Firstly the grounds are gorgeous! Just take a book and seat on one of the benches and take it all in :) Beautiful collection of paintings. Some real impressive ones actually Definitely worth the visit. I was not a huge fan of the swan show…nothing extraordinary. The cafe is nice. The bookshop/gift shop are a must

Loved this place. The pet project installation was wonderful. My daughters made some new friends who all got involved with the most fabulous creative play in that space. Meanwhile I had a moment of meditation (some might call it a snooze) with my headphones in on one of the incredibly comfortable 3D canvasses! Fascinating - history and some artworks and curiosities. I remember the two headed calf from when I was a kid (about 40 years ago) Magical to see the silver swan in action. Highly recommended- beautiful grounds as well. Nice gift shop (quality gifts at reasonable prices). Bought a tea towel ~ we kinda collect them. Staff were all nice… and authentic if that makes sense.

Fabulous day out! I'm a wheelchair user and found the museum very accessible. The staff here were amazing! An absolute credit to the museum! Loved the Silver Swan demonstration at 2pm. The cream tea in the cafe was delicious 😋 The gift shop is very nice too and has a range of reasonably priced goods. We paid the membership fee and will definitely be back a few times.

The Bowes Museum is such a fantastic place to visit! The grand building and beautiful grounds make it feel really special from the moment you arrive. Inside, there’s so much to see fascinating exhibitions, incredible artwork, and interesting displays that keep both adults and children engaged. The café is lovely, serving good food and cakes with a relaxed atmosphere. There’s even a small play park in the grounds, which was a great bonus for the children and gave us chance to enjoy a coffee while they played. A brilliant day out for families, history lovers, and anyone visiting the area.

An incredible place too visit. So much to see, make sure you arrive early as you'll need plenty of time! Astonishing world of art, great history in a wonderful. Friendly staff and a more than decent cafe /restaurant providing very generous portions. A must see if the silver swan automaton.

Fantastic day out today. The staff were all brilliant, kind and offered help. Quite a bit for kids to see and do. We all enjoyed the exhibits on display. Oh and the Silver Swan is amazing! We rang up to request a wheelchair for one of us before arrival and it was no problem. Most of the museum is easily accessible to all. Cafe was good with prompt service and helpful staff. Good value as well. Thank you to all staff today!

We had a lovely day at Bowes Museum. Entry was free due to it being Heritage Week, if we had paid it would still be well worth the money. Lots to see. The grounds are lovely as well, but we got rained off.

Quaint place to visit hidden down a little track off a c class road. The cafe was very nice and the portions sizes were off the scale. The cheese scone was beautiful and had some paprika or similar in it . The butter was very good quality. The cake was a raspberry crumble cake and was enough to feed two . The secret garden at the back has an honesty box at the beginning. A small nursery next to this allows you to purchase plants at a good price. Will go back .

Beautiful mature gardens to see before you wander around the nursery full of very healthy plants. A separate cafe on site too but we didn't stop for tea.

Great garden and nursery. Lovely studio selling the most beautiful tissue art creations. The tearoom there was brilliant. We had scones with cream and jam and cut up fruit. All the meals coming out looked delicious. Well worth a visit.

Quirky little garden centre with lovely beds. Plants for sale all looked healthy and well cared for, if we lived closer we would be regulars.

Lovely little garden ,old ruined church and graveyard, peaceful and quiet, if you love wild birds this place attracts dozens of them,the cafe is is great value,lovely food, friendly staff.Do go and visit.

This is such a a lovely place, has a great selection of plants. Also has a cafe for a coffee and snack. Also has an antique shop there. Unfortunately the antique shop wasn't open at the time I was there so couldn't have a browse. For a very small fee of 2.50 you can walk around the grounds which I think is a very fair price and all helps towards the upkeep. Well worth a visit.

Amazing! Beautiful nursery full of gorgeous plants to purchase, and stunning grounds to walk round. The cafe/tea room is is a nice stop off to unwind. A definite must-visit!

