Blaise Pascal

The Cotford Hotel, situated at the foot of the Malvern Hills was built in 1851 as a summer residence for the Bishop of Worcester.

This Victorian umbrella stand is believed to have once stood in the Entrance Hall greeting guests into the mansion.*

*from an information board next to the artwork…

Mr C woke up at 7.17, precisely two minutes after the alarm was due to go off! When we opened the curtains sunshine blazed through the windows and the Malvern hills were layered in soft mist. Breakfast was freshly cooked to order and lived up to our expectations.

We settled our bill and, before departing took a walk around the hotel’s garden which was delightful in the sunshine. We had hoped to visit the nearby Grade I listed St. Leonard’s Church to see the frescoes. However when we arrived the church was closed and there was no indication of opening times. So we headed off in the direction of Croome where the Shutterchance meetup was taking place later in the day.

On the way, we stopped off at a viewpoint showing the positions of the the armies during the battle of Worcester. Trees were obscuring some of the locations making them difficult to see. We got to Croome early so we took a slight detour down country lanes to Defford before returning.

At Croome our first port of call was a drink in the cafe before venturing into the grounds. The sunny weather showed off the grounds in a favourable light unlike our previous visit when it poured down. The field in front of the house contained several large hay bales which enhanced the scene.

We returned to the cafe for lunch and to find some of the Shutterchancers had arrived so we joined them for a chat until the rest of the group arrived. We all headed off into the grounds, cameras at the ready.

At the house we were able to join one of the attic guided tours which was very interesting because the attic is being used to store items until the property’s various rooms are sufficiently restored to be able to display them. We were shown paintings of former owners and residents of the house and given a brief history about them. Some of the rooms also held restored and partially restored furniture.

In one of the rooms the guide pointed out some markings on the floor that had mostly been covered over with shelving (for now) partially protecting them. The guide advised that this was the place where exorcisms took place when the hall was the headquarters for The International Society for Krishna Consciousness in the late 70s and early 80s.

After the tour, we made our way back to the cafe where everyone was congregating to celebrate a 70th birthday. Yes, there was cake and very colourful it was too. All too soon it was time for us to begin our journey home.

We set off on our travels, late morning, taking my car out for a spin for a change. Our destination was Malvern where we were stopping overnight ahead of meetup with photography friends.

We had intended to have lunch in The Firs, Elgar’s birthplace however we spotted a sign to a village cafe and took the slight detour. We found the cafe to be a quaint delight, it was a burger bar with a chalet attached to its side. The weather was glorious so we opted to sit outside on one of the conveniently placed picnic benches to eat our freshly made sandwich along with a cup of tea.

The Firs has only recently been taken over by the National Trust and is a work in progress. The house was interesting and we listened to a talk about the mystery of ‘the …..’, but it is not a place I would rush back to. We had afternoon tea and shared a piece of lemon courgette cake which was tasty.

When we arrived at The Cotford Hotel in Malvern, we were informed that we had been given a complimentary upgrade to the ‘Bishops Room’. This was a lovely surprise because it was the room we had wanted to stay in but which wasn’t available when we booked.

We took our cases to the room before having a relaxing drink in the Piano Lounge (in my case I chose Rose wine). We then returned to the room to freshen up before dining in the hotel’s restaurant, L’amuse Bouche. The food was as good as I remembered it from the previous occasion we dined there.

One of our fellow diners (connected with the local boarding school) and his guests were rather loud and effusive, in their conversation which made it difficult to think and stifled the conversation of the other diners, but overall it was a pleasant experience. In the garden there is relaxing cascade of water tinkling down the waterfall adding to the ambience of the restaurant.

]]> http://www.cheriesplace.me.uk/blog/index.php/2018/09/13/malvern-day-one/feed/ 14 http://www.cheriesplace.me.uk/blog/index.php/2018/09/09/cheries-place-thought-for-the-week-475/ http://www.cheriesplace.me.uk/blog/index.php/2018/09/09/cheries-place-thought-for-the-week-475/#comments Sun, 09 Sep 2018 22:45:08 +0000 CherryPie http://www.cheriesplace.me.uk/blog/?p=21195 Ultimately we have just one moral duty:

to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will be in our troubled world.

Etty Hillesum