Visit to Barnard Castle

It wasn’t to test my eyesight. I know that’s rubbish! Friend R had suggested a visit to the Bowes Museum in Barnard Castle some time ago, and today was the day. It’s also the day when we had weather warnings all over the country and dire warnings about how dreadful the weather was going to be. The weather wasn’t too bad here, and Barnard Castle was right on the edge of the yellow weather zone so we decided to go ahead with our plan. The main blip shows a rainbow in some blue sky on the way there. Not at all what we were expecting. The museum is very impressive. Purpose built and packed for of interesting items with clear explanations. The Silver Swan is an amazing automaton that’s over 100 years old and mimics the ways swans behave when they eat fish. Sadly it is being renovated at the moment and you can see the outer case in extras, but there is lots of film of the swan working and we hope to return when it is finished and back on display. I also enjoyed the display of teddy bears, but there is loads more to see there. A very enjoyable day.