During our recent stay in The Peacock at Rowsley for our anniversary treat we decided to sample their Tasting Menu accompanied by the Wine Flight. It was a sublime experience, the food and wine complimented each other perfectly. As mentioned previously the experience was enhanced by the waiter serving the wine ‘blind’ and challenging us to identify the grape variety we had just been served.

]]> http://www.cheriesplace.me.uk/blog/index.php/2023/06/06/celebrating-twenty-five-years-xx/feed/ 12 http://www.cheriesplace.me.uk/blog/index.php/2022/06/11/june-walking-challenge-days-5-to-10/ http://www.cheriesplace.me.uk/blog/index.php/2022/06/11/june-walking-challenge-days-5-to-10/#comments Fri, 10 Jun 2022 23:23:17 +0000 CherryPie http://www.cheriesplace.me.uk/blog/?p=24999 We celebrated our Wedding Anniversary in this historic market town (see photo). During our stay I walked 36.34 miles, a total of 92,427 steps on our various adventures. Watch this space to see the places we visited.

Our destination for the day of our anniversary was Forde Abbey, a place that we had not visited before. Our journey there was quirky – there were many sudden junctions and eroded markings and, for some reason, the SatNav has changed the way it navigates saying bear left/right when the junction is a left/right turn and when it states turn left/right it should say bear left/right. I upgraded to the latest map a couple of days before we travelled, before this the bear/turn directions seemed more accurate.

The gardens are wonderful and the architecture of the house and former Abbey interesting. A lovely herd of Ruby Red Devon cows were in a field just outside the boundary fence. The spectacular Centenary Fountain is the tallest powered fountain in England. We enjoyed lunch in the walled garden, sitting outside the undercroft. I chose cherry cake; it just had to be done. The staff were so happy to have recently opened and enjoying the visitors’ return.

On our way back to the hotel we detoured to Cerne Abbas to see the newly chalked giant on the hillside. We then visited the village to find the Holy Well and the Preaching Cross that are located within the burial grounds. The Holy Well was lovely and peaceful, although another couple followed us into the space so we left them to it. I had hoped to return after they had gone but that was not to be because, as we retraced our steps past the Holy Well on our way to find the Preaching Cross, the couple were still there and, to my dismay, clambering over the well. We visited the garden of St. Mary’s church but sadly did not have chance to visit the church as time was getting on.

When we arrived back at our hotel room we found that the pre-ordered champagne and box of chocolates had not arrived. Mr C had to chase it up and when our order arrived it wasn’t exactly presented in an elegant way. The box of chocolates turned out to be four chocolates served on a bed of small pebbles. Not exactly what we had in mind.

We dined in the hotel, choosing the tasting menu option. The speed of delivery was much better than our previous occasion when we were rushed through the meal before we had chance to savour the wine that accompanied the dishes. However the final dessert course failed to be delivered until the wine waiter came back to check if we had enjoyed our experience and noticed our untouched wine glass, spare cutlery and the absence of a dessert plate.

We usually celebrate our wedding anniversary with a travel adventure. This year we had planned to be in Norfolk and were looking forward to meeting with friends whilst we were there.

Plan B was a mini local adventure and ‘Fine Dining’ on the patio. The weather had other ideas…

A last minute Plan C came in operation; A short drive around around local country lanes, a lunch of jam and scones, a couple of episodes of Michael Portillo’s Great British Railway Journeys, a game of Railroad Tycoon and ‘Fine Dining’, although sadly not on the patio.

PS: After our starter and main course we were too full to be tempted by the strawberries that were on offer for dessert.

A perfect end to a lovely anniversary weekend break. We were gifted with perfect weather to enjoy the occasion

We set off on our journey later than we intended, partly due to the inclement weather. Along the way we spotted an ideal cafe for lunch, but the mornings downpour had turned the parking area into a field of mud! This meant we had to abandon the idea of lunch there, it also involved some off-road driving, across a field in order to get back to the main road.

We continued on our journey and ended up at the National Trust property Snowshill Manor for lunch. The cafe had a nice ambiance and the food was delicious. By the time we had finished eating it had stopped raining, allowing me to take pictures of the garden before entering the house. I found Snowshill Manor with its eclectic collections quite fascinating.

After visiting the Manor we made our way to Malmesbury and The Old Bell where we were staying for the weekend. When we entered the room we found that there was a rather unhappy looking bear in residence…

Mr C suprised me by producing a bottle of Lustau Sherry from his packing case. We enjoyed a glass whilst we got ready to dine in the hotel restaurant. The food was delicious and we had a nice relaxing evening.

6th June 2009