THE ruins of a 14th century castle in Northumberland bought for just £2,000 have been put up for sale for £1.75m.

The asking price for the 22-acre Blenkinsopp Home Park Estate, near Haltwhistle, will also get buyers a popular pub with its own ballroom, a Grade II- listed home, a hamlet of 70 homes and planning permission for a holiday park.

The estate has been put up for sale by Mike Simpson, whose family have owned the estate since 1955.

Mr Simpson and his wife Lee are retiring and hope a new owner will breath new life into the estate.

He said: “It will be unbelievably hard wrench to leave. It’s a place that’s very dear to my heart.

“It’s time to fetch the shutters down. It has been a very, very lucky place to live, it’s always been a very happy place and we’ve always had good health.

“There are 70 residential families that live on the estate and we’re all linked in like a family so I will miss them the most.” The estate has been put up for sale in two lots. The first contains the homes of 70 families that live at Blenkinsopp permanently, with a license for 74 residential caravans plus planning permission for 11 holiday homes. It is up for sale for £1.3m.

Lot Two – up for sale at £450,000 – consists of the ruins of Blenkinsopp castle alongside a three-bedroom, Grade II- listed house.

It also includes the currently unoccupied Blenkinsopp Castle Inn.

When the previous tenants of the pub left in January, Mr and Mrs Simpson decided to let the new owners of the estate find a new tenant.

The inn has a ballroom built 36 years ago by Mr Simpson and his father which has held many weddings for people in the local farming community.

Mr Simpson’s father, Charles, bought the estate in 1955 for £2,000 after the castle itself had burnt down in 1953.

The Park Home Estate was built in 1959 when a friend of Mr Simpson Snr suggested he open a caravan park for the workers at the nearby RAF Spadeadam when it was the base of the Blue Streak project, Britain’s attempt to build a medium-range ballistic missile in the 1950s.

Mr Simpson said: “I have fantastic memories of living here and it’s a beautiful place to live. I can sit here in my living room in front of the fire and look out onto the rhododendrons which previous owner Violet Lorraine planted in 1936. It’s an amazing sight.”

The estate has been put up for sale by Morpeth-based Strutt and Parker. For more information on the property or to arrange a viewing, contact Vicki Oliver of Strutt & Parker on 01670 516123.