We’ve been away for a few days.
The author Phil Rickman was launching his new book ‘The Secrets of Pain’ at Kentchurch Court in Herefordshire. Michelle is a huge fan and, we went to a previous launch in Herefordshire 2 years too. Kentchurch is a 3 hour drive away, so we thought we’d turn it into a short break and booked ourselves into the Kilpeck Inn, surprisingly in the village of Kilpeck, only a few miles away from Kentchurch.
We arrived early so we could have some lunch at The Bridge in Kentchurch. It was just as well we arrived just as they opened or we would not have got in! I advise booking in advance… The food was fantastic, especially the toffee fudge cheesecake! The diet disappeared out of the window, jumped into the river and was last seen heading towards Monmouth.
It was originally going to be an outdoor affair but rain and electric amplifiers don’t mix. As it turned out the weather was much improved by the start but it was too much to move everything back outside. This did cause a problem as it was held in a long corridor with a long set of steps at the end; at the top of which a band was set up to play some music. For those who haven’t read Phil’s Merrily series books (I’m afraid to say I’m one) there is a fictitious band featured called Hazey Jane II (2 in Roman numerals) and song titles are mentioned. These have been worked on by a folk band from Scotland and it is they who appear at the events; with Phil guesting on guitar and vocals. This was followed by tea and sandwiches and then Phil held a question and answer section. I said earlier I haven’t read his books, and certainly the songs went over my head, but Phil is a personable chap and very funny to talk to. I may have to start reading the books.
Kilpeck is reached from Kentchurch by narrow single track lanes. The scenery is stunning and the pub is in a beautiful setting. Michelle was impressed straight away, not only by the marvellous views, but also the conker trees next to the car park. On checking in we were taken to our room; there are only 4 at the inn and ours was the biggest. It was fantastic with a bed the size of Hampshire and a brilliant bathroom. The pub wasn’t serving food that night as they had a quiz, so Michelle had prepared some Slimming World stuff for us to counter the earlier calorie fest at The Bridge.
Once this had been polished off, we went into the bar and bagged ourselves a spot at the bar. All the tables in that part of the pub were taken and we didn’t want to sit in the restaurant part, well ok we were near the handpumps so that may have influenced our decision. The quiz consisted of 6 parts, including a picture and a music round. Considering we ran a music quiz at one point scoring 4 out of 10 on that round was a tad embarrassing. When the result was announced we had scored 47 out of 60 and finished second; the winners had scored 49 and if we hadn’t changed our mind on three questions we would have won and trousered £55! Still, it was jolly good fun and I knocked back far too much Butty Bach beer.
The next morning was beautiful.
The excellent breakfast was served in the conservatory giving us some great views across the fields. We contrasted it with a certain guest house in York about 3 years ago; the owner had greeted a couple who turned up just before the end of service with a brusque “So you decided to join us then!”, and had then had a short conversation with a guest who wanted her eggs cooked differently to the way in which they had been served… He looked down his nose and suggested that he would do them his way and they could take it from there! The place was liberally dotted about with cameras and he even had a baby monitor in the breakfast room to see if we were talking about him! To paraphrase Tim Vine; It was a once in a lifetime experience. Never again!
Close by is the village of Garway; where there is a Knight’s Templar church. It took a bit of finding, but eventually we managed to get there and parked up. The church has been much altered over the years, the round Templar nave has been replaced with a rectangular one; however some remains of the original have been excavated in the churchyard. Michelle found the atmosphere in the church a bit oppressive so we explored the outside before deciding to head off to Ross-on-Wye for lunch. As we were leaving a lot of people from the previous day’s launch arrived and asked if we were staying for the guided tour, which we weren’t. (Phil has featured the church in one of his books)
Ross-on-Wye was a bit of a disappointment; we drove round but decided to go to Hereford instead. Here we had lunch and did some shopping before returning to Kilpeck.
Dinner had been booked for 8 o’clock. The restaurant was full when we were shown to our table, and we soon understood why when our food arrived. I can heartily recommend the pub and its restaurant; along with The Bridge at Kentchurch also.
Once again we had a fine breakfast, but were somewhat concerned when we overheard a snippet of conversation between our fellow guests. ‘Are your trousers reinforced?’ said a lady to her husband at the next table. What could this mean? What possible activity would he be engaged in which would require his trousers to be reinforced. Was it a hangover from beatings by the headmaster in his younger days? Was he expecting a sound thrashing from his wife? Maybe she wasn’t his wife and they had come away for that very purpose. I have no idea of his reply as I was desperately trying not to choke on a piece of bacon at the time. Whatever reason he needed for reinforcement of the trouser department I can only hope it was money well spent.
After checking out, we walked along to the church in the village. This was well worth the visit. It was built in the 12th century; replacing an existing Saxon church. The style is the Herefordshire School of Sculpture; which combines Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Scandinavian and French Romanesque forms. It is outstanding. The carving round the door is exquisite and the corbels (small carved forms on the outside under the guttering) are worth the trip on their own. Near the church are the remains of a Norman castle; Kilpeck was a thriving walled medieval town until devastated by the Black Death in 1349. Ironically, it was this that saved the church from being replaced by a grander affair, leaving us with a fine example of this style of architecture. Michelle took many pictures of the church and its surroundings which she is going to put on her blog; http://michellejonesmedia.blogspot.com . Please take some time to look at them, better still visit the church for yourself, just make sure you don’t go at the same time as us ‘cos you’re not having our room!
We’re back home now. Tomorrow I’ll find out how the car is doing and chase up the agencies. The weather is going to improve; Thursday will be nice and sunny so Ross and I will head off for some golf. I’m pretty sure Phil must have got the inspiration for his latest title from golf. It’s definitely painful and it’s a secret how to play it.
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