What To Book Around The UK This Winter
THE POP-UP:
The Grove x Feast Events Pop-Up Restaurant, Hertfordshire
The Grove hotel has partnered with immersive restaurant brand Feast to create a pop-up al fresco restaurant in its Walled Gardens, surrounded by 300 acres of beautiful Hertfordshire countryside. Open on Thursdays to Sundays until the end of the year (excluding Christmas Day), the restaurant has seasonal foliage to get guests into the Christmas spirit, as well as warm blankets and Green Egg BBQs on each bench so diners can cook part of their dinner at the table. Each night from 7pm, there’s an eight-course tasting menu with dishes like Christmas pudding bread, scallops with salsify bark and quince purée, hot smoked salmon with cranberry caviar, roast fillet of beef with truffle mashed potato and cavolo nero, eggnog panna cotta, and cinnamon poached pear with gingerbread crumb. Perfect for a festive day out with the girls, evenings will finish with s’mores, hot chocolate, sparklers and live music.
Chandler’s Cross, Hertfordshire, WD3 4TG; until 1st January
Visit TheGrove.co.uk
THE RESTAURANT:
The Beckford Canteen, Bath
The Beckford Group – which also owns The Talbot Inn in Somerset and The Bath Arms in Wiltshire – launches its latest venture next week. From Wednesday 14th December, diners can visit The Beckford Canteen restaurant in Bath. The 40-cover venue is housed in a Georgian former greenhouse on Bartlett Street. Here, it’s all about simple, modern British dishes made from local produce and designed to be shared over a long meal. Menu highlights include sardines on toast, beetroot with goat’s cheese and walnuts, monkfish with curried butter, confit pork belly and quince, and black treacle and ginger sponge with brown butter ice-cream. Diners can buy wine from the nearby Beckford Bottle Shop to enjoy with their meal, and order a selection of beers from local breweries.
11 Bartlett Street, Bath, BA1 2QZ
Visit BeckfordCanteen.com
THE HOLIDAY COTTAGE:
Challens Yarde At Cowdray Estate, Sussex
Cowdray is a historic estate in South Downs National Park in West Sussex, surrounded by 16,500-acres of land and landscaped gardens. It recently opened Challens Yarde, a luxury cottage that adds to an impressive collection of accommodation ranging from country cottages to the 22-bedroom manor house. Challens Yarde is a restored Grade II-listed building sleeping up to eight across four king-size bedrooms – one even has a lounge on its mezzanine. Downstairs, there’s a modern kitchen, formal dining room, snug and living room with a fire, plus a spacious garden dogs will love. The interiors have a modern country feel, while the house has everything you need for a special stay, including a welcome hamper filled with treats from the estate’s excellent farm shop. On the estate, guests can enjoy golf, polo, shooting and foraging, and take part in an exciting roster of activities over the festive season, including walks around some of the most important Tudor ruins in the country, and a Christmas light trail.
Cowdray Park, Midhurst, West Sussex, GU29 0AQ
Visit Cowdray.co.uk
THE WINTER TERRACE:
The Black Friar's Winter Tavern, Manchester
The Black Friar pub in Manchester has turned its garden bar into a winter tavern with beautiful Christmas decorations, roaring fires, candles and faux fur blankets. Created with the help of whisky maker Highland Park 12, it’s just a ten-minute walk from the Arndale Centre – ideal for drinks with the girls or a long Christmas lunch. Expect classic pub dishes on the lunch and dinner menus, with festive puddings like dark chocolate and custard yule log. Order whisky cocktails from the bar or try apple and cinnamon hot toddies on tap while DJs set the vibe during the evenings.
41-43 Blackfriars Road, Manchester, M3 7DB
THE PUB:
The Boot, Cotswolds
The team behind one of our favourite boozers, The Chelsea Pig, has opened a pub in the Cotswolds village of Barnsley. A traditional affair with all the charm you’d expect from a village pub, guests are welcomed with a roaring fire and a menu of elevated pub classics by chef John Jewell (of Calcot Manor fame). The all-day menu starts with dishes like cheese soufflé with Wiltshire truffle, and beef tartare with mustard sauce and game chips; while main courses include venison pie with smoked mash, Gloucestershire pork chop served with Hawkestone cider sauce and celeriac slaw, and a signature beef wellington with mash, portobello mushrooms and seasonal greens. Desserts include hot chocolate and amaretto pudding with salted caramel ice cream, and pear and berry crumble. Overnight guests can book one of six cosy bedrooms above the pub, with boutique interiors and en-suites with rolltop baths.
