CF Travels: Bristol and Bath – the mummy minibreak

Eeeekk! I’m off on my tod for a full 48-hour solo minibreak.

This summer we have covered all bases – baby-friendly Cornwall, romantic bolthole in Dorset, sociable city jaunts to London with friends… now it’s ME TIME.

I work in Bristol, so it’s a little bit of a busman’s holiday. That said, I am usually dashing up the M5 at 6.30am, working all day, then straight back home to catch bathtime. I never get to linger in the cafes in Clifton, or exercise my credit card at Cabot Circus (the South West outpost of Harvey Nics! Salvation!). I will be staying at, and reviewing, the Bristol Hotel down on the Harbourside.

Although it will be a work-night, I intend to hole-up at the bar and catch up with friends. Then retire to my room and lounge in the fluffiest of robes with room service, free wifi and a particularly weepy rom-com from Netflix. I CANNOT WAIT.

It’ll be an early night because bright and early the next day I’m off for a full-day foraging course at the recently unveiling Vale House Kitchen cookery school just outside Bath.

Pretty idyllic, huh?

I cannot tell you how much this place excites me. The list of tutors is a ‘who’s who’ of foodies – including their head tutor – chef, food writer and cookery teacher Tim Maddams (locally he was head chef at the River Cottage Canteen in Axminster, often popping up alongside Hugh in the TV series, too).

I love that it is not just about the cooking though, but the art of country pursuits too. I was sorely tempted by the list of field courses available, including fly fishing and shooting; as well as the butchery course with Robin Rea (I wrote about his AMAZING butchers-cum-delicatessen-cum-restaurant, The Rusty Pig in the spring) but in the end plumped for the full-day foraging course with Chris Westgate.

We’ll be off for a 3-hour jaunt through the fields and woodland of the Chew  Valley – learning to identify edible (and in-edible!) plants, ideas for cooking our foraging finds as well as countryside etiquette when it comes to gathering from the hedgerow.

I’ll report back at the end of the month with a full review – in the meantime here is a list of courses this autumn.

www.valehousekitchen.co.uk