Join Poppy and Graham for dinner
(usually featuring produce from their organic kitchen garden and local farm shops) and conversation flows. “We get such a mix of people around the table – we’ve had people from very different backgrounds and from around the world – and everyone gets on like a house on fire,” Poppy says. Chat frequently turns to Poppy and
W
Graham’s fencing exploits, too: both competed in the Olympics and are recent world champions, and they hope to become veteran world champions again this year. “Evenings pass very merrily,” she says.
hen King Henry VIII’s Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, toured the realm in the 16th
century, he expected his hosts at country houses en route to provide sumptuous hospitality. The Ipswich-born butcher’s son also graciously tucked into the very best food they could offer. Today, you might not travel Britain’s roads with a Tudor cardinal’s pomp and ceremony, but you can certainly enjoy the warmest of welcomes from a consortium of upmarket B&Bs that perpetuates his name. Wolsey Lodges is a collection of private
homes full of character whose owners open their doors to paying guests and entertain them as family and friends. Set up in 1981 in the same Ipswich area where the epicurean Lord Chancellor had his roots, the network has grown to some 200 members reaching right across the UK from Cornwall to the Scottish Highlands, and seven locations in France. “Every home is individual, ranging from
historic country houses to restored cottages and rustic farmhouses, from Georgian mansions to Victorian rectories,” explains Angela Rouse, Wolsey Lodges Operations Manager.
92 BRITAIN
You will find comfortable, elegant, quality
accommodation and special touches like fragrant bathroom bubblies and freshly-baked biscuits in bedrooms. Above all, Angela says, hosts provide a very personal experience. Generous breakfasts are a hallmark and many Wolsey Lodges also offer supper or dinner. “Often guests dine together around the
same table en famille,” Angela adds. “It’s a really good way to relax, to chat and share local knowledge about the area.” Guests at historic Uplands House (5-star
gold) near Banbury, home of Poppy Cooksey and Graham Paul, “come as strangers and leave as great friends,” Poppy confirms. When people arrive, she gives them a lovely tea by the fire or, in summer, on the terrace in Uplands’ beautiful garden – maybe a prelude to touring gardens in the area like Kiftsgate, Hidcote and Sezincote. Poppy and Graham opened their home to
visitors in 2004, to see if they would enjoy being hosts. It turns out they did – and guests love their country house hospitality, which includes three bedrooms with views over parkland or the rose garden.
“Every visit is bespoke to our guests. We give warmth, comfort, friendliness and kindness.” Elaine and Dick Packer, who live at
The Hill on the Wall (5-star gold), Gilsland in
Cumbria, “go the extra mile” quite literally to make sure their visitors feel welcome. Their 16th-century fortified farmhouse is splendidly located just 300 yards from Hadrian’s Wall Path at Birdoswald, and many of those who come to stay are exploring the 84-mile National Trail in the footsteps of Roman legionaries who once
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