Durham’s a blast with a past

are inspired by Alice author Lewis Carroll, who spent his teenage years in t he nearby v i l l age at Croft-on-tees.

Theo and Nathan begged us to spend our evenings watching movies and chilling out in the cabins. But it was hard to leave our family room, with its kingsize bed and two singles and views over the hotel golf course.

Durham is full of stunning countryside but it is the capital that called us. More than four million people visit each year and, with its winding cobbled streets and castle, it’s easy to see why it is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

The cathedral, which featured as the mythical world of Asgard in Avengers Endgame, is also home to an incredibly detailed – and massive

– Lego model of the cathedral that the kids will adore.

Just across from it is Durham castle, a grand Norman structure that was home to the Prince Bishops of Durham but now houses the university. Its massive black oak staircase is jaw-dropping.

Wartime

We refuelled at the elegant Cosy Club where we enjoyed dinner surrounded by old paintings and crystal chandeliers with views over the River Wear and castle. It has decent veggie options too.

Families can also travel back in time on a trip to the Beamish open-air museum. Set in 300 acres of land, it gives a real sense of what life was like in the North East, from the 1900s pit village to the Georgian waggon wa way and 1940s farm. For more mo of that history, check out the spectacular outdoor show called Kynren at Bishop Auckland.

We stayed at The Saxon Inn at nearby Escomb, a couple of miles from the epic action. It has smart, cosy rooms and there’s a traditional pub atmosphere. It is the hub of the village for good reason.

Kynren takes the audience through 2,000 years of history, with Boudiccia thundering across the land on her horse and a Viking ship rising from a shimmering lake.

Named in Trip Advisor’s Top Five to See in the UK, it finishes with a massive fireworks display.

Next stop for us was the Locomotion museum in Shildon.

This small town was the birthplace of steam-powered public railway at a time when the collieries in Darlington and Stockton-on-tees were vital to the i ndustrial re revolution. It was enough to m make a trainspotter of me.

As we headed home we’d had ar a real insight into the treasures of the North East past and pr present – and we certainly plan to be back in the future.

FA FACTFILE: Rockliffe Hall has tw two-night autumn family breaks fro from £340. See rockliffehall.com. Da Darlington train station is a fiv five- minute taxi drive away. Fam Family rooms at the Saxon Inn in Esc Escomb cost around £100. Book at s saxon-inn.com.