The real Downton Abbey ... and more

This is my 4th and final blog post chronicling a recent Type A Travel “Trip to Remember” which I curated and hosted with my spouse and a group of five other dear friends. Thus far the trip had been amazing - some of us started in London, then we all joined up together in Windsor and after that moved on to Coresham, in western Wiltshire. Please see my previous blogs posts on these segments of the trip for information and tips: Living it up in London, Windsor and Royal England, and The stone circles of Wiltshire, England. After we departed the small town of Coresham, we visited along the Kennet & Avon Canal and had a short and hot visit to Stonehenge, then made our way to the even smaller village (maybe a hamlet – it was really small) of Longstock in Hampshire county. Our destination was the glorious Peat Spade Inn. This inn and its location really raised a few eyebrows with my friends as it was in a very rural part of England. So why had I selected this? When booking lodging, I generally try to find something that is conveniently located as a high priority. For this leg of the trip, we had intended to spend time in Salisbury, Winchester, and Newbury and this village and inn was almost smack in the middle of those three cities. Because it was so rural, I also though it would provide a different perspective than the prior places we had stayed. According to their own website and other online reviews, it was charming and a good value. As they say in the UK, it ticked all the boxes.

The amazing Peat Spade Inn and village of Longstock

The Inn was indeed really quaint, the people running the place could not have been nicer, and the village was absolutely picturesque. The Inn is located in the Test River Valley which is one the greatest fly-fishing centers in the world. I may have unknowingly had a soft spot for this area as my father had been an avid fly fisherman and tied many beautiful flies, some of which I still have. The area is a fisherman and hunter’s paradise and beautifully bucolic. The main building of the Inn is several centuries old and there is an old peat house in the back converted into ensuite guest rooms. Dogs are welcome (and encouraged) and the manager, Shelly, has developed a real welcoming and homey atmosphere. The chef is incredible and we were all really surprised to find such an inventive menu and great wine list. The village itself, about 450 residents, is barely more than the haunting St. Mary’s Church and a few traditional thatched-roof houses. Picture perfect with absolute darkness and quiet at night, ideal for sleeping with the windows open and enjoying the cool breezes. We got settled in and enjoyed a creative dinner in their outdoor dining area, claiming the gazebo spot which would be ours for the next few nights.

More photos of Longstock and the Peat Spade Inn

The next morning we started with a hearty breakfast, the menu included a choice of options from full English breakfast to avocado toast to American pancakes, and then after made our way to Old Sarum on the outskirts of Salisbury. Old Sarum is one of the earliest settlements in England dating back to at least 3,000 BC with evidence of prehistoric artifacts. Its strategic location encouraged settlement in the Iron Age and during the Roman period and around 1070 a motte and bailey fortress was built. The heyday of Old Sarum lasted for about 300 years, including a cathedral and royal residences used by King Henry I and several subsequent monarchs. Today Old Sarum is a site run by English Heritage and consists of the hill and earthen embankments as well as ruins of various buildings and the cathedral. It’s a bit challenging to recreate in your mind what things may have looked like at its peak but the strategic location and outline of the old cathedral are impressive. There is a delightful novel called Sarum, written by Edward Rutherfurd, which traces the history of Old Sarum and Salisbury (new Sarum).

The ruins of Old Sarum

After Old Sarum, we drove into Salisbury to spend the rest of the day. Salisbury is a city of about 40,000 inhabitants and was founded around 1220 with the commencement of the new cathedral, being relocated from Old Sarum. The cathedral is the highlight of the small old city as well as the “Charter market” which has been held here for about 800 years. We visited the Salisbury Information Center in Fish Row for a quick orientation, map and recommendations. Our first stop was the beautiful church of St. Thomas’s Salisbury, just off the main street. This 800-year-old church was constructed by the builders of the much grander Salisbury Cathedral for their own usage and worship during the long years of construction. Now the parish church of city center Salisbury, this lovely house of worship is home of the largest and best preserved “Doom” painting in England. Doom paintings feature scenes of the Last Judgement and were common features in English churches. This one dates from 1470 and was whitewashed over during the English Reformation, not being seen until 1819 and restored in 2019. The now bright and visible painting features fascinating and minute details, like the dead rising naked from their graves to be escorted to Heaven and sinners being cast into the flames of Hell. We really enjoyed visiting this unexpected gem.

