Tudor Farmhouse Charities 2012

This year we have decided to support two charities – Noah’s Ark Appeal for the Children’s Hospital of Wales and LATCH Wales, which provides support services to the children and their families who are receiving cancer treatment in the Children’s Hospital.

The reason for this decision is purely personal, after all there are so many worthwhile charities that we could support. We have a group of friends from the Chepstow area that we met when our eldest son Matthew was born. We all have children of the same age and in September they all started school. A couple of weeks ago we found out that the four year old daughter, Ellie, of our good friends, Suzy & Jim, has cancer. As a group of friends we have been more affected by this news than we could have imagined possible. We have struggled to find a meaningful way to help and support both Ellie, her parents and little sister Eva. We wish we could take it all away, but as we can’t we have decided to do something positive to show our love and support for them. The first of what promises to be many events is the St David’s Day Run in Cardiff on March 4. It is a 5k run, and having decided to do it as a group of 5 we have been recruiting others onto Team Ellie. To date we have 12 runners, and our Just giving page has already received over £700 in sponsorship. We hope to smash our target for this race of £1000. If you would like to give, you can do so at our Just Giving page:

www.justgiving.com/team-ellie

Team Ellie will be holding other charity fundraising events, which we will keep you updated on via our blog.

FROM THE KITCHEN – NOVEMBER 2011

The long winter nights are certainly now upon us which means its time to add hearty Venison to the menu.  Blaine is matching the finest Venison from Lydney Park Estate with mushroom hash, celery root puree and red cabbage.

For the perfect night sheltering from the elements I recommend pairing this with a bottle of Barolo from the Serradenari Estate in Italy which has just been added to the wine list.

Building Work Begins!

We’re very exited to have finally started work converting our owners cottage into 3 more guest bedrooms. 

The builders have now been on site for a week and the place is virtually unrecognisable.  We’ve spent the last week choosing some great bathroom fittings (roll top baths, walk-in showers etc) and are looking forward to choosing more fixtures and fittings to complete the contemporary country look. 

We are hoping to have the rooms ready for guests by the end of February and will keep you updated with our progress.

 

Tastes of the Forest – A weekend of foodie heaven in the Royal Forest of Dean – 18th & 19th November 2011

We are very excited about our next event which is taking place on 18th & 19th November.

We have teamed up with Harts Barn Cookery School and Kingstone Brewery to present a weekend of foodie treats.

 Starting on Friday evening with a tasting of local ales from award winning local brewers Kingstone Brewery.  Edward Biggs from Kingstone will give an informal tasting of his delicious local ales followed by a mouth-watering three course meal prepared by our head-chef Blaine Reed.

Following breakfast on Saturday morning, guests will head off to the Forest of Dean’s newest attraction, Harts Barn Cookery School, for a half day cookery lesson and demonstrations with lots of ideas of what to cook with brilliant local produce (lunch is included).

After breakfast on Sunday morning, you will be taken on a guided walk with a local  expert starting at 10am, the walk, of approximately 5 to 6 miles, will finish back at the hotel at 1pm, where a hearty Sunday lunch will be waiting.

 Price for a two people is £450, single occupancy of a double room £300

To book please call 01594 833046

AUTUMN BREAK – OCTOBER 2011

Now that the leaves are beginning to turn colour there’s no better time to get out and blow away the cobwebs with a relaxing break in the Royal Forest of Dean.  We’re offering a fantastic woodland escape for just £150 per room per night or £275 for two nights, Sunday-Thursday until 20^th October.  This rate includes:

• best available room of your choice.
• 3 course meal from our award winning menu.
• A glass of prosecco each before dinner.
• 10% discount on any lunches taken at the hotel.
• Full English breakfast delivered to your room.

To book simply call 01594 833046 quoting the reference “Autumn Break”.  (This offer is for new bookings only, is subject to availability and is not to be taken in conjunction with other offers.)

