Book the Pub, Pack the Torch: A Weekend Guide to Bat-Watching Your Way Around Teesside

Picture the scene: you've booked a B&B in Guisborough, the forecast is settled, and you're wondering what to do with a summer evening that doesn't involve staring at your phone in a beer garden. Well, here's an idea — stick around until the light goes, then look up. Teesside might not top many city-break lists, but for the wildlife-loving weekender it hides one of the country's most accessible bat populations, and you don't need a licence, a kayak or a four-figure detector to enjoy it.

Why Cleveland Is Quietly Brilliant for Bats

There's a simple recipe behind it: water, old buildings and mild coastal air. The Tees and its tributaries drag a ribbon of insects through the heart of Middlesbrough and Stockton, which means pipistrelles feeding above the flood banks barely a mile from the A66. Head up into the Cleveland Hills and the mix changes — Natterer's and brown long-eared bats work the wooded escarpments, while old mills, churches and railway structures across the area hold roosts that have been in business since before the Victorians finished building them.

The upshot for visitors is that you can realistically see three or four species in a single evening, often within a short drive of your dinner reservation.

Three Dusk Spots That Earn Their Keep

The Tees flood banks near Preston Park. Park at the visitor centre (the car park stays open late in summer, but check closing times), grab a table at the on-site café before it shuts, then walk the river path as the light fades. Soprano pipistrelles appear early here — often while there's still a glow on the horizon — and the flat, well-surfaced path makes it a genuinely accessible option for less mobile visitors.

Saltburn's glens and the sea front. Do the classic tourist thing first: fish and chips on the pier, a look at the cliff lift. Then drop down into the wooded ravines at the town's edge, where the sheltered valleys hold insects — and therefore bats — long after the beach breeze has emptied the promenade. Street lighting along the front means you'll want to step just beyond the lamps for the best activity.

Guisborough Forest and the hills beyond. Park at the Pinchinthorpe entrance, and note the walker-friendly pub a stone's throw away for a pre-walk tea. The forest edges and ride networks are dependable for common pipistrelles, and on warm, still evenings the detector chatter can be almost continuous. Bring a torch for the walk back — this one is for the slightly more sure-footed.

The Kit Checklist

You need remarkably little, but a few things make the difference between a magical evening and a squelching disappointment:

• A torch — headtorch if you have one, with a spare. Paths that were obvious at 8pm are not obvious at 10pm.
• Warm layers. Even in July, riverbanks cool fast once the sun's gone. A hat you'd be embarrassed to wear to the pub is exactly the right hat.
• Sensible, waterproof footwear. Grass near water after dark is dew-soaked within minutes.
• A bat detector — optional but transformative. A basic heterodyne model costs less than a decent restaurant meal, and pipistrelles are so vocal that even beginners get results on the first try.
• A thermos and a snack. Bat watching is 80% standing still. Standing still is better with tea.
• A fully charged phone — for the walk back, not for scrolling.

One rule above all: never handle a bat or shine lights at roost entrances. If you find a grounded bat, our helpline details are on the website.

Make Your First Walk a Guided One

If you'd rather not wing it (sorry), join one of our guided dusk walks. We run them through the warmer months at venues across Teesside and Cleveland, and they're built with first-timers in mind — short distances, plenty of detectors to share, and volunteers who genuinely get a kick out of the moment someone hears their first pipistrelle at 45 kHz and does a small involuntary dance.

Booking is simple through the website, spaces are deliberately limited so everyone gets a go on a detector, and we'll send you a what-to-bring list when you sign up. Kids are welcome on most walks, and yes — the answer to their first question is usually no, bats will not fly into your hair.

Turn It Into a Proper Weekend

The beauty of Teesside is scale. Base yourself in Guisborough or Saltburn and you're within half an hour of rivers, woodland and coast. Do a guided walk on the Friday evening, spend Saturday on the beach or the Cleveland Way, then try an unaccompanied riverside ramble on the Sunday dusk to test your new skills. By the time you're heading home, you'll have a species list, a favourite roosting spot to keep quiet about, and — if you're anything like us — a detector on your shopping list.

Cleveland's nightlife doesn't need a queue or a booking fee. It just needs you to stay up a little later than the seagulls.