FORGET the woods, teddy bears and the children that love them picnicked in the grounds of one of the region’s historic castles today (Tuesday, August 30).

More than 30 children and their parents enjoyed a picnic and activities at Barnard Castle’s historic castle as part of the event organised by English Heritage.

The Barney bear also joined its fellow bears for the fun-packed session which included giant garden games, arts and crafts, storytelling and a treasure hunt around the castle.

It is the first time the castle has put on a teddy bears’ picnic but organisers hope it will become an annual event.

Site manager, Carolanne Campbell, who led the session said: “We are trying to do more events to get a younger crowd into the castle and explore and inspire them because a lot of the kids are doing castles in school and it’s surprising how many youngsters that have not visited so it’s just a way of bringing them in.”

She added: “The children had a fantastic time.”

For more information about English Heritage events visit english-heritage.org.uk or search for English Heritage on Facebook.