Blogs About Dogs

Queenswood Country Park has a café that welcomes well-behaved, quiet dogs, which makes it an easy stop after a walk. The rest of the site has more rules. Herefordshire Wildlife Trust asks you to keep your dog under control at all times, and on a lead in the car parks, around the visitor centre, café

Salcey Forest is known for its veteran oaks, which Forestry England calls “druid” oaks and which are rare, distinct wildlife habitats. It lies between Northampton and Newport Pagnell, with its main access on Wootton Road at Hartwell. Forestry England’s code asks you to keep dogs under control, and its Church Path walk is listed as

The road to Holy Island disappears twice a day. Visit Northumberland describes the causeway as cut off by fast incoming tides, calls checking the timetable essential, and suggests allowing about 30 minutes extra for changing conditions. The marked walking route over the sands has different dangers again, and the causeway timetable doesn’t apply to it.

In Cumbria a dog can have a boat trip too. Ullswater ‘Steamers’ describes itself as dog friendly, with water bowls outside the main pier houses, and its facilities page lists a small per-dog fare. Prices change, so check the current fare before you go. A boat out and a walk back is one of the

Even the hotel at High Force welcomes dogs. The Raby estate’s visitor FAQ says dogs are welcome at the waterfall and in the hotel, on leads to protect sensitive plants and wildlife, with extra care needed near the car park because livestock graze the adjoining fields. High Force is on Alston Road at Forest-in-Teesdale, near

The Camel Trail follows the trackbed of two old railway lines and runs 18.3 miles from Padstow to Wenford Bridge, by way of Wadebridge and Bodmin. It’s open to walkers, runners, cyclists, horse riders and wheelchair users, which makes it a flat route for a dog and a busy one for exactly the same reason.

At 180ft, the Cerne Giant is Britain’s largest, and possibly best-known, chalk hill figure, cut into the hillside above Cerne Abbas. The National Trust looks after it and says dogs are welcome but should be on leads. Access to the giant itself is restricted to avoid damage and erosion, and the slope is very steep,

Steep cliffs and a lead go together at Cheddar Gorge. The National Trust says dogs must be kept on a lead in the gorge landscape, with a short lead around sheep. Cattle are different: if they approach, its advice is to let your dog off the lead and call it back once it’s safe. The

Avebury is one of the few places where you can walk a dog through a stone circle with sheep for company. The National Trust welcomes dogs across its land there, except inside Avebury Manor and Circles Café, which admit assistance dogs only. Dogs need to be under close control, on a short lead around sheep,

West Wittering splits its beach by season. The West Wittering Estate bans dogs from the main swimming beach, between groynes 14a and 18 in front of the beach huts, from May to mid-September. This year the ban ran to 14 September, and the estate says dates can vary from year to year. Everywhere else on