Weekend in The country
For Wendy Gomersall a Cotswolds cottage next door to a pub makes for the perfect getaway
Gorgeous Salford Cottage, two miles outside the lively market town of Chipping Norton in the beautiful Cotswolds, could well be the best couple’s holiday home in Britain.
Certainly, it’s very comfortable and well designed. There’s quite a spacious lounge with a nice fire and comfy sofa and armchair to snuggle down in. There’s a kitchenette with all you need to rustle up tasty suppers and clean up afterwards, even a sweet little dishwasher –and I don’t mean me. The bedroom has a huge bed and en suite bathroom blessed with a massive shower made for at least two at the same time, and everywhere the décor and artwork is classy, cosy, cottagey but with a personality-packed modern twist.
Outside there’s a big terrace and gated picket fence to shut against the world when you feel like keeping your Cotswolds bolthole to yourselves. Loved it.
Yes, we could see ourselves never leaving, settling down to a blissful retirement in our Cotswolds home from home – it is available for longer let, we were told.
But what makes the pretty, singlestorey home even more appealing to holidaymakers is it’s a mere 12 steps to the beer garden of the pub next door. No designated driver required on this escape.
Which is good because to be honest, you’re best off driving as little as possible on the traffic-overloaded roads of the Cotswolds unless you enjoy having a BMW or Range Rover up your backside, encouraging you to go faster than you want. Too stressful.
So, parking yourself in your favoured picturesque pub and chilling is a brilliant plan… Luckily, you’ll also have even more choice soon, thanks to the Lionhearth pubs group.
While nationwide inns are closing with depressing regularity – Covid, financial straits and all that – in the Cotswolds they’re welcoming scrumptious newly spruced-up pubs to the fold. The Black Horse, Salford, just outside Chipping Norton and home of the aforementioned Salford Cottage, is the newest member of the Lionhearth family. It joins The Chequers in Churchill and The Swan in Ascottunder-wychwood, which serves a great breakfast and offers the splendid, newly renovated private dining space, The Nest, which seats up to 24 if you’re planning a family gathering.
It also has spacious rooms for lovely mini-breaks, too. And in late summer 2024 The Cock Inn is due to open overlooking the village green in Combe.
Dinner at The Black Horse was superb, with a tempting menu that included more unusual fare such as goat skewers. We tucked into mouthwatering pork belly, squash loaf with sage, nuts and seeds, rotisserie pineapple tart tatin and phenomenal doughnuts.
It was so nice to be able to amble “home” in time to catch the 10 o’clock news and relax with a cup of sweet tea before bedtime.
We did brave the roads for a bit of sightseeing next day. Hook Norton Brewery is brilliant, and our guide, David, a wonderful host as he took us through the history of the place. If you want to see the gorgeous shire horses, check dates at the website hooky.co.uk.
The brewery has a very nice cafe, and of course, we liberated a few bottles of delicious Hooky ales – Old Hooky, Hooky, Off the Hook, Hooky Gold – from the shop on the way out.
We also went for a wander around the famous Daylesford Organic, the uberposh farm shop with scrummy food, drink and lovely homeware, daylesford. com. The restaurants and everything on sale looked absolutely splendid, but I was stunned into silence by the £3.99 price tag on a doughnut.
Burford is gorgeous but also not cheap – a tasty beef pastie in Huffkins cafe was a tenner! We could have spent our entire pensions in Burford Garden Centre, fabulous.
Thankfully, you can balance out the expensive treats with some great deals. For example, The Black Horse offers bargain steak frites and a glass of wine for £19 on Tuesdays and takeaway rotisserie chicken and chips for £14.
The Swan in Ascott-underwychwood has similar specials, including curry night, takeaway pizza and Happy Hour on weekdays. Such clever ideas have to help attract locals and tourists alike.
At The Swan we stayed in a huge B&B room in the adjacent building, where we found a useful map of local walks – two miles, three and a half miles or eight miles – past the River Evenlode, woods and a nature reserve. Our aim was to hike off some of the extra calories we’d consumed.
Well, maybe after just one more glass of Hooky...
There’s a big terrace and gated picket fence to shut against the world
The Salford Cottage at The Black Horse costs from £185 per night, sleeping two. Double rooms at The Swan from £95 per night, including continental breakfast. To book visit lionhearth.co.uk For more on the Cotswolds, visit cotswolds.com