Michael Gove has said Dominic Cummings was within the guidelines in his drive to Barnard Castle, which stated “you could drive at that time to take exercise”.
However, people at this stage were being urged not to drive unless it was for essential reasons. It was only from May 13 that this was relaxed, after both Mr Cummings and Boris Johnson had recovered from coronavirus.
It was also only at this point that people were allowed to sit in public places like parks.
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In This Story: Barnard Castle
Barnard Castle is a market town and tourist destination in Teesdale, County Durham, England. It is named after the castle around which it was built.
The Bowes Museum has what is considered to be the best collection of European fine and decorative arts in the North of England, housed in a 19th-century French-style chateau. Its most famous exhibit is the 18th-century Silver Swan automaton.
Barnard Castle sits on the north bank of the River Tees, opposite Startforth and 21 miles (34 km) south-west of the county town of Durham. Nearby towns include Bishop Auckland to the north-east and Darlington to the east.
Barnard Castle’s largest single employer is GlaxoSmithKline, which has a manufacturing facility on the town outskirts.
The town became notorious in 2020 as the destination for a trip by the UK’s most senior political adviser, Dominic Cummings, which was judged to have broken lockdown rules and resulted in a public statement and widespread condemnation.
