THE new general manager of Muncaster Castle has shared his journey.

Ewan Frost-Pennington who owns the castle alongside his mother and father Peter and Iona has been given the position of general manager at the castle. 

He moved back to his home over a year ago and is now trying to reinvent the castle to bring in new visitors. 

Mr Frost-Pennington said: "I moved back from California about a year and a half ago in June 2022. 

"I started working here in August 2022 and began working on the business side of things to bring my ideas to the tourist side of Muncaster. 

"I was very overconfident before coming back and thought it would be easy, but it was incredibly difficult.

"Running the castle costs a lot, as does having a team to maintain it. 

"Over the last 20 years, Muncaster has seen a decline in its traditional visitor numbers from around 95,000 in the early 2000s to around 60,000 nowadays on an annual basis.

"That understates the problem because we've gotten better, creating new ideas for the castle and creating bigger events for members of the public to come and enjoy. 

"We never used to do events like this, so we've effectively gone from 95,000 visitors to 40,000 visitors just from people coming in and visiting for the day. 

"We've had to adapt and be innovative which I think is something that my parents have done very well.

"Last year, my idea was to focus on the events and how we could tweak them. 

"So, investing in them with things like bringing back the Sausage Festival and changing it up a bit.

"We've also introduced Dragcaster alongside the festival in hopes of bringing in new audiences. 

"I've also invested lots more in Medieval Muncaster so that we have a lot more going on during that half-term week. 

"Halloween has also continued to push forward and have more things going on."

During the winter period when the castle is mostly closed to the public, Ewan is hoping to attract groups of people to have meals in the historic castle.