Tees to Topping Green Corridor
Tees to Topping is a long-term vision to connect and enhance green spaces across South Tees, linking the Tees Estuary with Roseberry Topping and the neighbouring North York Moors.
Connecting people, nature and place across South Tees
By connecting places from the Tees Estuary to Roseberry Topping, the vision builds on what already makes this part of the region special: its landscapes, its heritage and its communities.
By bringing together parks, paths, heritage sites, waterways and natural landscapes, the ambition is to create a more connected, nature-rich route through the area. A place where people can walk, cycle, explore and enjoy the outdoors more easily, closer to where they live.
At its heart, Tees to Topping is about connection between places, communities, and people and nature.
Why green corridors matter
The National Trust was founded on the belief that everyone should be able to enjoy nature, beauty and history. That mission remains just as relevant today.
Across the UK, green corridors are being developed to create joined-up networks of green space that are easier to access and enjoy as part of everyday life. While South Tees is rich in green and blue spaces, access to high-quality, connected nature on the doorstep is not always evenly distributed. For many communities, nearby green spaces can feel fragmented or harder to reach as part of everyday life.
Tees to Topping responds to this by focusing on connection by bringing together existing spaces into a more joined-up network that makes it easier for more people to spend time outdoors, closer to home.
At the same time, improving and linking habitats across a wider landscape can support nature’s recovery and help build resilience for the future.
On it the sun shines, over it the wind blows, and it belongs to you all and to every landless man, woman and child.
What Tees to Topping could connect
The corridor has the potential to link a wide network of valued places across South Tees, from the Tees Estuary through to the edge of the North York Moors National Park.
These include:
- Ormesby Hall
- Ormesby Beck
- Stewart Park
- Flatts Lane Country Park
- Guisborough Forest and Walkway
- Great Ayton
- Roseberry Topping
Together, these places already form part of the region’s identity. Tees to Topping builds on their strengths, improving connections between them to support both everyday use and longer journeys through the landscape.
Spending time outdoors
Tees to Topping is guided by the idea that people and nature thrive together.
By strengthening connections between key destinations and green spaces, Tees to Topping can support more sustainable and enjoyable ways to visit and explore the area making it easier to combine walking, cycling and rail travel.
Whether it’s a short local walk, a cycle ride, or simply time spent outdoors, the aim is to make these experiences easier to access and part of everyday life.
By creating more opportunities for people to enjoy outdoor spaces, the green corridor can support health and wellbeing.
Places along the route are already connected by existing infrastructure. For example, Marton station is around a 15-minute walk from Ormesby Hall, while Great Ayton station provides access to walking routes linked with Roseberry Topping via the Esk Valley Railway.
Ormesby Hall and the multi-user trail
Sitting close to the centre of this proposed route, Ormesby Hall has a key role to play, as both a destination in its own right and a gateway into the wider corridor.
The multi-user trail at Ormesby Hall is a free, accessible 3.1km (just under 2 miles) circular route around the wider estate. Perfect for walking, running, cycling or simply enjoying nature close to home.
Open every day, the trail offers a mix of woodland, parkland and open views, including a peaceful stretch through Pennyman Woods. It’s ideal for dog walks, family outings or a regular exercise route, with a smooth, all-weather surface designed to be easy to use all year round.
Working together
Tees to Topping is an ambitious vision that can only be achieved by working in partnership.
The National Trust is working together with local authorities, organisations, communities and landowners to help shape and deliver the corridor over time.
By building on existing projects and shared priorities, the aim is to add value where it matters most, supporting long-term outcomes for people, place and nature.
Tees to Topping is still in its early stages and will be shaped over time through collaboration and community involvement.
It was the National Trust’s vision of green corridors that brought us all together; they bring amazing convening power, depth and breadth of expertise, and open-minded creativity that energises us all.
Green Corridors North East
Tees to Topping, alongside the region’s two other Green Corridors Durham City Green Corridor and Tyne Derwent Way, is part of a wider research partnership seeking to better understand how people use and value their local environment.
Green Corridors North East is a 3-year research partnership (until 2028) funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. Working with a range of partners including universities, local organisations and community groups, this innovative research partnership is seeking to embrace shared leadership, inclusive governance and meaningfully involve communities in the development of research.
The project aims to ensure that each corridor reflects local priorities, supports meaningful participation and creates a lasting legacy for the future.
These green corridors will have a transformative impact and strengthen the connection between our communities and the natural, historical and cultural assets this region has to offer.
A long-term vision for South Tees
Tees to Topping is a long-term ambition, but one with the potential to create lasting impact.
Through partnership, it aims to create a greener, more connected South Tees, where more people can enjoy nature close to home, and where people and nature can thrive together.
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Things to see and do at Roseberry Topping
Discover what you can do around Roseberry Topping, from climbing the hill itself to seeing geological formations at Cliff Rigg Quarry and spotting wildlife such as roe deer.
Multi-user trail at Ormesby Hall, Middlesbrough
Find out more about the new 3.1km multi-user trail at Ormesby Hall. A free, accessible route through woodland and parkland, perfect for walking, running, cycling and dog walks. Open every day, it’s an easy way to get outdoors and explore more of the estate.
