Rainton Meadows Nature Reserve & Visitor Centre

Rainton Meadows nature reserve is owned and managed by Durham Wildlife Trust. The visitor centre and children's WildPlay area open seven days a week from 10am – 4.00pm. The centre has a range of facilities including toilets, a classroom, meeting rooms, gift shop and a fantastic coffee shop. There is an excellent network of accessible pathways linking viewing areas that look across the lakes and wetlands, with areas of grassland and woodland completing the habitats on site. Rainton Meadows has developed into a significant area for wildlife over the last 30 years. The wetlands and grasslands support a wide range of birds and over 200 species have been recorded. Waders such as redshank, oystercatcher, lapwing are regularly seen and also more unusual species such as little ringed plover. All five species of UK owl can be seen at different times of the year and there are good numbers of warblers, finches, tits and farmland birds.