being
15 minutes from
Durham City
Durham University
and the World Heritage Site of
Durham Cathedral
and
Durham Castle.
We are also 1½ hrs from York, 1½ hrs from the Lake District
and the Scottish Borders
and less than 3 hrs from Edinburgh.
A good bus service is available 300m from FIVE GABLES serving:
Durham, Newcastle, Stockton, Gateshead & the Metro Centre
Local bus services to Spennymoor,
Bishop Auckland
and Willington
[via Byers Green - birth place of Thomas Wright 1711-1786 - The Wizard of Durham]
are available 90m from FIVE GABLES
We are close to:
Binchester Roman Fort,
Escomb Saxon Church,
Auckland Castle
Whitworth Hall Country Park
the Wear Valley Walk and a National By-way Cycle Path.
and a short drive from
Durham University Botanic Gardens,
Crook Hall Gardens,
Hardwick Country Park at Sedgefield, Sedgefield Racecourse, the historic market town of Barnard Castle,
Raby Castle,
Brancepeth Castle, Witton Castle, Lumley Castle
and
Locomotion
[ National Railway Museum] at Shildon.
Stan Laurel [of Laurel & Hardy fame] was baptised, attended school [King James I] and lived in Bishop Auckland, and The Laurel and Hardy Appreciation Society holds meetings in the Laurel Room of
Bishop Auckland Town Hall.
There are numerous museums to visit:
Naval Heritage at
Hartlepool Historic Quay & Museum
[including HMS Trincomalee & PSS Wingfield Castle].
Industrial Heritage at
Beamish,
The North of England Open Air Museum and
Killhope,
The North of England Lead Mining Museum.
Railway Heritage from the
Tanfield Railway
and Causey Arch [near Stanley],
Weardale Railway,
Locomotion,
to
Darlington Railway Centre & Museum.
Other museums in the area such as the
Gulbenkian Museum
[Oriental Art and Antiquities], the
Old Fulling Mill
Museum of Archaeology, the
Durham Light Infantry Museum
all in Durham City; the Harperley WWII POW Camp near Crook, the Weardale Museum at Ireshopeburn, the
Bowes Museum
[paintings, ceramics, furniture and textiles] at Barnard Castle and further afield, the
National Glass Centre
at Sunderland.
Religious Heritage in & around Durham, apart from the Cathedral, includes Egglestone Abbey, Finchale Priory
[both
English Heritage
properties], and various churches including the Church of St Stephen at Low Willington with its steel bells, and St Peter's Church in Bishop Auckland where Stan Laurel was baptised.
There are golf courses at
Bishop Auckland,
Crook, Aycliffe & Durham
Check out these & others at
Directory of Golf Courses
Leisure centres at
Bishop Auckland,
Crook
& Spennymoor
Horse riding is available at Crook,
Sunnybrow
and
Cowshill
Hamsterley Forest,
Low Barns Nature Reserve, & the Durham Dales are all within a short drive, with High Force & Cauldron Snout waterfalls a little further.
Fishing for salmon, brown trout, sea trout, etc., is available for both the River Wear & The Tunstall Reservoir. [Licences required]
Durham Cricket Ground [The Riverside] at Chester-le-Street,
Diggerland
at Langley Park and The Durham Heritage Coast are an easy ½ hr drive.
The Angel of the North -
The Metro Centre
-
The Baltic Centre
for Contemporary Art - the
Millenium Bridge
& the Sage
at Gateshead
the Roman (Hadrian's) Wall
-
Eggleston Hall Gardens
-
The Herb Patch
at Ebchester
and the Durham Dales
are all within a 45 minute drive.
We are also only a 45 minute drive from
The Great North Run
in Newcastle & Gateshead.
The North Pennines Otter Trust at Bowes, The North Yorks Moors, the Yorkshire Dales,
and the coasts of both Yorkshire and Northumberland are within an hour's drive.
For further Tourist Information see
The Durham Dales Official Web-site,
or
Durham Dales Centre Web-site
or
Wear Valley District Council Web-site,
or
Durham County Council Web-site,
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