Beautiful, peaceful place. Stunning ruins. Informative plaques dotted around. Slight confusion about parking fee. One sign said Free Parking, another said £2 but could only pay by text message. Would benefit from an honesty box as an option for those who aren't tech savvy.

Impressive tall stone arches, great stone features meet you as you pull into the carpark.. lovely ruins worth the short trip from Barnard Castle.. grass area to sit and relax.. we walked through the fields at the side to the stream, looking back you realize just how big the monastery must of been.. plaques are dotted around giving good information....dogs welcome but must be on a lead... carpark is txt donation.. Drone footage by jakeysjpegs Instagram...

Eggleston Abbey is with English Heritage. It is free to enter, but non members a charge of £2 to park. The Abbey ruins itself is set in beautiful scenery. Dates back to the 1100s . There are still physical parts of the Abbey that presented once was. Totally recommend for peace and relaxation. My 20 year old son enjoyed the Abbey. No facilities or toilets. 1 mile half miles away from Barnard Castle Town.

Discovered this place by chance on a random detour, stopped off to have a look unsure about parking one sign saying free one saying text to pay. A few informative plaques situated around the site and the boundry of the where the walls would of been is clearly marked which was a nice touch and it still retains quite a lot of features.

A beautiful and peaceful historic site — well worth the £2 parking fee! It’s great to see a place like this that doesn’t overcharge visitors just to enjoy the scenery. Compared to Whitby Abbey, which isn’t much larger but costs £16 to enter, Egglestone Abbey feels refreshingly honest and accessible. Definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area!

Interesting place to walk to from Barnard Castle. We enjoyed a lovely walk across fields and back along Teesdale Way.

A lovely ruin in the countryside with helpful signs scattered around the site to give context. We did have to park on the verge because the car park was full, but we were the only people wandering the ruins.

Popped in on a walk from Middleton in Teesdale to Low Force. What an unexpected find too. Lovely visitors centre with local artists prints for sale, maps of the area etc for sale. Just had an ice cream and potter in the shop but will return. I expect the cafe is cosy in the winter months with huge log burning stove on. Low Force a short walk away. The area is absolutely stunning for walking, cycling etc.

Parked in the free car park and gave afew pound donation before the start of the well signed route to Lower force & High force waterfalls. At the visitor centre there's a cafe and toilets and lots of information in there. This was a really good walk the falls are a spectacle.

Bowlees Visitor Centre is the perfect place to start lots of lovely waterfall walks, including Summerhill Force, Low Force and High Force. The car park is handy and the paths are easy to follow, making it great for families. Inside the visitor centre the cakes and coffee are amazing, and there’s always a warm welcome. It’s one of our favourite spots in Teesdale to begin an adventure or just stop for a relaxing break surrounded by nature.

We have been here several times as a starting place for walking. The parking is very reasonable, asking for a donation. The visitors centre has lots of nicely presented boards about the local area, its wildlife, geology and farming. There are lots of maps and walking books too. The cafe has a simple selection of good food, we enjoyed the soup today and the staff are friendly and helpful. The paths we have tried have been well signposted and there are walks of varying lengths and some spectacular waterfalls.

Lovely place for a break.. we parked here for our walk to low & high force.. donation parking, plenty of space when we arrived, but on our return mid afternoon was a bit busier... Cafe, toilets, seating and picnic areas.. designated walk board, with looped routes to high force and surrounding area.. great starting point for the river side walk to both falls..

Lovely walk down to low force waterfall, very scenic and not too far to get to from car park. Good, friendly service and lovely food in the cafe which was worth the money, home made chips were great and the hot chocolate very good ☺️

Great cafe. Very friendly and helpful staff. Great place to stop after an amazing waterfall walk.

A beautiful place to stop for snacks and meals. I had the best lemon meringue pie I've ever tasted. The hot chocolate and cooked breakfast where of high quality.Would highly recommend going here.

