The Premium Gin Renaissance, Part 1 of 2 Gin has a chequered history. No other drink shows such a polarity of style and fashion versus intemperance as Gin. Italian monks were the first to distill wine into a crude spirit. Juniper berries were added to mask the raw taste. Drunk for medicinal purposes, it was even tried as a remedy …
Tenuta di Valgiano, Palistorti Rosso
Tenuta di Valgiano Palistorti Rosso, DOC Colline Lucchesi, Italy Welcome to Lucca Laura di Collabiano welcomed me into the kitchen of Tenuta di Valgiano. This sixteenth-century estate is some 250 metres above the river Sérchio, and 10 km north of Lucca in Tuscany. On a cold February night, a fire burned brightly within an enormous open hearth, giving the room …
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Cotswolds pub: The Wild Duck Inn at Ewen
Cotswolds pub: The Wild Duck Inn at Ewen The Wild Duck Inn is a quintessential Cotswold country inn, dating from 1563. It’s found near to the source of the River Thames, at Ewen, just three miles from Cirencester. Having walked along the River Thames National Path (some 184 miles from source to sea), I was keen to return. So the …
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The bucolic delights of the Cottage in the Wood
The bucolic delights of the Cottage in the Wood If there’s a restaurant with rooms that can offer a better Lakeland view than the Cottage in the Wood, then I’d like to know about it. Sitting on a terrace surrounded by trees, with a glass of Champagne and the mighty Skiddaw in the distance is my idea of perfection. At …
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Ravenstone Lodge weekend break, Bassenthwaite
Ravenstone Lodge weekend break, Bassenthwaite Ravenstone Lodge is a small hotel in the northern Lake District on the shores of Bassenthwaite Lake, some five miles north of Keswick. Nestling at the foot of the mighty Skiddaw mountain range, this was once a Victorian coach house and occupies five acres of unspoilt countryside. It’s a three-star hotel with an AA Rosette …
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Wentbridge House Hotel
Wentbridge House Hotel Where the A1 meets the M62, you pass through a part of Yorkshire known best for mining and industry. It would be easy to look at Ferrybridge power station and the spaghetti of motorway intersections and dismiss this area as one being without charm. In fact, that assumption couldn’t be more wrong. Within the area bounded by …
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Lakeside Hotel & Spa, Windermere
Lakeside Hotel & Spa, Windermere Windermere is known for its tourist hustle and bustle in the towns of Windermere, Bowness and Ambleside. However, Britain’s largest natural lake is tranquil at its southern end, yet only twenty minutes from the M6. The scenery may be less dramatic than that of the mountainous north, but it remains breathtaking. On this southern shore, …
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Swinton Park memories
Swinton Park memories North Yorkshire is quintessentially English. The heather-clad moors and rolling farmland are full of hedgerows, woods, and picture-book villages. Swinton Park is a jewel in this landscape, a mile from Masham in Wensleydale. The first sight when entering through the gatehouse is astonishing. Swinton Park is a magnificent castle. With ivy-clad turrets and castellations, it’s the centrepiece …
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Food and Folk at the Old Bakery in Lincoln
Food and Folk at the Old Bakery in Lincoln The Old Bakery is a restaurant with rooms in the heart of Lincoln. The original bakery dates back to 1837, but it was derelict for nearly forty years until a restoration in 1994. Since 2004, Ivano and Tracey de Serio own it in partnership with Tracey’s parents, Alan and Lyn Ritson. …
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A weekend at the Haweswater Hotel, Lake District
A weekend at the Haweswater Hotel, Lake District We arrived at the Haweswater Hotel on a Friday evening for a weekend break. It’s an easy drive north from Yorkshire. Haweswater is about as secluded as England gets yet it’s still readily accessible from the M6. It’s an ideal location for romantic getaways or outdoor pursuits. There were autumnal colours, the …
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