We live in a rather beautiful historic market town and when we have friends and family come to stay with us they are always amazed at the very beautiful surroundings we have. I guess because we live here we take them for granted.
Set on a high rock above the River Tees, Barnard Castle takes its name from its 12th century founder, Bernard de Balliol
I had a friend and her 4 children come to stay with us for 10 days and I decided that the castle we have is rather boring so had no desire to take them for a tour. But when her children saw it they could not wait to get inside.
We headed to Greggs for lunch and sat on what we call The Scar Top here and while the kids had a game of football and munched on sausage rolls we had ten minutes to eat and get organised for our castle trip.
The kids ran riot and I have to say I was rather worn out trying to keep everyone together. It did not help that Fiona, my friend is terrified of bridges and there are a few you have to cross inside the castle. I did have to laugh at her tho.
With fantastic views over the Tees Gorge this fortress sits on the fringe of an attractive working market town also known as ‘Barney’ so there is plenty to do for families on a day out.
It was a sunny day and even I have to admit our castle is pretty impressive.
We had 3 adults to our ten children and think we managed pretty well. Nakita my 13 year old loves photography and she was rather impressed with the pictures she took.
The castle is open 10-6 for the summer period and once you have paid to go inside you can come out and go back is as many times as you like throughout the day, which is great when you need extra drinks and have to go shopping for baby wipes to wipe up the mess of ice creams.
The kids had a great day and us adults had aching feet by the end of it. All in all if you visit my home town make sure to stop by and take in the beauty of our castle.
