Wooler Tourist Information

Things to Do in Wooler, Glendale & The Cheviot Hills

Wooler is the market town centre of the Glendale area of the Northumberland National Park and a top walking and cycling gateway into the stunning Cheviot Hills. Walking weekends often feature in Wooler which boasts a popular Youth Hostel and a wide choice of country hotels, B&Bs, cafes and tearooms and a choice of independent shops. The Cheviot Hills are a backdrop to Wooler and offer numerous walking opportunities to suit all from long distance challenging walks to short circular trails. Leaflets, walking maps and guides to the Cheviots and Glendale walking and cycling are available from the Cheviot Centre tourist information point in Wooler centre.

East of Wooler is the stunning Chillingham Estate, home to the 12th century Chillingham Castle which is open to the public and available for weddings. Chillingham Castle was used as a base-camp for the attack against William Wallace in 1298. There are Elizabethan additions to this spectacular Northumberland Castle such as the Long Galleries. England's great landscaper Capability Brown, who was born not far from Wooler, designed the park at Chillingham in 1752. Featuring in The Independent's top 50 castles in Europe and best England Ghost Tour, Chillingham Castle is famous for its ghosts. Ghost tours at Chillingham alongside castle tours are available through the year. You can walk direct from Wooler to the beautiful woodland of Chillingham Park for views of the castle. The Chillingham Wild Cattle Park is also in the area.

Ancient Hill Forts and spectacular waterfalls such as Humbleton Hill Fort and Linhope Spout are also popular walks around Wooler. Other outdoor activities in Wooler include local skiing when the snow falls on the Cheviots in winter and numerous cycling routes branch out into Glendale and The Cheviots from Wooler including the popular gentle family cycling route through the Milfield Plain. The long-distance St Cuthbert's Way from Melrose to Lindisfarne runs through Wooler. The final stretch of St Cuthbert's Way from Wooler to Lindisfarne is around 28 kilometres and takes in the famous St Cuthbert's Cave en-route near Greensheen Hill..

The two top festivals in Wooler include the Glendale Festival at the end of July annually and the big agricultural Glendale Show at the end of August annually. The Glendale Festival in Wooler is a real showcase of Wooler, Glendale and Northumberland's celebrated local food and crafts. The festival features a wide choice of local food stalls including Fenton Fine Foods from the nearby Fenton Centre and local fresh produce from Wooler's own Community Garden. The August Glendale Show in Wooler is North Northumberland's top agricultural show featuring craft and speciality food marquees, dog shows, sheep dog trials and livestock shows, family entertainment and children's activities.

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Fenton Centre near Wooler

Top attraction near Wooler is the Fenton Centre with free admission located in the heart of the North Northumberland countryside. This unique centre on a working farm showcases local foods, art and crafts and for younger visitors an adventure playground and touch & feel information panels are onsite. You can also hire rooms for conference events at The Fenton Centre.

Both an educational and recreational resource, The Fenton Centre working farm is a dynamic mix of environmental diversification featuring commercial crops, wildlife ponds and river banks. Families can pull on their wellies and explore this premier environmental centre with a focus on 'Think Globally - Act Locally'.

A coffee shop, restaurant and art gallery displaying work by local artists are all onsite at the Fenton Centre which also boasts adjacent free parking. The centre is clearly signposted off the A697 near Wooler.

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Yeavering Bell (Ad Gefrin) Iron Age Hillfort

West of Wooler in the Cheviot Hills is the Yeavering Bell Hillfort, also known as Ad Gefrin the palace of the ancient kings of Northumbria. The site represents the largest of Northumberland's many Iron Age Hillfort. Yeavering was in the Anglo-Saxon period one of the most important strongholds in England, site of a grand palace built by Anglo-Saxon kings. Evidence has also been found at Yeavering of earlier Neolithic presence. A temple was once here and during the Bronze Age the dead were buried around Yeavering.

English Heritage have undertaken a survey of the Hill and there is now a heritage trail guiding you around the Yeavering site which reveals visible platforms for about 130 timber-built roadhouses. The Northumberland National Park has produced a guide - 'Yeavering - People Power and Place' available to order via the Park's website. Near Milfield village just north of Wooler you will also find the Maelmin ancient site also dating from the Anglo-Saxon period. Reconstructions of ancient monument structures which would have stood here during the Anglo-Saxon period, can be seen at the Maelmin ancient site near Milfield.

You can see examples of cup & ring markings made by Neolithic and early Bronze Age people in the Glendale area, accessible via walks from Wooler. Find out more about ancient markings such as Dod Law, Roughting Linn and Weewood Moor at the Cheviot Centre in Wooler.

Other popular walks from Wooler take in historic battle sites in the area between the Scots and English including Flodden Field 1513 near Branxton and the lesser known Battle of Homildon Hill, also known as the battle of Milfield which took place in 1402 between Northumbria's army led by Henry Percy against the Scots Raiders led by the 4th Earl of Douglas.

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