Discover Plashetts

Last updated: 7 March 2006

Plashetts stands in the upper North Tyne, among forestry and older woodland, a short way from Kielder Water and the castle to the north-west. It is a working village on a human scale: hall, church, heritage centre, a handful of houses, and the walks that leave from the green. The air is the air of the forest. The light, even at midday, is the light of trees.

First-time visitors are well served by a turn about the village before the longer walks, and by Getting Here for the present approach. A sketch map is issued with the current leaflet at the Heritage Centre. Older maps of the valley are of interest in the gallery; the present turning is the one on the ground.

Approach from the valley road. The brown signs, where they remain, refer to this village.

What there is to see

The built village can be walked in a few minutes, and those minutes are worth taking slowly. The interest is in the setting: the green, with the hall at the near end and the inn facing from the far side; the memorial garden, which names the dead of the pit and of the two wars; the church above, with the Green Man in the chancel; the start of the Green Man Trail at the porch of the former school; and the forest that closes in on three sides. In summer the grass on the green is kept. In autumn the same grass holds the first of the larch. There is always a bench.

Kielder Water lies along the valley and is a popular day out in its own right — ferry, shore and castle, with wide views and plenty of parking. It is a separate attraction, administered from those offices, and makes a pleasant companion to a morning in Plashetts if you have the afternoon. See the water.

A sketch map is issued with the current leaflet. It is not reproduced on this site. Numbered points on that sketch are listed under Map, which will serve if you are planning the walk from home.