While gazing across the lake at Aden Country Park a few weeks ago and attempting to take a selfie, I was approached by two earnest young men. “Can we take some pictures for you?” one offered. I replied that I was more than used to taking selfies but thanked him nonetheless.
However, the young men were keen to chat, informing me that they were missionaries (Jehovah’s Witnesses) and asked if I’d be interested in hearing what they had to say. Alas, I was on my own mission – to explore the recently restored and redeveloped 230-acre country park, and so I had places to be and things to see. I did however accept one of their leaflets and pledged to browse it later.
It turned out that Aden was pretty busy not just with missionaries, but families, couples and groups of kids enjoying the fantastic weather and revamped facilities. And no wonder – the new offerings are pretty impressive. Aden Country Park’s heritage project Having taken five years to complete, the revamp was celebrated with the unveiling of the shiny new visitor centre last month.
The centre – boasting a fibreglass dairy cow that can be ‘milked’ – was designed as a place where people can learn about Aden’s heritage and its links to farming in the north-east. It had been a good few years since I’d been to Aden so I was excited to rediscover features such as the ruined mansion, Victorian arboretum, and Hareshowe, a working farm set in the 1950s. Meanwhile, archaeological excavations, carried out .