Darlington; Tuesday, 01 June, 2021

An early breakfast to be out of the hotel quickly and onto a bus for my first stop of the morning.

During the height of the first Lockdown in the UK at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic the Prime Ministers chief advisor had – despite suffering from Covid himself – driven all the way from London to County Durham. He later went on a drive to Barnard Castle as he though his eyes weren’t working properly. The Prime Minister had complete confidence in him and he kept his job only to be sacked several months later for mocking the Prime Ministers girlfriend. One of the main upshots – alongside a big public outcry – was a lot of news coverage of Barnard Castle, and from all the pictures on TV it really did look like a very nice town, so that’s where I was heading to – albeit without the need to test my vision.

As access to the castle is limited due to the Covid measures that were in place at the time I’d booked a ticket to visit the castle at midday, so I had about 90 minutes to wander around the town before my booked entry. I first off headed down by the side of the castle to the impressive 16th century bridge that crosses the River Tees on the edge of town. From the bridge there are excellent views up to the imposing ruins of the castle above you.

I continued my walk around the town, before stopping off at a coffee shop for an early lunch before heading over to the castle just before my midday timeslot. The timeslots appeared to be quite flexible – more just a way of avoiding having long queues of people trying to get in all at once, and to limit total numbers on site, so I was able to go in a good 15 minutes before my booked slot.

The castle complex in Barnard Castle is one of the largest in the country, with the outer ward and curtain wall covering most of the high ground in the town with a smaller middle ward and inner wards protected by further fortifications and a grand ditch. I spent a good 90 minutes or so looking round the site, taking in the different parts of the castle.

After taking in the castle it was time to head back into the centre of Barnard Castle and pick up the local bus to my second stop, and second castle of the day, over the border into North Yorkshire and the market town of Richmond.

I had visited Richmond Castle previously, over a decade earlier when I’d been staying in Leeds. At that time it was early January and the weather had been awful, so I really hadn’t done the castle justice keeping to the indoor parts of the keep and only a quick look around the large inner courtyard areas of the castle. Today, Covid measures meant that the keep itself was closed, but the glorious weather made looking round the outer parts much easier.

Again, I spent quite some time exploring the castle, along with the small exhibition above the giftshop that tells the story of both the castle and the town, along with it’s many namesakes around the globe.

I had about 40 minutes to wait before my bus back to Barnard Castle so I had a bit of a wander around the centre of Richmond, taking in the very pretty market place, before hopping on the bus for the very pretty ride back through the North Yorkshire countryside to Barnard Castle.

Back in Barnard Castle I again had about 40 minutes before my connection back to Darlington, so I had a bit more of a wander around, taking in the impressive Buttermarket located in the middle of a modern traffic intersection at the south end of the town centre, before heading over to the bus stop and making my way back to Darlington and a well deserved dinner.