We were driving by and see a cafe sign, so we stopped there to get lunch. The staff were spot on for customer service. I got a Yorkshire sausage bap which was really nice and price reasonable at £3.50 & a medium Cappuccino costing £3.50 also. It looked good, but was warm when I got it. The shop was okay, but quite expensive. Wheelchair friendly. Has a large car park.

Dont arrive hungry as you will not he able to control your spending but then again the produce is fabulous. Arrived hungry left full and also stocked up with meat and produce to fill have the fridge /freezer! Lovely place return now for my meat.

Nice cosy cafe with a reasonable selection of grub, but definitely not the cheapest for coffee. Couldn't actually see the prices for beverages displayed, so you might want to ask before buying drinks. Lovely environment though.

The best burger and roasted lamb we ever had. The best lunch stop we have done. Also, their butcher had a great offer of 5 organic items for £20. Great deal. They also gave us an ice pack for our 3 hours drive. Definitely recommended and we will come again.

Stopped for a quick coffee Stopped on our way north and decided to stop here, drove past another farm shop which looked even bigger and hugely more busy so busy it was a factor for us driving past. We got a take away latte which was very nice if not a little expensive which was backed up by the prices of a breakfast sandwich which is £5 for an egg sandwich which seems a lot. Shop looked good but as we were in a bit of a rush we never walked around. I would definitely stop here again and explore a little more if im ever back in the area.

Pleasant and friendly. However, many more vegan options (savoury and sweet, hot and cold) would be needed on the menus, please - we would have ordered lots of hot vegan mains and vegan cakes, but instead we just picked up a few bits from the shop.

We went here to see Scott Bennett the comedian who was fantastic. This is a nice ,intimate venue were no matter where you sit you have a good view of the stage . Small bar inside which did have quite a queue but did take to long to get served.

Went to see the band China Crisis here and it was absolutely fantastic. Again the group was outstanding and just never fail to impress. The sound in the hall was very good. The Witham was an excellent run venue and what I find incredible is access and parking all so near without the agro of trying to find a space. The bar staff were friendly and prompt. I like to congratulate whoever is running these shows behind the scenes as they are definitely doing a fantastic job. Well done to all.

The Durham Brass Bash this evening was such a good event, thank you! We really enjoyed all three bands - the JB Orchestra, the Rajasthan Heritage Brass Band and the New York Brass Band.

This review is based on the "Made in Tennesee " performance only which we have been unfortunate to have to watch. I am not sure if it is the acoustics that were not in sync with the vocalists, but you could not really hear them above the music and what you could hear was muted and incoherent.. We were in row J and left during the break. It seemed that others left before we did. Some of the musicians seemed reasonable enough but for £25 each for a ticket, it needs to have a lot better balance between the musicians and singers. Very disappointing ,but good luck if they are going on tour in America

Visited on 2nd March to see comedian, Simon Evans (brilliant, by the way). The intimacy of the auditorium makes it an ideal venue for comedy. The staff are unfailingly friendly and helpful. Small, reasonably well stocked bar area. The opportunity to pre-order interval drinks and have the bar open after the performance would have been nice, but this is a small venue run, I think, by volunteers who do a wonderful job and you can't everything. Will most certainly be back.

Went to see the bodysnatchers and jeckle and hide on Thursday the2 October it was brilliant well done to the cast our first time there definitely be back again the staff were wonderful very helpful.

A hidden gem. Went to see a comedian and was a great set. I will definitely be returning

A very enjoyable and lovely experience to share with my 7 year old and mother. Very friendly owners who have raised there Alpacas well to make the experience enjoyable. My mother was unfortunately late arriving and they were very accommodating while we waited and filled the time very effectively. Thank you again for a lovely time, would 10/10 recommend for families!

What a wonderful experience! Sam and Doug made us feel so welcome and taught us plenty about the alpacas whilst we walked them through a lovely little woodland and down to the river. The alpacas seemed very content and are clearly loved and well looked after. Thanks for a lovely morning! 🦙

Had an amazing time. Sam and Doug are so welcoming and knowledgeable. It’s a beautiful place to get to trek around and the alpacas are just gorgeous. Managed to be exciting and calming all at once. This place is really good for the soul!

