Pontefract is a compact half-day town. The castle is the main draw — genuinely impressive ruins with a dark history that repays time spent. The liquorice heritage is the other thread worth following: the Pontefract Museum covers it alongside local history, and the distinctive round Pontefract Cakes are sold throughout the town. The market, one of Yorkshire's oldest, fills the Cornmarket and Market Place on Wednesdays and Saturdays and is worth a wander.