Langley Castle Launches Young Battlements Tour Guide Contest

Could your child be the next acclaimed travel tour guide?  Would they be just brilliant about bringing a truly unique experience to life, for both adults and people of their own age alike?  Do they need something to focus on for the summer holidays?

If the answers are ‘yes’, ensure their name is in the hat for a unique new initiative from a less-than-ordinary castle hotel. Langley Castle, located near Hexham in Northumberland, is seeking its first ever Young Battlements Tour Guide of the Year and it could be your youngster.

A Battlements Tour is something nobody expects to find at their hotel accommodation and yet Langley Castle guests are treated to a tour every morning, at 10.15am.  The tour takes visitors,  and non-residents who simply want to experience the tour, from toe to top of a very authentic medieval castle whose seven-feet-thick walls have been standing since 1350.

The tour explains what guests can see today and how it fit into the castle’s past in more turbulent times.  This is a castle built to see off the Scottish army just over the border, not to mention fearsome Border Reiver families.  It was a castle expecting to be under siege, built on boulders rather than foundations under which the enemy could tunnel.  This explains why it has the best-preserved medieval garderobes – early lavatories – in Europe.  

Sir Thomas de Lucy built this castle having already had one previous home destroyed by David Bruce and his Scottish army.  It also had to be a castle that could protect his second wife, a cousin to King Edward III.  As a respected knight and parliamentarian of his time, he was frequently away.  Langley Castle had to be able to protect itself.

All of this – and much more - is explained by the tour guides taking people ‘on tour’ around the castle.  But now they and the castle's owner, Dr Stuart Madnick, want to find the next generation of tour guides and see the whole experience through their young eyes.

So, Langley Castle is inviting applications for the first ‘Langley Castle Young Battlements Tour Guide of the Year’ contest.  Anyone child who wants to take up the challenge of putting together their own scripted tour of Langley Castle is eligible for entry, if they will be aged under 11 on finals day.

Applications will be judged and three young people will become finalists.  All will be invited to finals day at the castle, on Thursday, October 30, where they will give their talk.  In this, they can lead people around the castle, or just deliver their talk verbally in the Drawing Room.  They can bring things to life as they wish, over the course of 20 minutes.  

Judges will then decide which of the three deserves the title of Langley Castle Young Battlements Tour Guide of the Year. That winner will receive a special trophy and a voucher for a complimentary family room stay at Langley Castle, inclusive of breakfast. The two runners-up will win a small trophy.

Those wishing to prepare for this will have several weeks in which to swot up on Langley Castle and its history.  There is a podcast from one of the tour guides, available at https://bit.ly/4bEurFx and a ‘Hairy History’ children’s guide to the history of the castle, on the website.  They can also head to the castle and take the tour themselves, thinking how they would bring things to life, maybe in a different way, for kids of their own age.

Langley Castle general manager, Mohamed Serag, says, “We are hugely excited by our Young Battlements Tour Guide of the Year competition and will be interested to see where each finalist places their emphasis.  Will it be on the more gruesome links to St Bees Man, or on the compelling story of the Radcliffe brothers, considered Jacobite martyrs, or on the more modern similarities between aspects of Langley Castle and Hogwarts? 

“We will be seeing our tour through the eyes of children, for the first time, and cannot wait to witness their interpretation of the castle’s history, architecture and personalities.”

Get your initial application in before the deadline of September 30, 2025 and you could be a proud parent or grandparent watching your child perhaps get their feet on the first rung of a career in tourism.

To enter, ask your child to explain in 300 words or less, why they should be considered as a finalist for this contest, or put the words together yourself to say why you believe your child would make a great finalist.  Add confirmation of your child’s age and school, plus your contact details.  At the bottom, confirm your child will be able to attend the finals day on Thursday, October 30, if chosen.  Then email the application to jane@catapultpr.co.uk, before the closing date for initial applications of October 20, giving your email the subject of ‘Langley YBTG Contest’.

The three finalists will be notified and announced by October 6.

Should you need more details of Langley Castle and the Battlements Tour, you can find information at www.langleycastle.co.uk  Full terms and conditions can be found online at https://bit.ly/45ajkCA

Rules for the Langley Castle Young Battlements Tour Guide Competition

1.    Entrants must be 11 years or younger on the finals day of October 30, 2025.

2.    Entrants can nominate themselves (with a responsible adult’s signature), or be nominated by a parent or guardian.

3.    The entrant should initially email their application, stating, in no more than 300 words, why they would like to be considered as a finalist and what they could bring to the role of a young tour guide at Langley Castle hotel. In this instance, a parent or guardian should confirm their agreement to the application.  Alternatively, a parent or guardian can write the application, describing why they believe their child would make a great Battlements Tour guide.

4.    The initial application also needs to include confirmation of age, name of the child’s school, contact details for their adult/guardian and confirmation that they would definitely attend the finals day.  No expenses for attendance at the finals day will be paid.

5.    If invited to the finals day, the selected child can bring family members with them.  Up to two additional adults and two children will be provided with light refreshments on the day.

6.    Any applicant who is invited to finals day must agree to participate in publicity  around the publication and be photographed/filmed by any media who are in attendance and/or Langley Castle hotel representatives.

7.    Three finalists will be selected for the finals day.  Should Langley Castle not receive three good applications, it reserves the right to not progress to stage 2 of the competition.

8.    If a finals day is staged, each selected finalist will have 20 minutes in which to provide their ‘tour’ for the judges, describing the features and history of Langley Castle.  

9.    Entrants may deliver the tour in any style they wish and include whatever information they wish, to bring it to life for the judges.

10. After all finalists have given their tour, the judges will retire and then deliver their decision as to the winner.

11. Prizes will be presented on the day.

12. The winner will win a trophy and complimentary bed and breakfast family room stay at Langley Castle for themselves and their parents.   2nd and third place will win a trophy. Winners will have until October 30, 2026 to spend their vouchers.  Stays cannot be taken at Christmas and New Year, Valentines Day or Bank Holiday weekends.  Booking is subject to availability.

13. The judges’ decision is final and no further correspondence or debate will be entered into.

14. Entry into the competition is dependent on the entrant and their family accepting all of the rules of the contest, as stated.

15. Background material can be found in the form of podcast with a tour guide https://bit.ly/4bEurFx and also in a Hairy History booklet downloadable from the Langley Castle website.  Entrants are also welcome to take the daily tour themselves, to get a feel for it.

Ends

Editors notes

Langley Castle, built in 1350, is located in Langley-on-Tyne, Northumberland and is one of the few authentic, fortified medieval castles in England. It has a rich history, with strong links to Jacobite rebellions, is located just a stone's throw from the World Heritage Site of Hadrian's Wall and boasts features including battlements, seven-feet-thick walls, window seats set into the walls and the best example of medieval garderobes in Europe. It is one of the most exquisite wedding venues in the north and also offers a wide range of options when it comes to exclusive use, with the castle being available for weddings, family celebrations, Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs, D&D-style events and a wide variety of corporate functions.