I visited a County Durham village that was voted one of the ‘poshest’ in the UK

After previously visiting Dinnington and Mitford, both of which were North East villages included in The Telegraph’s list of the ‘poshest’ in the UK, I decided to head to the third and final entry for the region, the County Durham village of Brancepeth.

I had never previously been to Brancepeth, but from the pictures that I looked at online before travelling there, it looked to be an idyllic and peaceful place, with an old castle and church giving it a medieval feel.

When I arrived, I was proven correct with this assumption, as I went past ivy covered houses which offer the most picturesque scenery possible on entry to the village. After passing the village hall and the old school, I arrived in a clearing, with the huge towers of a 14th century castle cascading above my head, giving me my first stop on this tour of Brancepeth.

As I headed in through the castle’s main gates, I came across Cafe BurgSchneider, which offers a hot drink and a bite to eat and is open to the public. The cafe is operated by Ulrike Hobbs, who also lives in an apartment in the castle, and works as a seamstress on the side, with this being her primary passion.

Ulrike moved to Brancepeth from Germany and has been living in the UK for nine years, and she has spoken about the village and how it differs from where she grew up. Ulrike said: “When I was pregnant, myself and my husband, who is from the UK, decided to move back here in order to start our family.

“I decided that I wanted something to do so I did a fashion degree at Newcastle College and then I started to run the cafe, making sure that I kept time for my seamstress work. It’s great welcoming people into the castle and being one of the first faces they see when they visit.

“Brancepeth is a very close knit community and everyone does things together, whether it is going to church on a Sunday are taking part in a host of activities at the village hall. This is a stark contrast to where I grew up in Germany, which was very urbanised, and it has been a really nice change.

“I really enjoy living here as it is a lovely place with lovely people and there being a lot of retired folks means that you are bound to see people often. Somewhere like the allotments are a community hub and I think that this kind of publicity can only be a positive for the village.”

I then headed over to the church, which is a fantastic structure crafted out of stone with ornately beautiful stained glass windows. This is just across from the castle and the combination of two buildings with hundreds of years of history next to each other give the village the medieval feel that I thought would come across.

After this, I moved on the third and final prominent part of the village that I was going to visit, Brancepeth Castle Golf Club, which is situated slightly down the hill from the other buildings. The club is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, having been designed by Harry Colt, who famously put together the course at Wentworth Golf Club.

Colt laid out a golf course on the deer park which formed part of the estate surrounding the castle. A club house was then created from the old coach house and stables, remaining in use today, and becoming the perfect location for my chat with Stuart Kenwell, the Chairman of the Management Committee at Brancepeth Castle Golf Club.

Stuart said: “I have lived in Brancepeth since the late 1980’s as I came up to work at Nissan, and I feel like there has always been a bit of an aura around the place, with it seeming really nice from the off. It is great for dog walkers and it has a very active community which help with this.

“As a club we are looking to be more inclusive, adding outside seating to allow people to come and use the space, even if they are not golf club members. The golf course does well business wise and the views of the castle at hole nine in particular are astonishing so with the permission of the castle’s owners, we use them in most of our promotional material.

“If someone would like to join and become a member then they are more than welcome, it’s always great to get new faces here and heading into the summer months it is an amazing way to spend your time.”

It was great to speak to people so heavily involved in Brancepeth’s most prominent landmarks, and I feel relieved that we were able to see the village on a sunny day in all of its splendour. I can definitely see why Brancepeth would be voted as one of the ‘poshest’ villages in the UK, as everything mentioned makes it an incredibly desirable place to live.

View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/visited-county-durham-village-voted-29006880