We set off from Reading at about 1130, beautiful sunny day with cloudless blue sky, perhaps 20C but a little windy. Luckily the traffic was really light down the M4 and the M5 and the journey passed easily. We were in Winscombe around 1:30, passing Thatchers massive cider works on the way in. Lovely countryside around here: green and gentle hills, lots of orchards all in blossom at the moment, gorgeous. We plan to try some cider of course.
We were all hungry so we stopped off at a local inn, The Swan, and had lunch. I had 3 tapas plates that turned out to be pretty big: belly pork crisped, fried calamari and whitebait, king prawns in a spinach and chilli dressing. Absolutely stuffed. Lucy had a similar 3 plates except she had ham croquetas instead of the prawns. Bob had a plate of fried chicken, chips and coleslaw and… gravy. It was very good value.
On to our cottage which is delightful. We approached up a narrow lane and then onto an even narrower drive lined by old trees and with the orchards beyond. We passed a little corral housing 2 dear grey donkeys! Will be visiting them. Impressed with the cottage which has a lovely view down to the new orchard, recently planted. We have a big grassed area in front of us and a stone paved patio all round the bungalow. On one side is a bbq (minute), dining set and a gorgeous hot tub, absolutely immaculate in condition and cleanliness- they emptied and cleaned it today as they do before every let.
We settled in and then headed out to get some food supplies for the stay. We called first at a nearby farm shop and got a load there. As usual with farm shops, it wasn’t cheap but everything was local. We bought vegetables, cheese, chicken, a pork joint, farm milk, bread, cakes, freshly made pies and scotch eggs….. and some cider. The butcher section had closed – we were well after 5pm, so we headed to another nearby food store – Touts. There we stocked up with more cider, huge farm made sausages, bacon, more bread, wine, salad things, ground coffee and tea, local thick cream and strawberries. If I lived here, it would be a quandary for me to decide a balance between supporting the local shops and providers and the financial economies of a national supermarket shop.
Came back to the bungalow, unpacked all the food, and settled in. Bob practised with his drone in the back garden. We cooked some of the gorgeous sausages and had cider and salad. Put a finger in the hot tub to test and it was HOT and lovely. Have to test that out tomorrow, think I’m too tired tonight.
Absolutely lovely place, could easily spend a lot longer here than we currently have.
