Last weekend we were looking for a bit of a special day out to celebrate the end of SATs for Master Frugal and the end of a hard exam week for Miss Frugal and after much debate we decided to visit Middleham Castle and Forbidden Corner.
Middleham Castle
Middleham Castle is somewhere I’ve wanted to visit for years now as I’ve read about it’s history as a setting in a number of different books. It was the childhood home of King Richard III (also known as the Kingmaker) and is steeped in history and tragedy.
It’s probably one of my favourite places that we’ve been since we joined English Heritage and the kids absolutely loved the green open spaces and the climbing opportunities although it’s probably not somewhere you could spend more than an hour or so if I’m honest.
We used our English Heritage membership to visit Middleham Castle but if you don’t have a membership or you don’t want to get one then it will cost you £14.60 for a family of 2 adults and up to three children including gift aid.
Forbidden Corner
Next we drove the short distance to Forbidden Corner which is somewhere we’ve considered going numerous times in the past. We’ve been put off by the fact that you need to pre-book it, the cost and also because we’ve been told it can be a little scary at times for younger children. We knew it was close to Middleham Castle though so we called on the morning to see if they had some availability for the day and they did so we took that as fate and booked for that afternoon.
The website says that Forbidden Corner is ‘a unique labyrinth of tunnels, chambers, follies and surprises created within a four acre garden in the heart of Tupgill Park and the Yorkshire Dales’ which in no way prepares you for the adventure you’re going to have when you arrive.
There are literally surprises around every corner and although there were no scary moments, there were definitely a LOT of laughs and quite a few screams!
As I mentioned earlier, it wasn’t a cheap day out – it cost £40 for a family ticket but it was a lot of fun and I’m definitely pleased that we went. It’s such a well planned attraction with something different around every corner and the way that it set out means that even when you think you’ve seen it all, something else catches your eye and draws you into another little adventure.
We had a lovely day and it was just what we needed after a stressful week for the kids.
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