When you arrive at Village Green Holiday Park you’ll encounter a friendly and welcoming community. There’s lots to do in and around Edmundbyers as you’ll soon discover. Here are the best places to go in Edmundbyers.
1. Derwent Reservoir
A visit to Village Green Holiday Park in Edmundbyers will always bring up the name Derwent Reservoir and for good reason. Derwent Reservoir is a hot spot for outdoor activities that any one of any age can participate in, even you.
The lake that gives Derwent Reservoir its name is a three-mile body of water with a depth of a hundred meters and it’s a magnet for windsurfers, free divers, and anglers. You can get in on the action with Derwent Sailing Club situated on the northern shore of the reservoir, south of Barleyhill. They offer an exciting selection of activities from kayaking to open water swimming and leisure sailing with training for those who are new to water sports.
If you prefer to keep your feet dry, hiking or cycling around the lake comes highly recommended by the locals and visitors alike. A ten-mile walking trail circumvents the reservoir with such breath-taking views across the lake and inland, it’s earned the certification as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The walking trail is a great way for you to stay in shape, take in the enchanting views, and there’s plenty of stops along the way including Derwent Waterside Park where you can grab a drink and a bite to eat.
Speaking of things biting, Derwent Waterside Park provides a selection of fun angling activities for children and adults with fly, bait, coarse, bank and boat fishing. If angling is something you’ve never done before then take advantage of private and group lessons to learn an invaluable life skill and perhaps discover a new hobby to pursue.
If you find yourself yearning to go farther than Derwent Reservoir, then chance upon the village of Blanchland to the south-west of Edmundbyers and seek out the abbey there.
2. Blanchland Abbey
Adding to the natural beauty of the local area is that of the man-made with Blanchland Abbey and from which the village took its name after the founding of the abbey in 1165. Sadly, the abbey is no more but the church now standing in its stead retains a delightful mixture of Gothic, Georgian and Victorian architecture, all of which you can see on a walk around the grounds and all of which form a part of the original abbey itself.
The Parish Church of Saint Mary the Virgin arose many centuries after the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539 which saw the original Gothic abbey fall into ruin. Many of the cottages you’ll find in the village of Blanchland were built using some of the original stone from the abbey after its decay and the abbey retains the last surviving example of a Premonstratensian roof.
When you wander around the Gothic graveyard still in existence today, you’ll find gravestones marked with a sword, a bugle, and an arrow. The graves marked by these symbols belong to the abbey foresters, monks who managed and cared for the surrounding woodland during the 13th century. The oldest remaining part of the abbey is the nave with the original walls dating back to the 13th century and a restored sedilia of the same period.
Whether history is your thing or not, when you spend time in Edmundbyers it comes as one of the best places to visit alongside Derwent Reservoir.
