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.
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