Bestwood Country Park

WHAT IT’S LIKE

650 acres of hilly park with a Victorian winding engine house to explore and a volunteer-run café open Saturday mornings.

Bestwood Country Park is 650 acres of varied landscape, wildlife and industrial heritage sitting between Arnold and Bestwood village, jointly owned by Gedling Borough Council and Nottinghamshire County Council. It's popular with walkers, cyclists and bird watchers, and the big draw for families is the Bestwood Winding Engine House, the last surviving part of the old colliery, where you can look round the exhibits yourself with a recorded audio commentary, or join a volunteer-led guided tour on Saturday mornings (no booking needed). It's free to get in and free to park. The park is hilly with steep gradients, so it's not all buggy-easy going, but some paths are wheelchair accessible (worth calling the rangers to check routes) and both the Dynamo House Community Café and the Winding Engine House itself are fully accessible. Dynamo House serves hot and cold drinks and home-made cakes on Saturday mornings and on Bank Holiday Monday afternoons (or alongside park events), all run by volunteers with profits going back into the park, and there are picnic tables dotted around if you'd rather bring your own. There are two car parks: one by the Bestwood Lodge Hotel entrance and one at the Bestwood Village end near The Winding House, with different opening hours for each. Toilets with an accessible/baby-change facility are at Dynamo House, plus other toilets around the park, though note the block nearest the hotel entrance is currently closed, with the nearest alternative near Alexander Lodge.