THIS ART MUSEUM IS THE BEST KEPT SECRET IN ENGLAND

Mind = blown

‘I’m going up north for the weekend.’ I scrolled my phone for the details. ‘Bishop… Auckland? Yes. Bishop Auckland.’

John, sitting next to me in the board meeting, suddenly got interested.

‘You’re going to Bishop Auckland? County Durham?’

‘Right.’

And then he told me what I needed to do.

*

It was a long drive up there on Thursday night - five hours and change, with my daughter still in her gym kit from training, asleep with the front seat rolled fully back.

She was going up for a competition. I was going to look after her and watch. But watching your kid in a gym competition is a whole lot of hurry up and wait. Five minutes of action across three days.

There are only so many coffees you can go get.

So at some point during these things I tend to take myself off and seek out interesting things to do. This weekend, against my expectations, I lucked out.

It turns out Bishop Auckland is one of the most interesting places I’ve been in the UK. And it’s home to one of the most extraordinary collections of historic art that no one has ever heard of.

Let me explain.