It appears from the last blog post that Brent has been reading too many P.G. Wodehouse ‘Jeeves & Wooster’ books. His recounting of our stay at Swinton Park may be slightly affected by this. In reality, our stay involved much less scheming and certainly no match-making. I feel the need to translate Brent’s retelling into something a little more palatable for all those (everyone except Dave) who have not read Jeeves and Wooster.We spent the weekend in the country as guests of the Baron and Baroness of Masham at their estate, Swinton Park. I suppose all those who stay at the hotel are technically guests of the Baron and Baroness as it is their home, but I think our reservation was regarded as a personal invitation. I did after all pass the Baron in the main hallway one day and not by accident, I presume.
We had the idea that we wanted a relaxing weekend away and we wanted an excuse to rent a car and try our luck at driving on the left hand side of the road. When we found Swinton Park in our trusty Frommer’s Guide to England it sounded like the perfect spot: http://www.swintonpark.com/.
We picked up our rental car, a Hyundai Getz (in England this car manufacturer is pronounced HI-AND-DAI for some reason. Likely this stems from the same reason that Pantene shampoo is pronounced PAN-TEN rather than PAN-TEEN?! When living in another country it is really these little things that keep you amused) and practiced driving around some of our local sights (Hello Costco!! A stock-up where we don’t have to carry everything home in our backpacks!). Ahhhh, the freedom of being out on the road again. We are drivers. We drive. We let the car do the work, that’s our secret. We both assumed our roles – Brent was the driver due to his superior spatial abilities, less sporadic motions and flawless driving record (more than I can say for myself!!), while I was the navigator due to my ability to read the road signs (an obvious requirement, but a quality that Brent lacks), impeccable sense of direction and my calm and soothing voice reminding the driver to ‘stay to the left.’
After three attempts around the ring road and the one way streets of Leeds we finally made it out of the city! The one hour drive to Swinton Park let us practice some motorway driving and some winding country road skills. As we crossed through the gates of the Swinton Park property we opened our windows to smell the fresh country air and to take in the sounds of the birds chirping. This was going to be a great stay!
After checking-in we decided to kick start the relaxation mode. I had a massage in the spa and Brent, making his own version of a spa treatment, read his book in the bar. We both returned to the room one hour later with glazed eyes and a sense of peace.
We spent much of our time walking around the grounds. The grounds include a deer reserve, a pond, hiking trails, a lake, a walled garden, a spring garden and areas for such activities as archery, falconry, quoits, pony rides, croquet and golf. Every where you go on the grounds you can’t escape the sounds of the ducks, birds, pheasants and water rushing through the creek. Being surrounded by nature was so enjoyable for us. After all, the only wildlife we see in Leeds is drunken teenagers.
Our package included dinner and breakfast in the restaurant. Both were outstanding. Other highlights included our huge room with a fireplace in the bathroom and the complimentary gin and whisky in our room.
On our way home we stopped in the village of Masham, home of Theakston’s Brewery and Black Sheep Brewery - nothing like a village of a few hundred people with two award winning breweries. They are serious about their brew!
It was a great trip. It was a great place to spend a weekend and to relax. Luckily for us, there was no fire alarm at one in the morning, no prizes at the Masham Grammar School and no engagements. And most importantly, any resemblance I may bear to Jeeves is purely fictional. I am not actually Brent’s butler so he can make is own eggs and B and gin and tonic.
After checking-in we decided to kick start the relaxation mode. I had a massage in the spa and Brent, making his own version of a spa treatment, read his book in the bar. We both returned to the room one hour later with glazed eyes and a sense of peace.
We spent much of our time walking around the grounds. The grounds include a deer reserve, a pond, hiking trails, a lake, a walled garden, a spring garden and areas for such activities as archery, falconry, quoits, pony rides, croquet and golf. Every where you go on the grounds you can’t escape the sounds of the ducks, birds, pheasants and water rushing through the creek. Being surrounded by nature was so enjoyable for us. After all, the only wildlife we see in Leeds is drunken teenagers.
Our package included dinner and breakfast in the restaurant. Both were outstanding. Other highlights included our huge room with a fireplace in the bathroom and the complimentary gin and whisky in our room.
On our way home we stopped in the village of Masham, home of Theakston’s Brewery and Black Sheep Brewery - nothing like a village of a few hundred people with two award winning breweries. They are serious about their brew!
It was a great trip. It was a great place to spend a weekend and to relax. Luckily for us, there was no fire alarm at one in the morning, no prizes at the Masham Grammar School and no engagements. And most importantly, any resemblance I may bear to Jeeves is purely fictional. I am not actually Brent’s butler so he can make is own eggs and B and gin and tonic.
