Castle Hotel Offers Doggy Guests Compliant ‘Pooch Smooches’

Special welcome for canines exploring new roaming and Roman-ing walks

A Northumbrian castle hotel, known for adoring its four-legged visitors and now missing the doggy pats and hugs on arrival and departure that coronavirus safety guidance no longer allow, is giving its canine visitors a canny and compliant welcome instead.

Taking up a tip gleaned from the cast of Eastenders, who are filming kissing scenes with the help of plastic protectors that they later digitally remove from shot, Langley Castle, located in rural Langley-on-Tyne in the rolling countryside nine miles from Hexham, is using a plastic screen that allows it to talk to its doggy guests and even rub noses with the very amiable.

To try to make sure no dog misses out on the true Langley Castle welcome during its lifetime, it is also providing canine guests with a special ‘Come Back for a Hug’ 15% discount voucher, to be used for a stay taken after coronavirus is no longer a threat.

Rather than having a ‘dog of the week’ style prize for its favourite canine guest, all dogs who post a picture of themselves at Langley Castle on their social media channel, either enjoying their pottering around the 10-acre grounds and woodlands, or relaxing in their luxurious ‘pad’ whilst back at base, can go home with a bone.

Langley is also working with historic illuminators and landscape interpreters, Ancient Britain, to make sure canine capers can include seeing the very best sights along Hadrian’s Wall and is adding more narrative to the fabulous walks that dog and pet parents can enjoy around the Langley estate and surrounding area, whilst taking in the fresh Northumbrian air or relishing dark skies stargazing.

Langley Castle’s dog-loving executive general manager, Margaret Livingstone-Evans, says: “We absolutely love our four-legged friends and it has been so hard not to be able to make the usual fuss over them that they can typically enjoy when they check in or out during normal times.  So, we thought that, if plastic kissing screens are good enough for Eastenders, there’s nothing wrong with a pooch smooch through plastic either!

“Both the doggies and their two-legged travelling companions are appreciating the gesture and all the other things we have done to allow them to enjoy the vast space that our woods and grounds provide and the wide open areas around Hadrian’s Wall that are just perfect for those wishing to poodle around, feeling very well protected whilst roaming and Roman-ing around.  Langley Castle was built to keep the Border Reivers at bay. Now it’s the ‘break for the border’ Retrievers that are knocking on our door and wanting to come in.”

More information is available at www.langleycastle.co.uk

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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.