HOLIDAY HUNTER: THE COTSWOLDS, UK
WITH ITS PRETTY OLD BUILDINGS, THE COTSWOLDS DELIVERED A MEMORABLE WEEKEND FOR PHOTOGRAPHER KATIE QUINN DAVIES.
Photographer Katie Quinn Davies takes us on a tour of one of England’s most charming regions.
DUBLIN-BORN, Sydney-based food, lifestyle and travel photographer Katie Quinn Davies spends her time working between Europe and Australia. Her images have graced the pages of glossy magazines worldwide and earned her international acclaim and awards, including the prestigious James Beard Award for food photography. Katie started her blog What Katie Ate in 2009, featuring recipes she wrote, styled and shot. It quickly gained a following of people who not only loved the mouth-watering recipes, but also her stunning images. The blog evolved into her first cookbook, What Katie Ate: Recipes and Other Bits and Pieces (Viking Studio), published in 2012. While the blog is currently “on hiatus”, Katie hopes to get it up and running again soon — this time with more of a focus on travel. Travel is a huge passion for Katie. For her, it’s all about the excitement of visiting new locations and returning to ones she’s previously fallen in love with. “I have a habit of revisiting places I love,” she says. “The Amalfi Coast and Capri, the west coast of Ireland, Japan, New York and the Barossa area of South Australia are some of my faves. It’s also about the friends I make while working on travel photo jobs — that to me is possibly the most rewarding part.” Here, Katie takes us on a journey to one of her favourite destinations in the UK: the beautiful Cotswolds. Follow @katie_quinn_d on Instagram.
WHY ARE YOU DRAWN TO THE COTSWOLDS? I grew up in Dublin and spent a lot of summer holidays visiting relatives in the UK. This was a place my mum used to talk about a lot, as she adored the architecture and overall feel of the area. I was working in London in 2015 for six months so I planned my first trip. I returned just recently for my second visit. I have always loved travelling to the countryside and The Cotswolds is breathtaking.
WHAT DID YOU LOVE ABOUT THE AREA? It’s one of the most beautiful areas in England: little stone cottages, rambling country roads, wheat fields, chocolate-box houses and delightful, quintessentially British country pubs. It oozes charm and beauty and there is something inherently magical about it. It’s like escaping to a fairytale; a world of unspoilt towns and villages. The architecture of the Cotswolds cottages is charming, too, plus there’s a lovely sense of community in all the villages I visited. The locals are all so incredibly welcoming and chatty.
WHERE DID YOU STAY? The Lamb Inn. It’s located in the medieval village of Burford, a town often described as the ‘gateway to the Cotswolds’. I wasn’t disappointed when I arrived!
HOW WAS YOUR STAY THERE? It’s a stunning inn with wooden beams, low ceilings, wonky corridors and stone floors. It was so lovely to check in to the hotel during the early evening and walk into the pub area to find the fire roaring and locals enjoying a beer with their dogs at their feet. It has an award-winning restaurant that I’d highly recommend for dinner, and it also serves a generous breakfast every morning. The bar is cosy and inviting and serves great pub fare, while the staff are superb; they have a ‘nothing-is-too-much-trouble’ attitude and are very attentive. >
The rooms were cosy and beautifully dressed. I chose a different room on each of my two stays — the Shepherd Room first and then the Allium Room; the latter boasts a huge bathroom with a deep, freestanding bath. I loved the details: the old teddy bear on the bed, the Molton Brown toiletries and the homemade, wrapped flapjacks left for you in your room. Plus, each day, staff pop a note under your door highlighting attractions for you to consider visiting. At night, as you sit looking out the leadlight windows, there is a sense of having gone back in time. There is something wonderfully enchanting about the hotel.
WHERE DID YOU GO FIRST AFTER CHECKING IN? After a drink at the bar, I enjoyed a great dinner in the sitting room. It’s an intimate area with a fire and sits beside a drawing room where they have a big selection of books and board games, which you can play over a few glasses of red.
WHAT DID YOU DO WHILE IN THE AREA? I took some polo lessons at the acclaimed Cirencester Park Polo Club! Being taught by top-level instructors on well-trained ponies was a fun way to spend a few hours. The instructors were down-to-earth and made sure we had a great time learning the game.
