A Visit to Bishop Auckland

I hadn't been for a good few years, maybe 20, maybe more. But, once again, keen to take advantage of the temporary availability of cheap bus tickets, I decided to set forth from my Tyneside home to one of the more distant parts of the region: Bishop Auckland.

What follows is a far from comprehensive - nor even, perhaps, a fair - account of the town and its attractions but it is an honest overview of my morning's visit a few weeks ago. There are plenty of things I didn't get to see, I agree.

I arrived via the X21 at a little after 8.00am. An early shout, I admit, but at least it gave me plenty of time. The main reason for my visit was to seek out the much heralded Auckland Castle Deer House. I wanted a photo for my forthcoming book (The Great North-East: An English History Tour, vol.2), for one thing, but also thought I might as well book a ticket for Auckland Castle, too. So I did. Well, what with my early arrival, I made straight for the Park and its weirdly wonderful Deer House. And it really is a cracker:

As I still had loads of spare time, I had a hour's wander around the Park. I hadn't a clue where I was going, but just ambled around in a big circle until I got back to the Deer House. On the way I encountered this curious little obelisk:

And, yes, that's me bottom right! I thought that maybe this was a memorial of some sort; but it's nothing more than a well 'cap' covering a part of the eighteenth century water supply system for the castle.

I still had 90 minutes to kill before I could make use of my castle ticket, so I headed back into the town centre to take a look at the shops. I hooked around the NW of the town and came back to the Market Place via a thoroughfare known as Fore Bondgate and its 'specialist shops'. I passed a bookshop (unfortunately closed), before leaving the street and taking a right into Newgate Street - the main shopping area of the town. I walked all the way down and all the way back up without calling in anywhere, and felt a little disappointed with what was on offer. A great deal of the shops were closed and/or boarded up, having presumably met there fate during the pandemic. The huge former Beales department store was a particularly sad sight.

By the time I'd returned to the Market Place I still had half an hour to kill, so I had a quick look inside the Town Hall building. There was a cafe, a theatre, a cinema, a gallery ... but I couldn't find the library. Until, that is, I was directed down into the basement and into the smallest town library I think I've ever seen. When I was last here I'm sure the library took up most of the ground floor (I could be wrong) - very disappointing.

With a tiny little bit of time left I called in at the fancy new 'Auckland Tower': a mini heritage centre-cum-shop-cum-viewing platform. I received a lovely welcome and a personal tour of the place - and, of course, got to experience a brilliant panorama of the town from atop the tower itself.

OK, then, so it was off to the Castle....

The place is, these days, essentially ran as tourist attraction. The bishops no longer reside there, the castle having recently been bought by a prominent philanthropist and heavily renovated thanks to the huge amounts of money thrown at the place by both him and various grants and awards. Must say that it's a lovely place, and a real asset to the North-East.

First port of call is St.Peter's Chapel, the oldest part of the complex:

Next, there's a sort of ante-room, with its many portraits and a short video presentation:

Then it's up the stairs and the Throne Room, faithfully renovated in period style:

The Long Dining Room (below) is perhaps the best of the lot. Those pieces of art are the famous Zurbaran paintings, representing Jacob and his twelve sons - arguably the North-East's finest artistic treasure.

The rest of the 'tour' is given over to themed rooms based on and around the lives of various bishops over the years. They are essentially the private apartments of the main men, from the 1890s through the late twentieth century. Didn't get any pics, but I'm sure you get the general idea. In fact, a pretty good account (and more pics) can be found here.

Canny though it was, I found it all a bit strangely underwhelming. What I didn't realise at the time was that it was actually International Women's Day and they had all sorts of arty things on display, which the attendants seemed particularly keen for me to see and discuss. Now I'm just not into art so found it all rather annoying. I'd much rather have just put a set of earphones on and done an audio tour (not sure if this facility is available now). And I think £15.80 per person (inc. booking fee) is a bit over the top. Just my opinion, though.

And that was basically it for my visit. Some pluses, some minuses, but I still very much enjoyed it. There are at least a couple of other notable 'attractions' that I missed. There's the Spanish Gallery and the Mining Art Gallery, for starters. I fancied the latter, but you needed to book in advance. And there will soon be another to come quite soon: the spectacular Faith Museum. 

Defo worth a day's visit, I'd say - and if you're into art then you'll absolutely love it! 

Remember, though, for most of the stuff you need to book in advance online. See here and follow the links.

