FAWSLEY HALL, NORTHAMPTONSHIRE
Babymoons come in many shapes and sizes. Some couples opt for one last ‘hurrah’ in a buzzing city, others soak up the last opportunity for romance and decamp to a boutique hotel. What do we opt for? A weekend retreat filled with endless peace and quiet. Because long, uninterrupted nights of sleep and getting up only to feed myself are soon to become things of the past, right? So, I settle on Fawsley Hall – a sprawling historic country estate in Northamptonshire complete with acres and acres of Capability Brown-designed gardens and an on-site spa.
We have weekend bags filled with books, the supplements dropped off with our room-service breakfast and vague ambitions to stream a yoga flow class in our room, but in the end, Fawsley Hall’s main selling point completely seduces us: the view.
Every window from our room looks out on to Fawsley Hall’s 2,000 acres – sweeping vistas of rolling green hills, patchwork fields and ancient trees. Other than some friendly sheep placed with almost painterly precision across the fields, the views are entirely unpopulated. A truly restorative sight for any city-dweller.
Despite our enormous room (super-king-size bed, dramatic coving, huge carved wood doors, marble en-suite), we spend most of the afternoon ensconced in deep armchairs looking out of the window and bemoaning our lack of horticultural knowledge. Then, the conversation segues to impending parenthood and our hopes and fears for the huge life change ahead. It feels good to have space and tranquillity to have meaningful conversations – they all too often get squeezed out of our schedule at home. Dinner in the main restaurant is a roasted meats with seasonal side dishes affair and is just the sort of simple yet elevated cuisine suited to a gorgeous old manor house. With morning comes a tough decision: is breakfast to be a full English or pancakes? We order both, then I take an hour-long soak in the roll-top tub, before walking to the spa, set alongside a neat gym and a pool, for a pregnancy massage. With deft hands and Elemis products, my therapist frees me of the classic pregnancy aches and pains I’ve grown used to. It’s nothing short of bliss.
If you’re looking for a chilled retreat full of classic British comfort, Fawsley is for you. When, in a few months, ‘do as I please’ is a distant memory, I’ll remember this weekend and the restorative powers of time spent with an extraordinary view. ROANNA DAY