What an amazing family experience. We absolutely loved the alpacas and loved how amazingly lovable and so well cared for these fur babies were. The alpacas were such lovely character’s and I throughly recommend this experience. You come away with lots of knowledge and can see how cherished they were by their lovely owners who let us ask lots of questions and it was well paced based on all abilities and ages of the group. Don’t hesitate to book up and spend some quality time together in a beautiful area with beautiful alpacas! you wont regret it!

We had a fabulous afternoon in Teesdale. Doug and Sam are professional and kind, we learned a lot about alpacas from them. My girl enjoyed the alpaca walk and she loves to feed them. Alpacas are lovely!

What a fabulous experience today at Teeside Alpacas! Doug and Sam were so knowledgeable and obviously love their animals very much. We had an idyllic walk to the river and got to feed these lovely creatures. Can definitely recommend to family and friends! Tried to bring 3 home but they wouldn't fit in the boot!! (Sorry I got your name wrong in my email Doug!!!)

Had such a great time! Sam and doug were great, as were the alpacas! 🦙 even got lucky enough to see the owl that lives in one of the shelters. Will definitely be back 😀

Kids loved it here £25 for 2 adults and 4 kids wasn't bad value at all as you can come back throughout the day. We arrived at 3pm so only had an hour but we were very welcomed by the staff and nothing was too much trouble. We will be back

We love this place!! We have just recently become members due to our continuing visits. We found the center completely by accident when we had a bird in need of some help. Terry who cares for the animals and helps with their rehabilitation is a wonderful human being! He has such passion for all of the animals and it shines through completely. The animals in their care all look happy and healthy, despite any ailments or illnesses they have come in with. You can get up close and feed the animals. Have a wonder around their paddocks. A great day or afternoon out. With or without children :)

I feel bad giving only 2 stars. I really do. I'm sure its a great charity doing fantastic work, however the place is needing a good clean. The smell of urine as you walk in the entrance will knock you off your feet. I get if you have goats, pigs and rodents under on roof there will be a smell but this was bad. I felt as though I was walking around a prison block for animals. Some areas were really cramped. I'm sure its better than where they came from and safer. I know you work tirelessly but please clean the enclosures to a higher standard.

£20 for a family ticket for 2 adults and upto 4 children. We were a little disappointed to be honest we were in and out in 20 mins. It's one large shed with lots of pens with the animals in. You could buy feed for a pound per bag to feed the animals which we did. We thought 20 pound for a family ticket was steep for what w as there but you have to think they are looking after all the rescued animals and that eases the blow. We thought £10 a family ticket was more suitable really. Animals and staff were friendly but wouldn't visit again.

Lovely friendly place, well cared for animals, great volunteers, building looks a bit tired but still an enjoyable couple of hours. Save some food for the paddock animals outside. Thanks,

Great for the kids only thing is id take pack lunches next time ..canny day out

Adopted 3 rescue chickens from here.. beautiful birds! The animal centre does need a bit of a clean as some pens were a bit dirty and quail eggs scattered everywhere also a broken roof where little birds were nesting and budgies but other than that everything was great loved it! Especially the curly haired pig.. loved her to bits. Shame I don't have the space else I would've took her home 🤣

This ancient and beautiful church is just across the road from the Buttermarket. I had a look inside on a brief visit to Barnard Castle, and it offered me a tranquil respite from the bustle of the town. Dating from 1130, it has a fascinating history and strong links to King Richard III, and although it has been much restored and altered over the centuries, some medieval features remain, including a font decorated with strange symbols, and a 14th century tomb effigy. I loved the Victorian stained glass windows, and was intrigued by the labyrinth inlaid into the floor on the right of the church. There are a few postcards and books that you can purchase just inside the entrance. Outside, there's an intricately carved Norman doorway at the back of the church, and some interesting old gravestones in the rambling and leafy churchyard.