Barnsley, Cirencester, Gloucestershire, GL7 5EF
Visit BarnsleyHouse.com
THE PANTO:
Mother Goose, Various Locations
Mother Goose is this season’s must-see panto. Starring Ian McKellen and John Bishop, the production opens this week at Theatre Royal Brighton (until Sunday 11th December), before moving to theatres around the UK. Mother Goose (McKellen) and her husband Vic (Bishop) run an animal sanctuary for waifs and strays inside an abandoned Debenhams store. But when a magical goose comes knocking, will fame and fortune get the better of them? Tickets start from £13.
Brighton, London, Chichester, Sheffield, Wolverhampton, Liverpool, Oxford, Dublin, Cardiff; until 1st April
Visit MotherGooseShow.co.uk
THE WINTER TRAIL:
Lost Gardens of Heligan, Cornwall
There are various winter light trails at venues around the country, but if you’re visiting Cornwall over the festive period, the Lost Gardens of Heligan has a must-see display. Suitable for the whole family, visitors can see its subtropical plants decorated with Christmas installations and lanterns. Little ones can look out for lights in the shape of badgers, bees, butterflies, mushrooms and even a family of Tamworth pigs. They can also make their own lantern at an arts and crafts workshop to light their path while exploring the night garden, before stopping with parents to toast marshmallows over fire pits. Tickets cost £15.50 for adults and £8 for children.
Pentewan, St Austell, Cornwall, PL26 6EN; until 2nd January
Visit Heligan.com
THE BALLET:
The Snow Queen at Festival Theatre, Edinburgh
Christopher Hampson’s production of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen returns to the stage at Edinburgh’s Festival Theatre this Christmas. Rimsky-Korsakov’s magical score will be played by the Scottish Ballet Orchestra. Andersen’s original fairy tale (the inspiration behind Disney’s Frozen) tells the story of a snow queen who lives in a world of ice and snow. When two mortals cross her path, a host of characters have to break a spell to restore order to the enchanted kingdom. After Christmas, the production will continue to Glasgow. Tickets start from £19.50.
13-29 Nicolson Street, Edinburgh, EH8 9FT
Visit ScottishBallet.co.uk
THE RURAL ESCAPE:
Retreat East, Suffolk
If you’re planning a last-minute festive getaway, put Retreat East at the top of your list. The luxury eco-hotel comprises stylishly converted barns and a great cosy restaurant with all-day dining options. Set just outside the village of Hemingstone in Suffolk, the hotel recently added four more spa barns to its original 15. Each of the new barns sleeps two guests and has French doors leading out to a private terrace with a rolltop bath. Inside, there’s a cosy living area with an indoor wood burner, a fully equipped kitchen, and a bedroom with four-poster bed and modern en-suite. Interiors are simple yet chic, with plush decorative accents and luxury linens throughout. Couples can book in-room treatments or use the spa with its sauna, steam room and outdoor hot tub – the perfect spot for stargazing – and take the hotel’s bikes out before settling down in the Great Barn to enjoy a meal made with quality Suffolk produce.
Brick Kiln Farm, Sandy Lane, Hemingstone, Suffolk, IP6 9QE
Visit RetreatEast.co.uk
THE SPA WEEKEND:
The Runnymede On Thames Hotel, Surrey
Fancy a festive escape? The Runnymede On Thames Hotel & Spa has created a winter spa package to relax busy city dwellers. Available until February, it includes a one-night stay in a double room, a 40-minute spa treatment, full use of the spa facilities, dinner at the hotel’s Leftbank restaurant, and breakfast the following morning. Relax in the indoor swimming pool or jacuzzi then choose from an ESPA aromatherapy facial; ESPA back, neck and shoulder massage; manicure; or pedicure. The package starts from £340 for two.
Windsor Road, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0AG
Visit RunnymedeHotel.com
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