The homely, relaxed atmosphere of this Jacobean manor house, the original Luxury Family Hotel, puts you immediately at ease. Its wood-panelled interior, open fires and antique furnishings are impressive but not pretentious, and it’s unmatched for making children and dogs welcome. The 14-acre garden is one big adventure playground, with swings, play houses and dipping pond. There are indoor and outdoor swimming pools, the complimentary Woolley Bears Den children’s club and the Hen House for older children. Adult treats include great food, a luxurious Elemis spa, roaring log fires and a terrace for champagne on summer evenings. The bedrooms are both family friendly and full of character. For parents with younger children, take advantage of the baby listening service, don your glad rags and head for a superb dinner, prepared by award-winning chef Jethro Lawrence, using fresh produce from the kitchen garden and the best local suppliers.
Don’t miss the old lock up on the town bridge with its weathervane fish, the Gudgeon. If you were locked up here for being drunk and disorderly, you were said to be ‘under the fish and over the water’.
Pop into Bath for a famous Bath bun…a bit like a large toasted tea cake with a lump of sugar in it!
‘Made in Bradford on Avon’ is a shop in the old mill buildings in Lamb Yard. Here a collection of local artists display their paintings, pottery, carvings and woollen creations. Well worth a visit, and you might well find a treasure to take home.
Nota Bene
Woolley Grange lies close to Bath on the outskirts of Bradford on Avon, an old medieval wool town. Once wool was no longer a viable industry in the south, Bradford on Avon became the first rubber town, with its ready band of factory workers and fresh water supply, producing tyres for Goodyear and the like. It is now an artisan town, with quaint Cotswold cottages and lots of nooks and alleyways to explore.
