UK trip, Dec 2008 - The Greenway Hotel, Cheltenham

Due to traffic problems, we missed our lunch at Le Champignon Sauvage Restaurant. So we took a recommendation from the owner and had lunch at the local hotel.

The Greenway Hotel is actually located in a little village called Shurdington. According to an online source:

The Greenway takes its name from the pre-Roman path which runs beside the hotel to the hills behind and leads to Long-Barrow, an early burial site and the remains of a pre-Iron Age fort dating back 5,000 years.

"Green Way" meant grove road or sheep road, and must therefore have been one of the safe walkways through the surrounding hillsides when lowlands were covered in marsh and forest, and inhabited by wild animals.

The land upon which The Greenway stands was originally known as The Little Shurdington Estate, and first records show that it belonged to the family Lawrence (or Laurence) as early as 1521. The Lawrence family, who date back to 1191, originated from Lancashire and it was assumed they were in the wool trade and used Gloucester Docks, hence their interest in an estate near Cheltenham.

The Lawrence family sold the estate in 1854 and it was bought by Colonel Godfrey. After a few change of hands, the house was eventually opened as an hotel in 1947.

It was rather late for lunch (it was 1:45pm by the time we got there), and they were only offering the bar menu.

Anyway, the food turned out quite good. The weather was really nice that day and the country house style sitting area was flooded with natural light. It was a very nice and relaxing lunch.

Gnocchi

Chicken breast with mushrooms

We enjoyed our wine in very comfy sofas in the bar area while we waited for the lunch to arrive. I need one of those sofas at home!

We then moved to the sitting room area to have lunch.

The hotel is richly furnished so it offers great photo opportunities too! Here are some samples:

The outdoor area is also very nice. It was much more difficult to pose for photos though because there is nothing to lean on! :-P




It is nice to visit a country house once in a while. The setting is so beautiful and gardens are nicely done. I like peace and quiet in the area. Perhaps I will return one day to stay in the hotel, though only if they have wi-fi internet connection installed :-P

For more information:

http://www.thegreenway.co.uk/