WHAT’S THE BEST EXPERIENCE YOU HAD IN THE COTSWOLDS? That’s a hard question to answer! Each of the area’s villages and towns possess a special uniqueness. It’s sublime just driving around, winding your way around the charming country roads, ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing’ at the adorable cottages and impressive houses. The pubs are all warm and inviting and it’s great trying the local beers and ales — an area in which the British excel.
ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR DAY TRIPS? I’d recommend the towns of Broadway and Stow-on-the-wold. The latter has some wonderful shops and a super hotel called The Old Stocks Inn. Bibury was once described by artist William Morris as ‘the most beautiful village in England’ and is worth a visit. It’s a small town with one or two pubs but it’s mainly residential. I stayed one night here at The Swan, a sister hotel to The Lamb Inn. It’s a bit more modern in style, yet still beautiful and luxurious. One of my fondest memories during my first trip was wandering around the quaint village of Upper Slaughter, near Stow-on-the-wold. I headed out around 7pm with my camera just as dusk was starting to settle in and captured some beautiful photos in the early evening light. It’s a very quiet village and you feel really removed from the outside world once all the day-visitors leave. I splurged a bit on my accommodation here and spent a night at the glorious Lords of the Manor. It’s a four-star hotel set in grand gardens and dates back to 1649 — well worth splashing out on for a special occasion.
DO YOU HAVE ANY TRAVEL TIPS? Don’t plan everything. Ask locals for recommendations on where to eat and what to see; 90 per cent of my best experiences are when I’ve asked staff where to go. Regarding packing, always take time to work out holiday outfits and don’t be tempted to take too much. I did this for years; in addition to heavy cameras, I had to lug around a case of clothes I never ended up wearing. Enjoy the process of planning!
To book a room at The Lamb Inn, visit cotswold-inns-hotels.co.uk/the-lambinn. For more information about Katie, visit katiequinndavies.com.au
KATIE’S FAVOURITE PLACES TO EAT AND SHOP IN THE COTSWOLDS
Most of the places I visited for food were pubs. The area is full of them and they really offer the best foodie experience of the Cotswolds. When visiting this part of Britain, I feel their country inns and pubs are the way to go. • The Lamb Inn This is where I stayed but it would also be my top recommendation for a bite to eat and where to enjoy a good, local English ale. cotswold-inns-hotels. co.uk/the-lamb-inn • The Porch House I stopped here for lunch while in Stow-on-the-wold during my second trip to The Cotswolds. I had to visit it as I read that it’s England’s oldest pub, dating back to 947AD. It’s been modernised a little inside but retains the interior history well. porch-house.co.uk • The Wild Rabbit Inn at Kingham, Cirencester, is utterly stunning. I enjoyed a fantastic and very memorable pig cheek and smoked eel meal here during my first trip. thewildrabbit.co.uk • After the polo lesson, which took place in Cirencester, my instructor Martin took us to The Bell at Sapperton, a pub they often ride the horses to and stop for a beer and a bite to eat. I had a terrifically good British pie here and the atmosphere was great. bellsapperton.co.uk • The Village Pub in the quiet little town of Barnsley, is a quintessential British countryside watering hole. It has the best log fire, cosy armchairs, great food, friendly staff and, as ever in Cotswolds pubs, dogs are welcome, too. thevillagepub.co.uk • I stopped off at The Cotswold Cheese Company in Burford for some local cheeses and a good bottle of red to bring on a picnic. It’s a charming little store and worth a look-see. cotswoldcheese.com • Oka is a beautiful interiors shop in Broadway where I picked up some lovely plates to add to my food photography prop collection. They also sell stunning cushions. oka.com • Broadway Deli at St. Patricks was a fantastic gourmet food and drink shop on the main street in Broadway. The shop is jam-packed with foodie delights and has lots of little nooks and crannies that you find yourself ambling in and out of. broadwaydeli.co.uk • Long Street Antiques is in the old market town of Tetbury. Set within a Georgian townhouse, it is a veritable cornucopia of vintage porcelain, art, decorative items and other antique finds. longstreetantiques.com • Burford Garden Company is jam-packed with everything English country garden-related and also has an extensive homewares section. I rambled around this store for hours. burford.co.uk