‘It’s a bit too castle-y’: plans to turn Cumbrian fortress into eco-attraction

theguardian.com:

I n 1990, the year Ewan Frost-Pennington was born, the final bears left Muncaster Castle in the westernmost corner of the Lake District. Winnie, an Asiatic black bear, departed Cumbria for Dudley zoo, along with Inca, her daughter, and her sister, Gretel.

Three decades later, the bear pit has now been covered over with a solar farm. It is the brainchild of Frost-Pennington, the heir to the 800-year-old pink granite fortress, as he tries to make Muncaster the first carbon-zero castle in the UK.

This time last year, the 32-year-old was living in San Francisco and working as a renewable energy consultant. Now he is earning 25% of his corporate salary and is quartered in a 14th-century tower with a secret passageway, surrounded by his grandparents’ old furniture.

His new job as Muncaster’s operations director is to figure out a way to make the 110-hectare (2,000-acre) estate not just sustainable but also attractive to a younger audience.

Its isolated location, an hour off the M6 and two hours from Manchester airport, can make it difficult to lure in foreign tourists. Frost-Pennington – who prefers the term custodian rather than heir – must be creative. In April he will be hosting Muncaster’s first drag show, Dragcaster, as well as the inaugural Sausage Fest. This summer will see the return of Krankenhaus, a music festival curated by Sea Power (formerly British Sea Power), and Race the Tide, a 10km obstacle race along – and in – the tidal River Esk.

Living in a remote castle with his parents has its challenges for a young, single man (his US girlfriend who came with him from California did not stay). “To be honest, I’m finding it a bit too castle-y,” he said, giving the Guardian a tour last week. “It’s like I’m wearing the