FROM THE KITCHEN – SEPTEMBER 2011

This September is unusual because we are losing so many of our team to university.  Whilst we are excited for them leaving home and starting on their new lives as students we are sad to see them go and will miss them all.  Best wishes to Annie, Daisy, Joe,  Julia, Lizzie and  Ryan and we hope to see you again during the holidays.

Blaine and the team have been working hard all summer using our kitchen garden for inspiration.  As Autumn draws in and the crop of vegetables from our plot diminishes we are lucky to have a whole range of wild and foraged fungi and herbs just coming into season. We’re also looking forward to the game season when we’ll be adding game and venison sourced from our neighbours at Lydney Park Estate.

In the meantime we have added organic lamb to the menu from Crooked End Farm just down the road.  Click the link below to read the blog about their amazing organic farm.

http://crookedendfarm.wordpress.com/

30th OCTOBER 2011 – NEW WAVE ITALY WITH BRUCE KENDRICK FROM LIBERTY WINES – WINE DINNER.

Tickets are now on sale for our next wine dinner which will be held on the 30th October.  We are delighted to welcome Bruce Kendrick from Italian Specialist Liberty Wines for this wine dinner which focuses on modern-style Italian wines. Liberty, which has been awarded the ICW “Italian Wine Specialist of the Year” award 9 times in the last 12 years among its many accolades, will show a range of cutting edge “New Wave” Italian wines from new and innovative growers to complement the 5 course dinner prepared by our Head Chef Blaine Reed.

Tickets are £60 per head and can be booked by calling 01594 833046.

We are also offing rooms from £75 per night for guests attending the dinner.

 

Late Availabilty

We have a few rooms left on selected dates at a specially discounted rate of just £145 per night or £250 for two nights.  Staying in the best available room and dining  in our award winning candle-lit restaurant the package also includes a complimentary glass of parkling prosecco each before dinner, full English breakfast delivered to your room and a 10% discount from our delicious lunch menu on each day of your stay as well as the day of departure.  Applicable dates are:

July 29th, 30th

August 3rd, 4th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th.

Please call 01594 833046 quoting the reference “LATE AVAILABILITY”. Offer valid on new bookings and is subject to availability.

SEVERN BORE

The Severn Bore is a spectacular naturally occurring tidal wave which forms as the rising tide forces a large volume of water through a narrowing river channel with a rising river bed. The Severn Estuary has the second highest tidal range the world and produces one of the biggest bores. With an average speed of 16km per hour the wave can reach two metres in height making it a major attraction for both sight seers and surfers.

The size of the waves are categorised by a star system (1 = small, 5 = large and very rare), with 3 and 4 star bores being well worth the effort to see.  Why not make a day and night of it by booking a stay at the Tudor Farmhouse to coincide with the forthcoming 3 and 4 star bores in August, September and October 2011:

August 30^th, 31^st, September 27^th, 28^th, 29^th, 30^th, October 27^th, 28^th, 29^th

11TH SEPTEMBER 2011 – WINES OF THE RHONE VALLEY – WINE DINNER

We are looking forward to welcoming Michael Altur from Southern France specialists Yapp Brothers wine merchants as host of our next wine dinner in September.  Awarded Rhône and Loire specialist merchant of the year  in the International Wine Challenge in 2010, Yapp brothers will show some of the wines that made their reputation over the last 40 years. We will travel from the Northern to the Southern Rhône and taste wines from the most popular and the lesser-known appellations on the night.

Tickets £60per person, Five course dinner with matching wines, Aperitif from 7pm – Dinner 7.30pm

This wine dinner will take place in our Garden Room on a table accommodating a maximum of 20 people.  Couples or groups will be seated next to each other.

Special Sunday and Monday
Night Rates: If you’d like to make the most of this enjoyable evening there are special rates for those attending from only £75 per bedroom (including full English breakfast) for the Sunday night. You might be tempted to stay Monday night as well in which case we can offer dinner, a glass of bubbly, bed and full English breakfast from only £145 per room for the Monday evening. Special room rates are only available to those attending the Yapp Brothers wine evening and are based on two sharing.