Wookie Hole cheese and wine

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So, after our trip to Bath, we decided to go and visit Wellington where Gary grew up. The natural stopping place on the way was Wookie Hole.

I had been to Wookie Hole many years ago and the main attraction is a set of limestone caverns which you can pay to enter. The attraction was owned by Gerry Cottle, the British circus owner, who sadly died of covid earlier this year.

Anyway, the caves are lit up in a theatrical fashion circus-style and imagine my delight (being called Alice) to see that that the caves are decorated with an, “Alice in Wonderland” theme and filled with characters from the renowned story.

The most exciting part though of the caves is that Wookie Hole cheddar (which you can buy in British supermarkets) is stored in the caves. The cheese is made at Ford Farm in Dorset and then it is wrapped in cloth matured in the caves for 6 months whilst kept at a constant temperature.

If you are unable to travel to the caves, you will not be missing out as there is a 24 hour cheese cam focused on the cheeses which you can access here!

Cheese Cam – Wookey Hole

To top it all, you can even buy wine which has been made in the locale and stored in the caves. I am not too sure what the quality of this will be like but we have brought a bottle home and will be trying it out in due course.

After coming out from the caves, I was excited to see a cave diving museum, being a diver myself (albeit a rusty one). We enjoyed spending time in the museum before heading out for a well deserved ice cream.

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Bath, Sally Lunn's buns and The Fine Cheese Co.

So, after the lockdown (or at least towards the end of it) we needed some r & r and decided to go to the West Country for a few days. First stop was Bath and we stayed in the Gainsborough which is named after the artist Thomas Gainsborough and is the only hotel with access to the hot springs (although the public baths are just across the road).

It was a good move and certainly relaxing after the stresses and strains of the last few months. Bath is a beautiful city, famous for the Roman baths and it’s architecture which led the city to becoming a World Heritage Site in 1987. It’s a small city and the main sights can easily be seen on foot in a few hours.

One evening, I took Gary to Sally Lunn’s Historic Eating House which is a famous tourist attraction in the city. I had visited last time c. 10 years’ ago and for an afternoon tea but was keen to try the evening menu on second visit.

Sally Lunn was a legendary young Huguenot baker who created the first Bath Bunn and the menu centres on the Sally Lunn bun which is baked to a secret recipe.

I picked a chicken and ham trencher. Traditionally a “trencher” was a type of bread used before the invention of plates and to the dish consisted of a chicken and ham stew placed within a Sally Lunn bun.

Gary had a slow cooked pork trencher and commented afterwards, “It’s just a bread roll!”

I had to agree with Gary’s conclusion on the dish but I have decided to order some buns online from the bakery to try these at home and will report back once I have tried them again!

One lovely surprise from staying at the Gainsborough was that we came back to our room one afternoon and discovered a box from the Fine Cheese Company.

The box contained some cheddar and some Bath soft cheese, both of which were phenomenal with the enclosed all butter wheat crackers. The box also contained some fig chutney though this is not my thing and so I have given this a miss!

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St John, Farringdon

This year I took Gary on a surprise trip to St John Restaurant in Farringdon for his birthday.  At least, it was supposed to be a surprise although I could not help but tell him in the morning where we were going!

The restaurant is named after my favourite saint in the Bible and is situated in St John Street.   The restaurant is a stone’s throw from St John’s arch which was built in the 16th Century as an entrance to the Clerkenwell Priory which was the Priory of the Knights of St John (known as the Knights Hospitalier).

The restaurant was founded in London in 1994 just as London’s foodie scene started to flourish and I have therefore wanted to go for a long time (but not really had the excuse).  It’s not for the faint-hearted as it specialises in nose-to-tail cooking, serving up dishes using most parts of an animal for those that are brave enough to try it.

In the event, I was fairly conservative and had a pork salad with dandelions for a starter.  I was not totally convinced about the dandelions but we do have some growing in the garden and may be inspired to try and use them.  For the main, I had brill which came with a green sauce which was out of this world.  Sadly, I can’t remember what the sauce was and as the evening’s menu is only published at 5pm each day, it is likely to be too late to try and find out!

Gary was a bit braver than me and his face lit up when the waiter suggested try the pig spleen starter and lamb sweetbreads.  In the end he chose both!

For desserts, I had an Eccles cake with Lancashire cheese (the only choice on the menu for me).  Gary had an apple and calvados trifle.  Drinkwise, I tried out Plymouth gin for the first time, the wine list is French so we couldn’t really go wrong.

Anyway, the evening was a great success, Gary wrote on his facebook page afterwards that he had “an offaly good birthday” which can only be the highest accolade!

St John has three restaurants, a bakery, a winery and a wine company – https://stjohnrestaurant.com/ (the picture is of St John Food & Wine near Spitalfields Market).