Crook Library

If you're staying at one of the caravan parks around Bishop Auckland - Bradley Burn, High Farm, or Stag Park - you'll want a rainy afternoon plan. Crook Library is exactly that sort of place. It's a proper community hub in this former mining town, the kind of library that feels genuinely useful rather than museum-like.

What you get is a solid working library with decent stock, computers if you need them, and staff who actually know what they're doing. The building itself won't win architectural awards, but it's functional and warm - which matters more than you'd think when you've got two kids and the weather's turned. There are children's sections if you're travelling with young ones, though don't expect anything vast. It's the real thing, not a tourist attraction.

The opening hours are a bit scattered - closed Sundays entirely, and Wednesdays and Saturdays shut at lunchtime - so check before you head over from your holiday park. Bishop Auckland itself is only a few minutes away and has the usual high street facilities. Admission appears free, which is the whole point of libraries.

Honestly? Only bother if you genuinely need somewhere quiet to sit or want to pick up a book for the evenings back at the caravan. It's not a destination in itself. But if weather strikes during your break and you've exhausted the park's activities, it's the sort of sensible refuge that saves a day. The local staff will point you toward whatever else is worth doing nearby.