After a ‘Northern Adventure’, on the way home we often stop off for lunch at Brough ice cream parlour and tea room. The food is delicious with the added bonus of views of the castle.

If there is time I am always tempted to walk up to the castle to take in the scenic views and contemplate the history of the ruin.

• The history of the site can be found on the English Heritage website.

Morihei Ueshiba

2021 reviewed in 12 photographs, one from each month of the year.

For some of the months it was difficult to choose only one photograph.

The individual photos can be viewed by clicking on the links below.

1. Leegomery Pool, 2. Local Pathway, 3. All Saints Church, Wellington, 4. Hodnet Hall, 5. Ludlow Castle Walls, 6. Stonehenge, 7. Tasty Treats in Ledbury, 8. Roseway, Wellington, 9. View from Brough Castle, 10. Autumn, 11. Fountains Abbey, 12. The Swan Hotel, Hay-on-Wye

The good news was the bread for the continental breakfast was not stale. The bad new was that there was no bread at all. Leaving breakfast slightly underwhelmed, we put our luggage in the car and checked out of the hotel.

Our first stop was Barnard’s Castle to visit the ruined castle which we had found impressive as we drove past on a previous visit to Newcastle. Once inside we found the castle footprint impressive, the ruins and history less so. We enjoyed the town of Barnard Castle as we walked to and from the car park. I have added it to my list of potential places to stay when we next travel up north.

The guidebook for the castle listed a couple of nearby sites, including Egglestone Abbey which shared a family connection (Bowes) with the castle. We decided to visit, although we got a little lost on the way taking an unplanned detour through wonderful countryside. We found the abbey more captivating than the castle.

Continuing on our homeward journey, we stopped for lunch at the ice cream parlor in Brough. Everything is home made and served by the owners of the farm where it is situated. I chose a delicious blueberry scone and the lovely weather allowed us to enjoy our lunch sitting outside with views of  the ruined Brough Castle. After lunch I couldn’t resist walking up to the castle to experience the wonderful view over the countryside.

Our next stop was Wheelock Farm for afternoon refreshments then, as we neared home, we called in at a supermarket to buy some ingredients  for our evening meal. This brings us full circle to day one of our holiday and my book purchase ‘Simply Raymond’ from which we chose the simple and delightful dish ‘cod cassoulet’. A perfect way to end our holiday.

I have now come to the end of my Newcastle and Crookham posts and will be moving onto my recent adventures in Mechelen.

The name ‘Brough’ comes from ‘Burg’ or ‘Burgh’ meaning fort, as the castle stands on the site of a Roman fort.

In 1092, King William 11, nicknamed William ‘Rufus’, conquered the northern half of Cumbria for England.  Around this time an earthwork castle was built here on the site of Brough’s ancient Roman fort.  The earlier defensive ditches were deepened and banks were formed on the line of the Roman walls.  These banks and ditches remain visible today.

This are of England was in constant danger of attack from Scotland and a stone keep and curtain walls were added to defend Brough’s inner bailey.

In 1203 King John gave Brough to Robert de Vieuxpont,, as part of much larger estates in the area.  The Vieuxponts held it until 1268 when most of their Westmorland estates passed by marriage to the Clifford family.  The Cliffords rebuilt the castle, maintaining it as a residence up to 1521.  Lady Anne Clifford, last of her line, restored the castle in 1689-62.  After her death in 1676 it fell out of regular use before finally being abandoned in 1713. *

*From a signboard next to the castle.

The alarm seemed to go off very early this morning…

Mr C quickly did his packing before we went for breakfast.  There was a lot of banter as Toby served breakfast.  When one of the other guests asked him if he was alright this morning, he looked at us and said  ‘No not really’ and we fell about laughing, much to the puzzlement of the other guests.

After breakfast we loaded up the car and settled up the bill with Toby who then went to get Leona so we could say our goodbyes.  We exchanged email addresses and Leona said next time we are in the area, we must call in to have a coffee together, because at the end of this season they will no longer be running the Coach House  It was a sad moment that we were all rescued from by another client turning up to pay his bill.

We set off on our journey home via Mainsgill Farm thinking we might have lunch there.  It was very busy and crowded and not what we were in the mood for so we decided to drive on.   Whilst we were there I noticed that Kevin the camel was not around but I noticed two younger camels who turned out to be Doris and Delilah. Later I found out that Kevin was no longer with us.  He will be missed, he was a magnificent creature.

After driving a little further we arrived in Brough where we found just the right sort of tea shop for our mood.  It was small, busy and quiet.  Overlooking the tea shop were the ruins of Brough Castle which we went to explore after lunch.  We then resumed our homeward journey.