Salisbury town and St. Thomas's church

After walking around the city center a bit, we popped into the Red Lion Inn for a break and possible lunch. This building is possibly the oldest purpose-built hotel in Europe, dating back 800 years when it was known as the White Bear Inn. While charming and historic, lunch was not to be had and instead we had a drink and a bag of potato chips. It must have been the first day of the poor dear who was serving us, she seemed so confused and slow. Slow service was a theme in Salisbury which continued into lunch at the Bell & Crown pub, another ancient (in this case 700-year-old) establishment. In his defense, the server mentioned that he was the only one working and a large table had come in before us, but it was terribly slow service and the food was just your average pub food. Not our finest meal by far but it happens from time to time and you roll with the punches. After our lengthy lunch we made our way to the enormous Salisbury Cathedral. Officially called the Cathedral Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the cathedral dates from 1220 and succeeds the former cathedral at Old Sarum. Known for its 404 feet spire, the tallest in England, the building dominates the landscape for miles. Salisbury Cathedral is also home to one of four original copies of the Magna Carta, which is housed in a beautiful octagonal shaped chapter house. The cathedral nave also had a fascinating art display on while we were there, called The Vanity of Small Differences by the artist Grayson Perry. This set of 6 large fabric murals charts, in vivid color and contemporary irony, the class struggle of man from working class obscurity to greatness and back again. The colors really popped in the cathedral and both seemed to complement the other spectacularly well. Departing the cathedral, we walked through the Cathedral Close and passed through the 13th century High Street Gate and enjoyed an ice cream at Roly’s Fudge shop. Our last stop in town was the Salisbury Antiques Market where we each picked up a small trinket as a souvenir. We headed back to our lovely Peat Spade Inn and decompressed from the day, enjoying another fantastic meal in our now favorite outdoor spot.

The Red Lion Inn and Bell & Crown

Salisbury Cathedral

The High Street Gate in Salisbury and dinner at the Peat Spade Inn

For our second full day in this part of England we had intended to visit the cathedral city of Winchester, one of the most important cities in England up until the Norman conquest. Our hosts at the Inn had a few other recommendations since there are a lot of similarities between Winchester and Salisbury. We agreed and are glad we got to see things that were a little more off the beaten path. After another hearty breakfast, we drove just a bit up the road to see the Longstock Park Water Gardens. It was another gorgeous warm summer day and visiting this six-acre garden was a very grounding way to start off, soaking in all the beauty that Mother Nature has to offer. The gardens consist of multiple trails around manicured as more natural beds, including large thickets of trees, and of course a crystal-clear stream separating a few small islands. The waterlilies were stunning and it’s rightly so that the Waterlily and Water Gardening Society has named this “the finest water garden in the world”. I would agree! The Leckford Estate, of which the Gardens belong, also features a lovely nursery, farm shop and small café. We popped into for a treat and a few souvenirs before heading out to our next destination.

