It is good to know that Oliver Wainwright was impressed by his visit to Auckland Castle (Big bubbles, no trouble, G2, 5 November). It is remarkable what Jonathan Ruffer and the splendid Auckland Project team have achieved not only with the building itself but by a social renewal of Bishop Auckland town and indeed the wider north-east.
I hope, however, that the chief executive of the Auckland Project will not allow his enthusiasm to descend into hyperbole. It is simply not true that “the castle has always greeted the town with gates and a big wall”. In my time as the resident bishop many volunteers from the town enabled the public to have access. Many people enjoyed their wedding receptions there, Bishop Auckland Music Society held regular concerts in the castle and civic authorities held regular receptions.
Local farmers met during the foot and mouth crisis, and trade unions met regularly to plan for regional government. Whole neighbourhoods came when opencast coal mining threatened the health of their villages. All this quite apart from the ecumenical gatherings, diocesan synod and regular hospitality to clergy and lay people from all over the north-east.
I am sure my predecessors and successors could add significantly to this list. So what the Auckland Project has achieved is indeed a huge step forward but also a continuity of the theme of hospitality for which the castle has always been known.
Michael Turnbull
Bishop of Durham 1994-2003
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