The Cotswolds

Christmas with Daylesford

Around our luxury B&B in the north Cotswolds are several exciting businesses that reflect the changing face of the beautiful Cotswolds. One of the most impressive organisations and one which we have previously written about is Daylesford Organic, home to one of the best farm shops in the world.
Daylesford is a great organisation with excellent organic products and truly beautiful branding and packaging. Recently, Daylesford has been extending one of their buildings by adding an additional section behind the main food hall.

The New Hall
The hall opened this week hosting the Christmas area and it is a lovely light airy […]

Cotswolds Distillery – Another great day out

Last month we were very happy to meet Daniel Szor the founder of the Cotswolds Distillery. He lives in the beautiful village of Stourton which is very close to our luxury Bed and Breakfast in Shipston-On-Stour.
Daniel is a great guy who has an amazing city to countryside story (ex New York finance) to tell. He and his family used to travel to Stourton and they slowly fell in love with the Cotswolds.
He decided to jump in with both feet and the Cotswolds Distillery is the wonderful result.

The distillery is obviously a labour of love and Daniel has excellent taste. The […]

Daylesford Organic – The new Cotswolds

Over the past twenty years the Cotswolds has changed dramatically. The picture used to be one of thatched buildings with old ladies in white pinafores serving tea. The whole game changed and changed dramatically for the better when Daylesford Organic farm shop opened in 2002. Daylesford is a one of the “must visits” for guests at our Cotswolds B&B.
Daylesford had been farming organically for 35 years and the shop and restaurant were a natural extension to their great ethos. However I don’t think that anyone expected the shop to have the impact that it has had.

Daylesford products are of […]

Dining out – The Fuzzy Duck in Armscote

One of the most important aspects in our life at our Cotswolds B&B is food! We are very fortunate to have a lot of good options close to us. It is a challenging market and restaurants have to stay on their toes as standards of food and service are usually high.
One of the top restaurants around here that consistently maintains high standards is The Fuzzy Duck in Armscote.
The restaurant is located in a beautifully renovated building where everything has been finished to the highest standards.

They have a well thought out seasonal menu (an example below).

One of the best starters […]

Dining out  – Buckland Manor

Choosing your dining options while staying at our Cotswolds B&B is important. Restaurants around here get booked up quickly and the idea of booking a restaurant and taxi at 6pm on a Friday is not an option. It is important to book ahead and I am more than willing to book restaurants and taxis ahead of time for my guests.
Although there are many quality dining options around Shipston-On-Stour, one of the best fine dining options is Buckland Manor.
Buckland Manor is a 13th-century manor house set in 10 acres of beautiful gardens. The restaurant won the Cotswold Hotel Restaurant of […]

New Cotswolds book – SECRET GARDENS OF THE COTSWOLDS

The very talented photographer Hugo Rittson Thomas is releasing a new book, Secret Gardens of the Cotswolds with written by Victoria Summerley .
It will be released on the 5th February 2015 but I have already pre-ordered a copy.
The photography looks spectacular and if the text is similar to Victoria’s blog, it will be a great read.

Winter sunshine in the North Cotswolds

We have become Shipston residents relatively recently and have been very impressed by the wonderful winter weather. This year has been especially spectacular with some amazing sunny frozen days.

I was walking Charlie this week with my friend Elaine who has lived in Shipston for more than thirty years and she was saying that most of the time the weather in winter is as good as summer. It is not clear why, perhaps there is a bit of a micro-climate here or else it may have to do with the air coming in from Wales over the Vale of Evesham […]

Beautiful Cotswolds villages

One of the great things about running a B&B in the Cotswolds is that we are just a few minutes away from so many beautiful Cotswolds villages many of the off the beaten track.

It is remarkable that Shipston is surrounded by beautify towns and villages some famous (like Chipping Campden) and some less well known.

Last Sunday turned into a beautiful day so we loaded Charlie into the car and set out from Shipston-On-Stour.

We took a random turning left and drove through the beautiful countryside which is still looking stunning. This area of Warwickshire is surrounded by landscape that looks […]