Well Posh

Sunday, bacon sandwiches with tea & coffee, overnight bags packed and Mrs S and I headed off towards Exeter.
First stop IKEA, light shade and light bulbs needed as well as a swift hot dog, fries and cold drink before heading back west as far as Bovey Castle.

In 1890 William Henry Smith (later to become WH Smith and Viscount Hambleden) purchased 5,000 acres of land, and his son, Frederick, later built a lavish Neo-Elizabethan Manor House for the family’s country retreats.
During the First World War, the Manor House became a convalescent home for officers and a military hospital when war broke out again in 1939.
Between the wars the house was sold to Great Western Railways and became a hotel.
The hotel changed hands a couple of times, added to and improved it became Bovey Castle in 2004, the same year that achieved its 5* status.

Mrs S and arrived and checked in, shown to our room and invited to “freshen up”, having done so we went downstairs to explore and relax. A Christmas Tree in every room, warm and welcoming with friendly staff the hotel was pretty busy considering the closeness to Christmas.

Mrs S’s brother John and wife Janet joined us for coffee and a catch up, the restaurant so busy we couldn’t get a table, we ate in the bar. Beer and sandwiches, lots of chat interspersed with laughter as we caught up on the years since we last sat down together.

All too soon it was time to turn in, coffee in the room before falling asleep on the one of the widest beds I’ve ever slept in - luxurious.