The Dudley at Coombe Abbey

Barbados, as we’ve discovered since we’ve been here, is often called Little England. That’s not so surprising, though the architecture and decor are miles apart. You’ll know how much I’m a fan of and enjoy colour, well Barbados delivers on all of that. The bright colours though, don’t seem to work back home so much, just as the traditional decor from our relatively recent visit to Coombe Abbey in Warwickshire would look out of place in the Caribbean.

Both work, in their own environments. Here’s some more from our mediaeval banqueting weekend, mostly of our room - the Dudley.

We’d left it later than we should have to book, and so ended up booking more than the basic room. Usually MOH would have known this wasn’t a good thing, but even if he did when we arrived in the room and were met with our own spiral staircase he just might have been forgiven.

We’ll come back to what’s at the top of the stairs later though. First, drink in the grandeur of the decor, the swags of the curtains and the mock canopy over the bed. They’re about as traditional as you can get…

Upstairs was also traditional, and a tad extravagant. A roll top bath took pride of place, with a generous sized room to itself.

A pile of stones in one corner of the room was slightly odd though, or at least I thought so.

We were only there for one night, and there was a delay to our room being available, so we weren’t able to take full advantage of all it could offer. We spent the evening celebrating my BIL’s half-century birthday at the medieval banquet, and while they worked that out in the end, that too was disorganised and chaos for our party.

Personally I think the hotel had too much going on, with banquets and weddings, and just weren’t organised enough to cope. We may just have been unlucky, arriving at a particularly busy time, who knows.

Throughout the hotel the decor matched the ambience it promised, and with my gown with the never ending sleeves (seriously, they touched the floor) it was easy to believe we’d been transported back in time.

Perhaps, that is, until we encountered this:

The loo with a garden

Indeed. Who’d have thought? Not that long ago I shared the outside loo, so I should have expected the loo with a garden not to be too far behind. And it’s quite a garden.

HOW MANY YELLOWS?

Technically it’s to the side of the loo, but as the loos were the closest building I’m claiming it for them. The toilet block was less pretty though, despite the espaliered purple leaved plant, and plenty of lichen to liken (Sorry. Still not tired of that one).

Sadly though, it went downhill from there. Two cubicles. One out of order. And a Brownie pack in front of me. Though they were quite entertaining.

So unusually for a Loo Series post, there’s distinctly few loos. But there are exceptional knotted hedges to make up for that.

And a view. But really, look at the intricate box shapes.

Which reminds me I should look out and share my photos from the Chateau de Villandry, which I’ve still not shared here, and which popped up in my Instagram archive this week. Look out for more hedges shortly, or well my shortly, which could still be a while.

This picture from the gatehouse shows the small toilet block, the hedges (again) and the garden to the side.

I think though for it’s prettiest garden, it deserves its place in the Loo Series.

Motor cars, prints with all the glamour

Motor cars, just saying the words make me smile and think of something terribly old-fashioned. And if you’ve already seen the pictures in this post, you’ll understand why it’s motor car, and not just car.

Motor cars scream glamour, sophistication and money. Though to be fair, today’s more modern day versions are hardly cheap are they?

But it was on our recent trip to Kenilworth Castle that my inner petrol-head was once again reignited. And in the most fantastic way, with these fascinating drawings, or prints of old-fashioned cars. They were part of the 'Speed and Power: John Siddeley, Pioneer of the Motor Age' at Kenilworth Castle, which celebrates motoring and aviation pioneer, Sir John Siddeley and first Baron Kenilworth, a British motoring pioneer who bought the castle in 1937.

Aren’t they great? And weren’t you momentarily transported back to what appears to be a more glamorous - and one would expect, less road rage filled - age?