Name: Apedale Heritage Centre
Rating: 5.0

Apedale Heritage Centre

Apedale Heritage Centre, Loomer Road, Chesterton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, UK

Paid

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Description

Apedale Heritage Centre is a family-friendly heritage attraction in Chesterton, Newcastle-under-Lyme. It offers visitors the chance to explore local industrial history and enjoy hands-on heritage experiences. The centre is set beside Apedale Community Country Park, making it a great place for learning and outdoor enjoyment.

Visitors can take guided underground Mine Tours and more adventurous Extended Mine Tours. The on-site museum showcases the area’s industrial and social history, including mining and locomotive exhibits. Guests can also ride the Apedale Valley Light Railway, visit the café, and explore the Apedale Community Country Park with its woodland, meadows and walking paths.

Entry to the museum is free. Mine Tours cost £10 for adults, £6 for children and OAPs, and £26 for a family ticket (2 adults and 2 children). Extended Mine Tours run on selected days with limited places.

Overall, Apedale Heritage Centre offers a unique mix of history, education and outdoor exploration. It is ideal for families, school groups and anyone interested in mining and local heritage. With free museum entry, guided mine experiences and access to countryside walks, it is a rewarding and memorable day out.

Features

Paid
Host birthday parties: No

Features

Mine Tours: Take a trip back in time on our underground mine tour and experience the unique atmosphere of a real coal mine that was once the workplace for hundreds of miners. Your experienced guide will show you around the workings, explaining the methods used to mine coal past and present, whilst providing an insight into the working life of a miner. Tours are available on Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays.
Extended Mine Tours: Our extended tours are back, and we now have two tours that take you into areas of the mine that the standard tours don’t reach. These tours are a bit more demanding that our standard tour so is only for the adventurous, and you can expect to get a bit dirty! On extended tour days there will be two tours of 1.5 to 2 hours, at 10:30am and 1:30pm, with limited places. Our standard tours will also be available.
Museum: Explore the area’s rich industrial and social history through the varied exhibits in our museum. From the formation of coal to the last working mine in Staffordshire, we visit the Romans, Victorians and the ordinary people who lived locally. In addition the museum is pleased to host a small selection of locomotives and rolling stock from the Moseley Railway Trust’s extensive collection. Appropriately this includes a mining locomotive that once worked in Calverton Colliery, near Nottingham.
Apedale Country Park: The Apedale Community Country Park is quite literally on our doorstep, offering 184 hectares of open space to explore. The park offers a varied landscape of woodland, meadows and pools crossed by many paths and tracks. Overlooking the park is a memorial in the form of a pit wheel dedicated to the mine workers of staffordshire.This is the newest country park in Staffordshire in what was once a hive of industrial activity.

Facilities

Parking: Parking available.
Food & Drinks: Our café is open daily from 10:30am to 4pm, serving drinks, snack and a selection of meals, including the local favourite; North Staffordshire Oatcakes.

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Price

Price: Paid

Price Details

Mine Tours

Children/OAPs: £6
Adults: £10
Family (2 adults and 2 children): £26

Entry to the museum is free

Pricing URL: https://www.apedale.co.uk/visit/opening-and-prices/

Birthday Parties

Offer Birthday Parties: No

Open Daily 10:30am to 4pm

Address: Apedale Heritage Centre, Loomer Road, Chesterton, Newcastle-under-Lyme, UK

Post Code: ST5 7LB

Council: Newcastle-under-Lyme

County: Staffordshire

From the North or South (M6)

At Junction 16 (M6) take the exit to the A500. If approaching from the North, take the first exit on the roundabout to Newcastle-under-Lyme/ Stoke-on-Trent. If approaching from the south, take the fourth exit.
At the next roundabout take the fourth exit to the A34 heading to Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Cross the next roundabout, 2nd Exit (A34)
At the following roundabout turn right, 3rd exit onto B5369 Wolstanton road, signposted “Apedale Valley”.
At the next roundabout take the 2nd exit to Loomer road.
Continue to the end of Loomer Road past the Speedway stadium and turn right into the Apedale Community Country Park
Parking for the Heritage Centre can be found about 600 yards along this road.

From the East (A50)

Follow the A50 towards Stoke-on-Trent until it terminates at the Junction with the A500
At the roundabout take the 2nd exit, right onto the A500.
Follow the A500 until the junction with the A53 when you should take the exit.
At the roundabout take the 2nd exit onto the A53 to Newcastle-under-Lyme.
Turn right at the next set of traffic lights onto the B5369, Basford Park Road
Follow the B5369 and cross the next roundabout 2nd exit into B5369, Wolstanton road, signposted “Apedale Valley”.
At the next roundabout take the 2nd exit to Loomer road.
Continue to the end of Loomer Road past the Speedway stadium and turn right into the Apedale Community Country Park
Parking for the Heritage Centre can be found about 600 yards along this road.

By Bus

The main bus service to nearby Chesterton is the 4/4A run by First Potteries which departs from Newcastle-under-Lyme, our nearest bus station, and from Hanley.
The 4A continues on to Kidsgrove, and the 4 to Audley.
For the 4/4A bus, your stop will be the Chesterton Community Centre, known locally as the “Hollows”.
From that stop head back towards the roundabout and take the third exit (counting clockwise, which is Loomer Road and is , signposted “Apedale Valley”.
Follow Loomer Road to the end, where you will find the entrance to Apedale Community Country Park.
The Heritage Centre can be found about 600 yards from the entrance. The walking distance is about 1.1 Miles.

By Train

The nearest station is Longport Railway station (Google Maps).
To get to the Apedale Heritage Center, you can either catch a bus to Newcastle-under-Lyme nearby (the no 98 or 99 service) or, for the more adventurous, it’s nearly 3 miles on foot.
Alternatively, Kidsgrove station is better served by rail and the 4A to Chesterton can be caught from Stops in Kidsgrove town centre.
Stoke-on-Trent is our nearest major station and served by regualr buses to Newcastle-under-Lyme (the no 3 service). Taxis are available just outside the station.