Wildlife at Chopwell Woodland Park
Tyne and Wear
England
High Spen, Chopwell, Rowlands Gill, Gateshead, and Newcastle are the nearest towns or villages.
OS Grid Reference: NZ137586
Chopwell Wood, a beautiful 360 hectare mixed woodland near Gateshead, is alive with an amazing variety of wildlife. Despite its location on the edge of the Tyneside conurbation, animal and plant life thrives beneath the canopy of Tyne & Wear's largest woodland. The Wood's wildlife value lies not in one or two rare species, but in the sheer divesity of plant and animal life that call the Wood their home. Chopwell Wood is an ancient woodland site, a designation that covers only 2% of the country. This makes the wood one of the rarest habitats in the UK today.
Mammals: Chopwell Wood is home to a number of mammals. These include badger, fox, rabbit, roe deer and otter, the latter inhabiting holts on the banks of the River Derwent which skirts the southern side of the wood. We have information about Roe deer, Badger and Otter
Birds: Ninety-five species of bird have been recorded in the Wood. Permanent residents include green and great spotted woodpeckers, treecreepers and a whole 'parliament' of tawny owls! Seasonal visitors to the Wood include siskins, willow warblers, chiff-chaffs and swallows. Red Kites have recently been released from the Derwent valley and can be seen over Chopwell.In 2006 'Geordie’ was the first Red Kite to fledge in the Derwent Valley for almost 170 years. We have information about Red kite
Insects and reptiles: Associated with the wide diversity of plants are numerous invertebrates including sixteen species of butterfly, such as small tortoiseshell, peacock and green-viened white, and over two hundred species of moth. Visit one of Chopwell's 'bomb ponds' and you may encounter dragonflies and damselflies flitting amongst the bankside vegetation. In and around the ponds themselves live two species of newt as well as frogs and toads.
Habitats: Over 250 plant species have been recorded, ranging in size from the minute duckweed with leaves only 5mm in diameter, to giant Douglas Firs at over 40 metres tall. Visits at different times of the year will reveal the diversity of flora in their full glory. During the spring, the woodland floor is awash with colour with the flowers of bluebells, wood anemone and lesser celandine. Later in the summer forest rides and roadsides are scattered with common spotted orchid, harebell and meadowsweet.
How to get there:
Chopwell Woodland Park is located in historic Derwent Valley, 11 miles (17km) from Gateshead and Newcastle City Centre.
By Public Transport
Buses operated by ‘Go Ahead Northeast’ connect the wood with Newcastle City Centre, Newcastle Central Station and the Metrocentre (service numbers 47 and 47A). Visitors from Consett can connect with this bus at Rowlands Gill.
The bus stop for these services is on Hookergate Lane in High Spen, located at the entrance to the road access into the wood. From the bus stop, the trailhead in the main car park is a ten-minute walk along both tarmac road (100 metres) and waymarked forest trail (700 metres).
For further Bus Timetable information use the simplygo link on the right.
By Car
The wood is not signposted until the entrance in the village of High Spen (B6315). Access to the B6315 from the south is off the A694 at Rowlands Gill or from the north at the A695 at Greenside.
Local Weather Forecast (Multimap)
Enter through:
Chopwell Wood Main Car Park
Facilities:
Activities:
Contact:
Leanne Shipley
Recreation Ranger Chopwell
01207 542231
e-mail: leanne.shipley@forestry.gsi.gov.uk