I’m a bit late posting this, it was going to be about ‘last weekend’, but now it’s about the weekend before that. Well, my excuse is that I have been busy catching up on crochet after that weekend.
I don’t generally get an annual holiday as such. We do live in a holiday destination and I still have to pinch myself even after ten years, and say “I live here! I don’t have to go back to London next Sunday.” It’s a lovely feeling. Nevertheless, we all have to have the occasional break where we get pampered and someone else does all the cooking and washing up. So the last weekend in November saw me packed and ready with my daughter, whose school was having a teacher training day on the Friday, and we scooted off with another friend down to the Manor House & Ashbury Hotels down near Oakhampton, Devon. (Specifically the Manor House Hotel)
I’ve stayed here a few times now. We save up and book in the off-season because it’s not exactly what you’d call ‘budget’, but it’s worth it for what you do get. It is all under cover too, so unless you plan on playing golf or some other outdoor sport (No thanks!) you can keep indoors the entire weekend. Booking includes full board, you can even pay a bit extra for lunch on the day of arrival and/or departure. The buildings are old and as a result they are not as wheelchair friendly as one would like (this doesn’t affect us, but it did affect another guest who had a little difficulty with narrow corridoors). The age of the building is also reflcted in the slighted dated room decor, but you can live with that for the benefits.
The food is plentiful and well cooked. It’s not haut cuisine, you wouldn’t expect it to be, but it is good wholesome fare ranging from the most standard British meat and two veg to oriental styles and vegetarian options. (Preusmably vegan is on offer but it’s not something I check for). It is served in a buffet style arrangement and you can keep going back until you are sated. This meant that between my daughter and I we could sample all the desert options every day.
Then there’s the crafting; the reason why I didn’t get much crochet done. There are loads of crafting sessions across the weekend including pyrography, glass etching, ceramic painting, silk painting, candle making, enamelling, glass, fusion, and so much more. My only gripe here, and it’s another minor one, was the booking system was a bit unwieldy and we ended up not doing pyrography, which we were looking forward to trying.
Each session includes a tutor and all the equipment you might need. the materials cost extra. So, for example, you buy a glass bottle and perhaps a pattern, and then you engrave it accordingly. Similarly, you buy the silk form and a pattern and paint the design so you end up with something that looks really good even if you are not a great artist.
You could easily spend the entire weekend doing one craft after another, and forget to leave enough time for lunch. not that you need lunch after the huge breakfasts on offer and knowing the amount of dinner that is about to come your way, but if you did decide you want to do something else, these hotels also have a range of free sports and leisure activities on offer.
There’s a golf course, about which I know nothing. Ditto tennis, archery, football etc. But we did find the hydro pool. Well, actually it’s a bit complicated because there are several pools dotted about. There are two swimming pools, slide pool, a large hydro pool consisting of three interconnected areas, and a smaller hydro pool, as well as several saunas, steam rooms, ice room, and spa. We found the smaller hydro pool to be almost deserted, so we took advantage of that. There’s even a little slide which, of course, we had a go on.
I haven’t completely neglected the crochet though. I managed to finish off this elf who should be available to buy in the store for £10 by the time you read this.
