About the reserve

The woodland was once a thriving colliery and village where Alexander Graham Bell made the first underground telephone call.

This place is a beautiful example of how nature reclaims land when people move on. From the woodland at Addison, to the scrub and grasslands at Hedgefield, this place is a thriving wildlife refuge.

The wet grassland supports an array of colourful plants such as ragged robin, valerian and marsh marigold whilst drier areas include betony, pignut, tormentil and lady’s mantle. Scattered scrub provides cover for many birds such as whitethroat, yellowhammer and willow warbler.

Non-native planted tree species dominate the Addison Village site such as sycamore and beech with patches of semi natural woodland containing ash, alder and birch. Woodland rides have interesting flora with lady’s mantle, marsh marigold and creeping cinquefoil to name just a few.

DWT took over the management of this site from Gateshead Council in June 2014 and will be continuing the work to develop the area for wildlife.