20 Attractions to Explore Near Rushcliffe Country Park

The Great Central Railway - Nottingham offers almost 10 miles of heritage railway running through the beautiful scenery of South Nottinghamshire and North-West Leicestershire. Journeys begin at Ruddington, just south of Nottingham, and continue through to East Leake and Loughborough. The GCRN's facilities at Ruddington include a Model Railway, Miniature Railways, a Heritage Transport Collection and railway workshop with full engineering facilities, as well as a children’s play area, cafe and gif

A unique collection of restored cottages and workshops arranged around a garden courtyard. Walk round to see how a local Victorian community lived and worked, watch live demonstrations of their machines, try your hand at knitting on a 19th-century sock machine, see a collection of hosiery spanning 200 years, perhaps watch a short film, and then relax with a cup of tea.

Ruddington Village Museum was founded in 1968. It explores retail life in late Victorian and early Edwardian Ruddington through a series of displays which recreate Ruddington’s shops of yesteryear. It was one of the iconic attractions in this area and a lot of peoples visits this place every year

Trent Bridge is a truly historic cricket ground. It first hosted a one-day international in 1974 and has been used as a Cricket World Cup venue for the 1975, 1979, 1983 and 1999 editions. It is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as international cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of the Twenty20 Cup twice and will host the final of the One-Day Cup between 2020 and 2024.

Attenborough Nature Reserve was established in 1966 and opened by Sir David Attenborough. The reserve is best known for its birds. The area is an important site for winter wildfowl and often holds a high proportion of the county's shoveler and diving ducks The reserve now covers 145 hectares of lakes, wetland, grassland and scrub. It sits at the confluence of the River Erewash and the Trent, and is part of an area designated as the Attenborough Gravel Pits Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Holme Pierrepont Country Park, home of The National Water Sports Centre is located in the hamlet of Holme Pierrepont near Nottingham, England and on the River Trent. It is used for many different types of sports and has recently received significant investment which has enabled a major refurbishment of existing facilities as well as introduction of new facilities. it was previously one of five National Sports Centres, and is a unique sporting venue set in the centre of the country.

The Major Oak, known throughout the world as the secret hiding place of Nottinghamshire's outlaw hero Robin Hood, is located in historic Sherwood Forest, a 450-hectare national nature reserve. It’s not clear whether the Major Oak is one tree or multiple saplings that have fused together. The soil below is also relatively poor and acidic, meaning the oak has had to take things steady, slowly growing over a long time to reach this size.

Skylarks Nature Reserve is an attractive wetland nature reserve owned by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. This was the first accessible nature reserve in the UK. Skylarks was once a commercial gravel pit, and has been carefully managed so that now the holes left by extraction are a valuable wetland habitat for a variety of wildlife.

Bramcote Hills Park is a stretch of woodland and fields that used to be a part of the manor house, but the house was demolished in 1968 and its grounds became the public park. The largest park in the Borough. It has been awarded a Green Flag for the last 12 years. The park hosts a large number of events throughout the year including the annual Hemlock Happening, fun fairs, arts and sports events.

The Hemlock Stone or Himlack Stone is an inselberg on Stapleford Hill at Stapleford, Nottinghamshire, England. This Stone is an outcrop of New Red Sandstone, deposited more than 200 million years ago in the Triassic Period. Approximately 28 feet high, it is formed of a layer of Nottingham Castle Sandstone overlying a layer of Lenton Sandstone.

Arnot Hill Park is located on the edge of Arnold Town Centre and is a great place to enjoy a walk and for the kids to play on the new adventure playground. Inside the park, you can also visit Lake View Cafe for a delightful selection of hot drinks, cakes and more while enjoying a beautiful view out over the lake.

Gedling Country Park has 580 acres of open space, footpaths and wildlife, with stunning views over the surrounding areas and plenty of space to enjoy the outdoors for exercise and activities and to experience nature and wildness on your doorstep. The park has a popular chldren's play area, complete with mining tower slide and zipwire, several picnic areas, two viewing platforms, a visitor centre where you can find out more about the history of the park.

The Great Central Railway is the UK's only double track, mainline heritage railway. It’s the only place in the world where full size steam engines can be seen passing each other – just as it was when steam ruled the rails. Train rides are available every weekend and Bank Holiday throughout the year and daily in May through to September.

Charnwood Museum is a local history museum in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. This Museum reflects the history and industries of Loughborough and the surrounding area. Permanent displays include: Coming to Charnwood, The Natural World, Living off the Land and Earning a Living. It has a café and a shop and is fully accessible to disabled visitors. It runs many events including art and craft workshops held every school holiday for children, talks, tours and lectures throughout the year.

Queen's Park is well used as a place to play, relax or learn and is easily reached by foot, bicycle, car or bus. Pay and display car parking is available close to the park off Granby Street. There is a 'figure-of-eight' walk that passes alongside a watercourse, which is spanned by a stone bridge. There is also another, smaller lake. The dominant feature of the park is the Carillon Tower, which is a war memorial.

The Nottingham Canal is a canal in the English counties of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. As built, it comprised a 14.7-mile long main line between the River Trent just downstream of Trent Bridge in Nottingham and Langley Mill in Derbyshire. At the same time as the main line of the canal was built by its proprietors, the separate Trent Navigation Company built the Beeston Cut, from the main line at Lenton in Nottingham to rejoin the River Trent upstream of Nottingham, thus bypassing the difficu

The Loughborough Carillon was built as a War Memorial to commemorate WW1. It is in Queen's Park, and is a well-known landmark, visible from several miles away. The Carillon was designed by Sir Walter Tapper, and is now grade II listed. The carillon has 47 bells, all of which were cast at John Taylor Bell Foundry in Loughborough. The carillon was built by William Moss and Sons Ltd of Loughborough.

The Aeropark is both an aviation museum and a viewing area where you can study the preserved planes of yesteryear or watch the modern airliners of today taking-off and landing at a growing international passenger and cargo airport. The museum includes a large number of aircraft on external display and also offers two viewing mounds for watching aircraft arriving and departing East Midlands Airport.

King's Park, located in the heart of the historic market town of Retford, North Nottinghamshire, covers an area of 10 hectares and is divided by the River Idle into two distinct parts. YOu can find a landscape of colourful and attractive seasonal flower displays, an herbaceous border, well maintained lawns with specimen trees, a renovated rock and water garden, tennis courts, bowling green and pavilion. There are also so many other things to do and see In this park.

The Winding Engine House is the last remaining part of Bestwood Colliery - one of the busiest coal mines in Nottinghamshire. The winding engine lowered colliers into the mine shaft, and winched mined coal up to the surface. The tall brick building houses a huge winding engine. Originally it was powered by steam, but today's visitors see the massive engine moved by an electrical motor. The engine dates back to 1876, the heyday of Victorian industrial engineering.