Cummings wishes he d never heard of Barnard Castle - why the town is great DOMINIC Cummings said he wishes he had never heard of Barnard Castle during an evidence session in front of a joint Commons committee when asked about his trip to County Durham. Dominic Cummings gave a marathon seven-hour session of evidence to MPs about his time in No 10 as the pandemic approached and then raged across the UK, with the committee looking at the holding of the pandemic and lessons learnt . On his trip to Barnard Castle, Mr cummings explained that he was only able to tell half of the story at the time and that he actually travelled north after safety concerns at his home in London.