Hardwick Park is a country park in
County Durham, near Stockton-on Tees. The park gates are open from half 7
until 7 at night through to the end of October. The car park is £3 all day, or you can pay £2 for two hours which is probably long enough to explore the whole park.
We visited in autumn, and
all the trees had started to turn. I love the colours of autumn, so it was nice
to walk through the woodland at this time of year. The lake is home to
waterhens and geese, and we also saw a couple of swans swimming about.
There are several grade II listed
old buildings dotted about the 18th-century park. Four of the gothic
ruins were restored in the early 2000s – the Temple of Minerva, Gothic Ruin, Gothic
Seat and the Bono Retiro.
