A west Cumbrian historic castle that blends looking to the future with sticking to deeply rooted traditions - including appointing a fool - has opened up on the importance of hosting events like its recent outdoor theatre show.

Muncaster Castle was delighted to welcome visitors to an outdoor theatre production of Shakespeare's The Merry Wives of Windsor, performed by The Three Inch Fools, on Friday July 2.

Peter Frost-Pennington, whose family have owned Muncaster Castle for at least 800 years, said it was "wonderful" to see Shakespeare being performed on the castle's front lawn again.

Such performances, and the welcoming of the "weird and wonderful" are seen as the life-blood of historic castles like Muncaster in the modern age.

"We love being the home of tom foolery and we love encouraging people to come and do weird and wonderful things here," said Peter.

"These places are often seen as dead places with the shadows and ghosts of the past.

"But, Muncaster is a living place and whilst we've got one eye on the past, we're also looking to the future.

"The things that keep us going are people.

"We love the place being full of people and we love sharing it with people.

"We're trying to give good days out and hopefully if we can get it right, people will be happy to come along and pay us money that we can use to keep this place going."

Muncaster Castle re-introduced the tradition of having a fool in 2005, and have since had fools from all over the world.

Their current fool, Gary 'Gacko' Bridgens, was appointed in 2019.

Peter pointed to the importance of sticking with such traditions, adding: "The fools remind us that we're all just human and that no matter who you are or where you live, you need to be a decent human being.

"And if you're not, then boy do fools go for you.

"If you think you're a posh guy living in a castle, the fool will come and poke fun at you and remind you that you can be an idiot like everybody else."

The Three Inch Fools are set to continue their tour and Muncaster hopes to welcome them back sometime in the future.