We had booked a night at The Peartree at Purton, with the aim of staying there and having a lovely dinner and then @madgie cycling to The Forest of Dean the following day. The training for the London Prudential 100 and the cycle to Paris is running a little behind, so it seemed a good way to fit in a nice hotel and a cycle.
I’ve been coming to The Peartree for 22 years and it remains one of my favourite hotels. It’s been a while since we’ve last visited and I’d forgotten how lovely it is, especially in the afternoon Summer sunlight, when the gardens are at their best. After dropping our things off we went for a walk.
As well as a stroll through the gardens we walked down to the local church for a mooch around the graveyard. I love an old graveyard, and this one had headstones dating back to the 1700’s. On many the stone was worn so it was difficult to make out the inscriptions. There has apparently been a church on the site since the 12th Century, so judging by the height of the mounds I suspect there have been bodies buried there for much longer.
The church itself wasn’t open so we couldn’t have a look round, but the surrounding area looked beautiful in the evening sun, and was really relaxing.
Eventually we wandered back to the hotel and got ready for dinner. I have always had lovely food at The Peartree so I was looking forward to a feast!
After an aperitif in the bar we went through to the restaurant. I ordered:
- Crab tian with chilli & avocado, lemongrass jelly and coriander emulsion
- Honey glazed wiltshire belly pork red wine & balsamic vinegar, cider braised fennel & red onion, hogs pudding mash
- Baked toffee cheesecake salted caramel, banana ice cream
And if that wasn’t enough, I then proceeded to nick half of @madgie’s cheese plate too. It was delish. I love pork belly, and I’m hopeless at cooking pork at home so I often choose it when I’m out, and it didn’t disappoint. All washed down with a few glasses of prosecco. Bliss. It was the first time this year it has properly felt like Summer, eating dinner in the conservatory with the sun setting.
We were in bed reasonably early, so that @madgie could get plenty of sleep ahead of the cycle. It meant we were up and about nice and fresh, and amazingly, ready for our huge Wiltshire breakfast. The wonderful Alix also made the brave cyclist a sandwich for the journey. So while he set off, I enjoyed a long hot bath, followed by tea overlooking the gardens. I really didn’t want to leave and most definitely won’t be leaving it so long before I come back to The Peartree.
