A few weeks a go we headed north to visit my family and took a little trip to Raby Castle while we were there. My parents had been before and recommended it, so we went with them for a lovely day out.
I think the castle is one of the best kept secrets of the north – I had never heard of it before and it is out in a little village so there weren’t crowds of people everywhere (always a bonus). The village it is in is called Staindrop, just off the A1. My mum said it sounded like a lovely name for a village. But then we all decided, actually, no it isn’t.. haha!
There is a playground area for kids and picnic areas too. The grounds are amazing with lots of deer roaming around. The castle itself isn’t huge but it is very well looked after and a family currently live there. I think I have said before that I’m a bit of a history geek so was great to read all of the notes about it and who and how they lived there, back in the day.
There are quite limited openings for the castle, summer months only, but some days they have guided tours. Just give it a google if it is somewhere you think you might visit.
 |
| Had a very close call with Max and falling into this water feature – amazingly he didn’t fall in but fell the other way to the ground |
 |
| My boys! |
 |
| Running along the wall with Grandma |
If you are ever in the area, or from the North East, I highly recommend taking a visit.