Newcastle's Old 'Red Light District'

The thoroughfare now known as Pandon has been modernised beyond recognition in recent years. It is the short street a little to the north-west of the Milk Market area, home to several multi-storey car parks and a selection of up-market eateries. But the course of the road – formerly known as Pandon Street – goes back a long way. Around the time of Mackenzie’s 1827 history of the town, though, it seems to have been going through a rough patch...

Pandon Street leads from the foot of the Wall Knoll, eastward, to the head of Coxon’s Chare. It is a narrow, winding, dirty street, and appears to have been called, in old times, Crosswell-gate. According to tradition, the opulent, pious, and munificent Roger Thornton lived in this street; though now it is generally shunned by respectable people, not only on account of the dirtiness of the passage, but as being inhabited by many of those coarse and impudent wenches, called, in these refined times, Cyprian nymphs, who subsist by administering to the gross appetites of those who are unfortunately strangers to the exquisite pleasures arising from a correct and refined taste, and blind to the disgrace, pain, and disappointment which result from deviating from the smooth paths of moral rectitude.

As you can imagine, such areas of ill repute were many, varied and prone to ‘wander’ over time. Previously, Mackenzie pointed out, it was the narrow chares a few yards to the west of Pandon Street which played host to the ladies of the night. Roughly speaking, Plumber Chare ran along what is now King Street (that’s the one offering the classic view of All Saints’ Church from the Quayside) ...

Plumber Chare was noted, a few years ago, as the receptacle of Cyprian nymphs, whose blandishments were of the most coarse and vulgar description. Indeed, most of these dark lanes were inhabited by “very dangerous, though not very tempting females.” But the character of these lanes has been much altered in late years; most of the dwelling houses having been converted into granaries, warehouses, maltings, breweries, etc.

[article taken from Newcastle-upon-Tyne: Fragments of the Past, vol.1 (see left-hand column)]

Durham Castle Tour

I recently put my name down for a guided tour of Durham Castle. I had never so much as crossed the threshold of the edifice before, and knew next to nothing about the place. To be honest, I thought it was 'out of bounds' to plebs like me.

On an earlier visit to Durham I noticed that this was not the case, and that you could book a tour online at a fiver a shot. So a couple of weeks later I turned up at the gates of this iconic structure and awaited my guide for the venture.

After having booked your slot in advance, you have to call in at the reception of the nearby Museum of Archaeology (itself worth a quick look) to notify them of your arrival and to pick up your official wristband. You then walk the few yards towards the castle gates and wait for the tour to commence.

A small gaggle of us were perhaps a little surprised to discover that a young student was to lead the way - and a Spanish national at that. But very well informed indeed she was, and off we all toddled on our 50 minute tour. We proceeded through the gatehouse (above) and into the 'bailey' area of the castle (below).

Most of Durham Castle is actually given over to student accommodation, so their are strict limits on where you can go. Our guide made it clear, though, that we weren't missing much, as the bits we weren't privy to were clogged up with student-related clutter. Anyway, the first bit we were shown was the Tunstall Chapel, on the right of the above image and shown internally by way of my slightly out-of-focus photo below. It was built in 1540, and contains much of interest, including some very odd wooden carvings - among them several strange beasts and a wife in a wheelbarrow!

The Tunstall Gallery was next, running betwixt the chapel and the Great Hall. It contains a fascinating gaggle of historical bits and bobs, including this lovely archway...

... And a copy of one of Bishop Tunstall's mathematics books. Tunstall's effort was, apparently, the first printed work published in England devoted exclusively to mathematics. Another North-East first, then.

I didn't get a photo of the next area of interest, being the 'flying' or 'floating' staircase that exists at the far end of the Gallery as we approached the Great Hall. Known as the Black Staircase, it was built by Bishop Cosin in the late seventeenth century. It was rather unwisely put together without any vertical supports, then began to lean precariously, and is now supported by wooden posts. It still looks very wobbly indeed, but we were assured it is quite safe!

Finally, there is the Great Hall. This goes way back, date wise, having been extended and altered over the centuries too. It has always been used for wining and dining - from the great and the good of former times to the university staff and students of today. And if it looks familiar, then it was this open space upon which Harry Potter's Hogwarts Great Hall was based (or so we were told). And as for that 'flying staircase', well, yes, that idea, too, was stolen by the Harry Potter folk!

A 50 minute tour of a World Heritage Site for £5. Not bad at all.

More about Durham Castle can be found here. Tour info here.