MEET ME IN…
Autumn in the UK is all about country weekends: long walks, roaring fires and good food
Escape the everyday at one of these rural retreats
THE FARM
TUDOR FARMHOUSE
Tucked away in the tiny village of Clearwell (it has just 25O inhabitants), known for its caves and castle, Tudor Farmhouse is a working farm and gourmet boutique hotel.
The 2O beautifully designed rooms (feather duvets, deluge showers, roll-top baths, a palette of white and soft grey) are spread across the farmhouse, the old stone cider house and hay
barn, with original features such as vaulted ceilings, ancient oak beams and exposed stone walls on show. Outdoorsy types will love the wildflower meadows, 14 acres of grounds, the River Wye (perfect for canoeing) and long country walks in the Forest of Dean. Otherwise, indoors you’ll find roaring fires, in-room massages and head chef Rob Cox’s divine 2O-mile menu:
think Isle of Wight gazpacho, River Severn smoked eel and slowroasted Gloucester Old Spot pork belly, calling for epic levels of gluttony. Clearwell, Gloucestershire; tudorfarmhousehotel.co.uk. Doubles from £13O, B&B
THE PUB
THE POINTER
In the teeny, sleepy village of Brill, just an hour from central London (and eight miles from Bicester Village), The Pointer looks exactly how you want an English country pub to look: an 18th-century
red-brick inn, with exposed beams, roaring
log fires and lavender springing from its window boxes. There’s a pretty walled beer garden, an on-site butcher and, on the
Saturday morning we were in residence, a local
producers/farmers’ market in the car park. It’s been a hit since its launch thanks to its rustic, pub-style menu, sourced mostly from the owners’
(Fiona and David Howden) farm and estate nearby, and served in a converted barn. Last summer, they opened four B&B rooms in the 19th-century Victorian terraced house opposite, with oak beams and limestone-floored bathrooms, roll-top baths and butler sinks, so that out-of-towners can enjoy the cosy-but-cool
vibe, too.
Brill, Buckinghamshire; thepointerbrill.co.uk. Doubles
from £13O, B&B
THE COAST PORTHMINSTER TOWNHOUSE
St Ives in autumn is heaven:
no traffic and few tourists – we took advantage of this and drove there in a Ford Mondeo five-door ST-Line X series Powershift automatic
(ford.co.uk). While the beaches are empty, there’s still the same blue sea and cool galleries (don’t miss the Barbara Hepworth museum and the extended
Tate St Ives), and those windswept clifftop walks to
beautiful Zennor beach. Our new favourite place for
a self-catering stay is Porthminster Townhouse, a Georgian home done
in Scandi-chic style (lots of white, grey and
mint green), with five bedrooms, large windows for sea-viewing and a cinema room for cosy nights in. The garden pool is heated (until the end of October), and you’ll be set up with bath robes and a welcome hamper of Cornish gourmet goodies
(artisan bread, local scones, clotted cream and jam). Best of all, you can
even bring your dog. St Ives, Cornwall; O1872 241241; cornishgems.com. Three nights from £1,719,
self-catering; sleeps 1O
THE SEASIDE
THE VICTORIA
INN
If you’re feeling a little hemmed in by urban life, the big skies and sprawling, wild beaches of rural north Norfolk will provide a calming antidote. Wells-next-theSea is a bustling little seaside town with endless
miles of unmanicured sands, while five minutes down the road you will find Holkham Hall, a vast country estate, nature reserve and beach. The Victoria is a 19th-century coaching inn that stands guard on the perimeter of the Holkham estate. Its bar/ restaurant does a roaring
trade in hearty, locally sourced dinners, with meat from the estate’s herds, vegetables from its walled garden and fish
fresh off the boat. It has a cosy feel, with dark wooden floors, open fires and flickering candles; the 2O bedrooms are traditional without being
stuffy, with velvet armchairs to curl up in; and the quieter Ancient House is just a 3O-second stroll from the main building. Basically: eat, beach, repeat – until they make you leave.
Holkham, Norfolk; holkham.co.uk. Doubles
from £155, B&B