Lovely and historical worship space, with kind and welcoming clergy and people.

Find peace and tranquillity in this historic church, open every day for your peace of mind.

My partner was very happy she found some of her relatives there.

Here for a christening. Beautiful church and such a lovely service.

Wonderful, peaceful visit to this beautiful church do full of history.

Wednesday morning coffee morning beautiful homemade scones good tea and coffee highly recommended sweet staff very friendly

Been many many times love ROKEBY PARK, it's so friendly inside with happy staff. It means alot when we travel from Leeds.

Lovely house. Owner occupied, so has a homely feel to it. Guides are very knowledgeable.

Stunning 17th century architectural masterpiece with painting’s & sculpture galore. Impeccably maintained and in the same family for centuries — the original home of the voluptuous Rokeby Venus now in London’s National Gallery. A private home only open Monday & Tuesdays 2-4:30 pm. from first week in June to first week September. Roman ruins & garden to Dairy Bridge & Meeting of the Waters of Turner fame. Historic pub nearby where you sleep and dine well. Minutes to public footpaths along the Tees & minutes from English Heritage site of King Richard’s Barnard Castle.

Beautiful house with ornate decorations and furnishings set in attractive grounds. Would recommend.

Following a visit to Barnard Castle decided to visit Rokeby. Surprised by the varied contents of the property including the wall covering in the Print Room and of course the exquisite needlework paintings. All around the property we were met with very knowledgeable guides who gave us a great explanation of the rooms and family history of the various owners. Well worth the visit. Do your homework re: visiting as limited opening times.

Fortunately for me having many yrs experience at the mansion due to family working there... it's an amazing place to have such an experience, full behind the scenes, helping on some event's... the views are great, residents nice & friendly. However note, it's not generally open to the public all year round.. there are some limited footpaths around d the estate... the meeting of the waters again for me truly is a magical place,, over the years the changes caused by nature alone is breathtaking... you'll understand when I say stones 2-4 tons plus have been moved by great waves of fast moving water "usually calm" however come early winter & some nice stormy weather.. When the mansion is open please go visit as its a great place to look around, the estate also has Roman remains "genuine remains"

Very interesting old house set in beautiful surroundings with lovely riverside walk. Extremely friendly and knowledgeable guides made our visit particularly memorable.

delightful shop we bought a lovely sheep in snow scene which now gives us pleasure in our living room

Very nice paintings and prints. Many of Swaledale sheep in the dales.

Fabulous Artist .....just cant help keep buying these fantastic pictures !!!

Very welcoming will come next time.

Well kept not open

Sunday mass 9:30.

Lovely church in Barnard Castle. Lost my dearest friend to cancer aged 68 a week before we went on holiday and it was a great comfort to me to be able to go into such a beautiful church and light a candle and say a prayer for her. Sent with love.

Nice looking church with the grave of John and Josephine Bowes at the back of the church that overlooks the Bowes museum

Nice local church.

Lovely place

The Mission Hall Antique Center is a very well laid out array of antiques, it has items to suit many pockets. There's plenty of space to peruse the differing items on offer. It was nice to be able to wander around without being pressured into a sale. We will certainly return when time permits a longer stay.

A good selection of wares, but some dealers expecting quite high prices for their wares! Probably why thry are still there!

Absolutely full of beautiful things . Prices are great and a huge selection of individual cabinets full of everything you could imagine.

Lots to see lovely walk around the shop

Fantastic selection, could spend a fortune in here!

Great place for all kinds of items and collectibles. Plenty to look at and the shop has space to move around, some smaller rooms are not to be missed. A lot of items are in the cabinet but are easily accessed at request. All on one floor.

No trip to Barnard Castle is complete without a visit here . Cases with all sorts of goods,silver,pottery,collectibles,jewellery etc. Small side rooms with furniture, clothes, books etc. Nice helpful and knowledgeable staff.