Advertisement

Barnard Castle: Why is the small market town worth a visit?

The ruins of Barnard Castle, from which the town gets its name - istock
The ruins of Barnard Castle, from which the town gets its name - istock

Winston Churchill was a Prime Minister who enjoyed his holidays, with a soft spot for Marrakech. Margaret Thatcher felt holidays got in the way of work. Theresa May is a fan of walking breaks.

Spring is a lovely time for such trips. But with lockdown still in place across the UK (albeit slightly eased in England), we’re not likely to find an exciting list of where MPs, ministers, politicos and the like travelled in April, are we? Nobody wanted to head out and be a ‘covidiot’.

Enter Dominic Cummings.

The chief aide to Boris Johnson has come under fierce criticism after it emerged he drove more than 250 miles from London to his parents home in County Durham while ill with coronavirus. Cummings said he "behaved reasonably and legally", but he was reportedly spotted outside in Barnard Castle on April 12 – a time when lockdown was at the strict ‘Stay Home’ phase. Since then, fresh allegations have been made that Cummings made a second trip to the area from London, something which the Vote Leave campaign director denies.

Barnard Castle, a Teesdale market town, now finds itself an unexpected setting in the weekend’s political drama. Online booking platform Hotels.com has spotted an increase of 160 per cent in searches for accommodation near Barnard Castle from May 22-27 compared with the previous week.

A little-known place where, in the early 19th century, Charles Dickens visited for research when writing Nicholas Nickleby and JMW Turner painted from the river. What makes a place locals call ‘Barny’ worth a visit (not flouting any travel restrictions, of course)?

"What strikes first-time visitors to Barnard Castle is how friendly – and polite – everyone is," says destination expert Helen Pickles - istock
"What strikes first-time visitors to Barnard Castle is how friendly – and polite – everyone is," says destination expert Helen Pickles - istock

“Although not far from the southern edges of County Durham’s coalfield and former pit villages, Barnard Castle feels a softer, greener world away,” says Helen Pickles, Telegraph Travel’s County Durham destination expert.

“Its two broad main streets – Galgate, and the sloping Market Place which continues into The Bank – are handsome affairs, lined with independent shops such as butchers, antique dealers, delis and home interiors. What strikes first-time visitors is how friendly – and polite – everyone is. I was constantly hailed with ‘good morning’ and ‘nice day’.

“At the Number 15 Coffee House – from where you can take your coffee next door to Curlew’s Bookshop, should you choose – I could have popped back to collect a loaf of bread which they’d save for me, from their next baking batch.”

The eponymous medieval castle on its fringe, taking its name from the 12th-century founder and around which the town grew, is an obvious lure. It possesses a grand history, having been home to (and besieged by) kings of Scotland before falling into the hands of the Duke of Gloucester – later King Richard III – during the Wars of the Roses.

Now ruined, it still retains a spectacular vista over the Tees Gorge and is in the custody of English Heritage. The charity recommends trying to “spot Richard's boar emblem carved above a window in the inner ward or visit the 'sensory garden' of scented plants and tactile objects.”

The Silver Swan is a highlight of the Bowes Museum - getty
The Silver Swan is a highlight of the Bowes Museum - getty

If you’re interested in gardens then Eggleston Hall, about 10 minutes out of town, should be on the itinerary. It describes itself as the ‘Secret Garden of the North’, and there have been gardens here since the 16th century. Paths snake around acres of shrubs, perennials and herbaceous borders. Among the gravestones of the derelict chapel is where some of the rarest plants can be found.

A tremendous collection of fine and decorative European art can be found at the Bowes Museum, a charming 19th-century château amid parkland. When it opened in 1892, the Newcastle Chronicle wrote that it would “bring fame and fortune to that quaint town than all its other attractions put together”. It certainly delivers.

Marquetry attributed to André-Charles Boulle, Sèvres porcelain, and paintings by Corot, Boucher, Goya can all be found inside. The collection of tapestries is one of the largest in Britain, but there are quirky items too: a pair of socks from Persia, or a Georgian cabinet so specialised that no one is quite sure how it really works.

The Silver Swan, a 250-year-old silver automaton still in working order, remains a highlight; it’s operated by the museum each day. It enthralled author Mark Twain, who saw it at an exhibition in Paris in 1867 and wrote that it “had a living grace about his movement and a living intelligence in his eyes, [I] watched him swimming about as comfortably and unconcernedly as if he had been born in a morass instead of a jeweller’s shop.”

On a less grand scale but equally intriguing is a gold mechanical mouse, which scuttles along, stops, changes direction and scuttles on again.

Plenty of glorious countryside surrounds Barnard Castle - getty
Plenty of glorious countryside surrounds Barnard Castle - getty

The impressive Bowes Museum is not “what you expect to find in a County Durham market town”, says Helen Pickles, but that “equally beguiling” is the River Tees.

“Whichever way you walk along it – and it forms parts of the Teesdale Way long-distance trail – you’ll be rewarded with soft countryside views, quiet woodlands and potential sightings of herons, dippers, even kingfishers. A pleasant circular trip goes upriver to Cotherstone where there are a couple of pubs for refuelling before returning on the other bank of the river.”

If you are staying overnight, our expert recommends The Rose and Crown in Romaldkirk, six miles north of Barnard Castle. “[It’s] a foodie-destination country inn that has smartened up while still maintaining its village pub credentials.”

The nearest railway station to Barnard Castle is Bishop Auckland, which connects to Darlington on the Tees Valley line. From here LNER runs trains south to London and northbound to Scotland.

Just make sure when you visit, it's not during a national lockdown, eh?

The best hotels in Durham