Longstock Park Water Gardens and the nursery

Mottisfont Abbey was a short drive away and this building and beautiful gardens dates back to about 1200. Formed around a natural spring (the “font”), the site was originally an Augustinian priory. King Henry VIII gave the property to a favored statesman who turned it into a country home around 1540. Though altered through the years, you can still see traces of the priory in parts of the house and the cellar area. In the 1930’s the owners, the Russells, entertained many artists and made the house the center of a vibrant social scene. Mrs. Russell gave the house to the National Trust who now runs it as a museum, featuring periodic art exhibits and beautiful, well-maintained rose gardens. Of the various country houses we had seen, Mottisfont gave me the best sense of what British weekend house parties must have been like. It was a delightful and easy quick visit. Fully starving at this point, we headed to the main town near the Inn, Stockbridge, for a very late lunch and a brief visit. This very small town primarily consists of one main street with a number of historic buildings, inns, restaurants, and shops. Stockbridge is well known for fly-fishing and the River Test runs right through the town. We’d initially set our sights on the Greyhound on the Test inn as our lunch spot but since it was about 2:00 pm the kitchen was closed. This was very fortunate for us because we then discovered the delightful Prego Deli. We admittedly had some reservations by the name (were we eating sandwiches?) and the unassuming little storefront but Mandy, one of the owners, was so charming and just pulled us in. Her husband, Dave, does all the cooking in a very tiny kitchen but it was really some of the best pasta many of us had had in a very long time. Mandy made recommendations and the food was really cooked to our order – the cacio e pepe was scrumptious. They were so thoughtful to make each dish large enough that we could all share, which we happily did. I would highly recommend this to anyone, our third and final delicious Italian surprise. Stuffed to the gills, we headed back to the Inn for a restful evening.

Mottisfont Abbey

Stockbridge and the wonderful Prego Deli

The last full day of this fun-filled trip included a visit to Highclere Castle (of Downton Abbey fame) and a chef’s table luncheon, along with time to relax and get ready to return to the US. Highclere Castle is located in a town called Newbury which is about 25 minutes from the Peat Spade Inn. Fans of the TV series and movies will recognize the beautiful façade of the building and soaring great hall. The actual castle is the country seat of Lord and Lady Carnarvon, who still reside there, though mostly in another building on the property. The Castle has become a huge tourist attraction due to the fictional series, but is also host to many other enterprises (they distill their own brand of gin for example). Tours of the castle are frequent in the summer but more sporadic other times so we had booked well in advance, you can also purchase a boxed lunch and picnic on the lovely and expansive grounds. One additional claim to fame for the Castle and family is that the 5th Earl Carnarvon was a financial backer for several archeological explorations in Egypt, including the one in which King Tut’s tomb was discovered. In the basement of the Castle there is an impressive collection of artifacts from that period. It was wonderful to visit so many rooms I was familiar with from the TV series and movies. The Castle is actually a little smaller than it seems from film and no photos were allowed inside but it was a great way to spend the morning and one very memorable part of the trip.

Highclere Castle and gardens

Our last planned activity was lunch at the Michelin-starred Woodspeen restaurant on the outskirts of Newbury. The acclaimed restaurant in an old restored farmhouse sits along a quite country lane in a beautiful farm and forested setting. In addition to the restaurant there is a highly regarded cooking school which offers classes to the public as well as private events. We had arranged for a private luncheon in the cooking school’s kitchen area which started with a small tour of their garden which supplied many of the fresh herbs and vegetables we’d soon be enjoying. Cocktails were served on a small patio outside of the kitchen before being seated at a large wooden table next to the chef’s primary cooking area. We enjoyed the 5-course summer tasting menu which included: Cornish crab risotto, burrata and heritage tomato salad, roast lab rump with pea and bacon white wine sauce, artisan cheeses and homemade crackers, and to finish mint Pavlova with local fruits. The staff was fun, selecting pop music for us to enjoy and walking us through how every dish was prepared as well as other tidbits about the restaurant. It was like a small, fun private party in someone’s home. We really loved this experience and it was a great way to cap off the trip.

Lunch at the Woodspeen

We returned to the Inn late in the afternoon and used the rest of the time to start packing up and getting ready for early departures the next day. We all had different flights so folks left at various times to return to Heathrow for our return flights. We were all looking forward to getting home, as you often are at the end of a long trip like this, but would miss these long days filled with history, gardens, good food and making memories with great friends.

Lovely view near the Peat Spade Inn