where to stop en route with dog - M42 M5 down to cornwall

[HasaDigaEebowai]

Any suggestions of nice places to stop en route to break the journey. Two DC, one dog and one MNer who likes gardens?

Gloucester Services:

www.gloucesterservices.com

They have a dog walk!

Westonbirt arbetorium in Tetbury is lovely for a dog walk and there is a great pub close by called the Kings Arms if you want to stop for lunch.

Should say the kings Arms is also extremely dog friendly!

Oo thanks, I'll check them out

Definitely Gloucester services. How far off the M5 do you want to go? There's killerton house NT near j29 and haldon hill forestry commission wood nearish j30

Woodgate Valley Country Park is free and less than 10 minutes from junction 3 of the m5. Normally there are walking trails, a playground, cafe, visitor centre, toilets, and an urban farm.
Hanbury Hall and Gardens (National Trust) is about 10 minutes from junction 5. Dogs have to stay on leads. A one- adult family costs £15. There’s a playground and I think the cafe might be open too now.
Blaise Castle Estate is close to junction 17. As well as the opportunity for a quick picnic and playground stop, there are also lots of walks in the grounds. It’s free and there’s no charge for parking. The playground is large and there are areas for older and younger children. The cafe is serving takeaway.

Don't mind coming a way off the motorway if that gets us to a good location for a couple of hours for a picnic and a good dog walk. Its an almost six hour journey door to door and we can't get into the house until 7pm so we will have time to do a little detour

Gloucester services is extremely dog friendly and hog and hedge near Okehampton is good too

Worcester Woods country park is a good place, just off the M5. Lovely cafe, a really good off lead run for the dogs, and plenty of space (plus a playground depending on age of children), and free.

Hog and hedge is a nice stop for food but there's nowhere to walk the dog round there.

You can also detour onto dartmoor from the A30 the other side of okehampton. Meldon quarry walk along the trainline is good with a cafe along the way

Stop off at Brean? (Check tides!) park on the beach and let the dog have a play. Just don’t walk out to the sea!!

I was going to suggest worcester woods too, but may not be far enough into your journey? Clevedon is nice, or portishead, if you wanted somewhere a bit further south

Thanks everyone, we're going to take a look at all the suggestions this evening. Sounds like there are plenty of good options

Haldon Forest near Exeter definitely. There are 3 different marked routes through the forest, so choose according to ability/what you fancy.
Beautiful thick forest, which breaks open at points for gobsmacking views.

A PP also mentioned National Trust, if you're not a member they are only £5 at the moment with timed entry slots for walking around the grounds and picnics. I went to a couple over the weekend and they were very quiet and lovely

I wouldn't risk NT at the moment due to the timed entry slots - if you get stuck in traffic (major set of roadworks due to start on the M5 again soon) then you could easily miss/lose half your timeslot. The woods in Worcester mentioned above are good, as are Glos services - Glos services do awesome cakes too (If a bit pricey)

Yes we had a look at a couple of NT properties last night and unfortunately if you are ten minutes later than your slot you lose your slot so they're no good at the moment.

Loads of other great suggestions though, thanks so much.

Another vote for Worcester Woods. The cafe does amazing cakes! Plenty of space for a picnic as well.

Adding Haldon Forest to a list of places I must go!

Worth noting about Worcester woods...if your dog tends to jump in water, there's a stinky pond! My dog decided a swim was in order and stank the car out 🙄