Our eyelights!
BARNARD CASTLE’S FUTURE LOOKING GOOD...
THE infamous town Dominic Cummings travelled to in lockdown to “check his eyesight” is back in the news. Barnard Castle is set to be the site of a new Covid-19 vaccine plant and it’s thought up to 60million doses of the British Novavax jab will be bottled there from May. But how much do you know about the notorious County Durham sight-test hotspot? NATASHA WYNARCZYK has 10 little-known facts...
1 BARNARD Castle is set on a high rock above the River Tees and takes its name from its founder, 12th century baron Bernard I de Balliol. He extended the castle there that had been built by his uncle Guy de Balliol.
2 THE remains of the fortress are Grade 1 listed and under the care of English Heritage. They are the town’s biggest tourist attraction and the main sites of interest are the ruins of the 12th century cylindrical tower and the 14th century Great Hall and Great Chamber
3 DURING the Catholic 1569 Rising of the North, where Northern noblemen wanted to get rid of Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots, military commander Sir George Bowes spent 11 days under siege in the castle before surrendering.
4 ONE for Dominic Cummings... the phrase “Barney Castle” is used in County Durham dialect to mean “a pathetic excuse”. It was included in a 1930s dictionary of Slang And Unconventional English and is thought to derive from the incident when Bowes retreated into the castle.
5 AFTER Cummings was caught out, tourists flocked to have their photo taken at the Welcome to Barnard Castle sign and the local Specsavers branch. Tripadvisor had to suspend Barnard Castle’s page on its website due to fake reviewers posting as the former No10 adviser.
6 BARNARD Castle has a population of 5,495. Famous people who have lived there include Bananarama and Shakespears Sister singer Siobhan Fahey, below, former Children’s Laureate Anne Fine and Victorian footballer Bob Chatt, who won the 1895 FA Cup with Aston Villa.
7 IN 2008, Barnard Castle-born Ian Usher made worldwide news when he listed his “life for sale” on internet auction site ebay following his divorce from his wife. His possessions sold for almost £300,000 and he went on to travel the world and become a motivational speaker.
8 THE town is home to “The North’s Museum of Art”, The Bowes Museum, which contains paintings by Goya and El Greco. It was built by art-loving businessman John Bowes and his artist wife Joséphine who wanted to bring art to the wider population. It opened to the public in June 1892 and attracted 63,000 visitors in its first year.
9 ONE of the main features in The Bowes Museum is the 240-year-old Silver Swan, a moving mechanical device made of silver and purchased by John Bowes in 1872. The life-size swan is still in working order and is operated daily by employees of the exhibit.
10 THE second May Bank Holiday weekend sees the Barnard Castle Meet, an annual carnival festival. It grew from the North East Cyclists’ Meet in 1885 and now sees grand processions through town.