Eastnor Castle, Eastnor, Herefordshire, is a 19th-century mock castle. Eastnor was built for The 1st Earl Somers, who employed Robert Smirke, who was later to work at the British Museum, as his architect. The castle was built between 1811–1820. Major schemes of interior decoration were carried out by A.W.N. Pugin in 1849–1850. Eastnor remains a private home, and is currently the residence of James Hervey-Bathurst, the grandson of Arthur Somers-Cocks, 6th Baron Somers. It is a Grade I listed building. The surrounding gardens and parkland are designated Grade II*.^[1]

Our cooked-to-order breakfast was excellent, setting us up for the day. Our destination was Eastnor Castle which opened at 10.30. We reached the Castle well before then so we went on a magical mystery tour around the local countryside until the Castle was open. At one point we encountered silly partridges (approximately 12) running around randomly and blocking the road.

Back at the Castle, we opted to do the lake walk in the cool morning air rather than in higher temperatures later in the day. We enjoyed a refreshing drink in the café before taking a tour of the house. The house itself was more interesting than I remembered on my previous visit from many years ago.

After the house tour, we had lunch in the café before heading to Tewkesbury for the afternoon. By this time the temperature had risen to uncomfortable levels and at mum’s suggestion we visited the Abbey, enjoying the cool temperature within. We then strolled into town with tea and cake in mind. By this time the temperature had risen even more and the atmosphere was quite humid. This proved too much for mum so we cut the exploration of the Tewkesbury banners short  and took mum back to the hotel so she could chill out and recover.

Mr C and I then set off in search of tea and cake ending up in Ledbury where we found a delightful teashop, Choccotastic, which is tucked away up a side street. After misreading the one way system signs we correctly navigated our way through the chocolate shop’s Covid-secure one way system to place our order. My choice of lemon drizzle cake was accompanied by a heart shaped dish containing chocolate buttons. A lovely touch.

We walked along the street towards a bookshop that we had noticed on our way to the teashop. As we approached the market hall we noticed that someone had collapsed in the street, perhaps due to the heat. He was already being looked after so we didn’t need to stop and offer assistance. I hope he recovered. It was a lovely bookshop but on this occasion I wasn’t tempted to purchase a book.

We made our way back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner. The highlight of my evening meal was an assiette of desserts and a rather fine rose wine.