Also see DIRECTIONS sub-section below
For an individual or family trip around the Forge we recommend allowing at least an hour and a half although longer may be required on busy days.
Opening times and Entry Fees
Top Forge is open to the public on Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays from Easter until the Early November. If Easter is late, earlier opening is likely.
The Forge will be open on Saturday 14th September
Free entry for Heritage Week – Donations welcome.
Continuous guided tour from 11am
The Christmas Special Open Day
will be on Sunday 8th December 2019
Lots going on from 11am (slightly raised entry fees)
Opening hours are 11:00am until 5:00 pm.
Admission to the site is £3.00 for Adults, £2.00 for Concessions (O.A.P.s) and 50p for Children (Under 16).
This includes all day parking and a guided tour of the site.
From 2:00pm a Model Engineering Group operate the Miniature Passenger Carrying Railway, with steam locomotives operating on most weekends.
An increased charge will be made on “special ” open days.
Group visits
The Forge can make special arrangements for Party visits and Special Openings. These should be arranged through Gordon Parkinson at gandcparkinson@blueyonder.co.uk. You should try to give us a little notice for such a visit as certain arrangements cannot always be made at short notice.
Coffee, tea and biscuits can be provided for groups if some idea of the numbers involved can be given a week before. For Party visits that include refreshments you should allow 2 hours to cover a full tour of the Forge, associated buildings.
Access for coaches
Our new gates are 13ft wide and we have had no problems with large modern coaches bringing parties to Top Forge.
Once in the parking area, there is plenty of room for coaches to turn round and wait for their passengers to return.
Toilet facilities
The toilets are close to the parking area , making this an ideal pick-up point for coach parties.
Notes on Disabled Access
Any would-be visitor who has special access requirements must remember that the Top Forge is an ancient site .
The majority of the site is surfaced with grass or gravel.
In wet weather the grass is generally soft and even waterlogged in places.
However, in dry weather when the ground is dry, we believe that wheelchair access is possible to most areas. This may however only be with the assistance of our volunteers, as there are several slopes to be traversed on any route around the site.
The main Forge building has level access everywhere except for the area around the Blower Wheel, where steep steps lead to a platform overlooking the wheel.
Access to the Workshop Buildings (Blacksmiths / Foundry / Joiners’ shop) is by a route following the narrow gauge railway. Once inside the Blacksmiths, the floor is acceptably level. However, steep and narrow steps restrict access into the Foundry and Joiners shop.
There is a disabled Toilet.