When I met Emma Bradshaw at Lou Archell’s lovely Sisterhood Camp hosted at Fforest earlier in the year – she was just in the process of finalising taking on a new family venture in the form of The Daneway pub near Sapperton in the Cotswolds. Roll forward 6 months and Emma and her family are fully ensconced in their new life and fast approaching their first Christmas as Innkeepers.
Our boys have been asking for ages to go to Rush Indoor Skatepark near Cirencester – and when I saw that Emma was running a wreath making morning at the pub (which is nearby), a happy family plan was hatched. So last Sunday, we set off up the M5 on a gloriously sunny day. Mr W dropped me off at the pub for the morning and took the boys to an outdoor skatepark, then they all headed back to the pub for lunch, with the final visit being the famed Rush Skatepark! We think it may have been up there with Christmas anticipation for the boys…
I made my first Christmas wreath last year and was pleasantly surprised with how it turned out. The process of making it as part of a group made it much easier for me not to lose heart and give up when it was looking straggly in the early stages! When I got there, Emma’s welcome coffee hit the spot: a really excellent coffee, setting me up for the holly trials I was sure were ahead of me. Debs Edmonds, from Wild Is Best Flowers, was running the session and showed us how to neatly start adding greenery and decoration to the moss hoop, and slowly but surely, a passable wreath started to emerge. It was a really lovely group to be part of, and a healthy bartering in ivy between tables soon began to emerge. Everyone made a wreath that they could take home and justifiably be proud of – and it was really surprising how different they all were, given that we all used the same materials!
Then, most deliciously, I had 15 minutes spare to sit and drink in the sunshine pouring through the window. The Daneway has that really special ambience reserved for places well used to welcoming people and making them feel at home. When you add in great food, plus Emma and her husband, Pete, as your friendly hosts – I’m thinking that I might need to book our next trip up early or we’ll risk not getting a table. As words gets round about this place (and it will), I’m expecting that they’ll be busy bees!
Being a Sunday, most of us ordered the Roast – choosing from lamb or beef, with one warm egg and bacon salad & chips. The food arrived, beautifully served and most excellent of taste. The cauliflower cheese was a particular favourite, as were the delightfully crispy roast potatoes and the heavenly chips. Our eldest son was most pleased about the fact that he got a Yorkshire pudding with his Roast Lamb – as he was behind the initiative in our house that led to Yorkies with all roast dinners! Really good portion sizes and not overly expensive at £12 each, a full house of top marks from our table.
We were too full for pudding really, but with chocolate brownie on the menu, I felt that I had to force myself – and dear reader, it was so worth it! Delicious chocolate brownie, topped with vanilla ice cream, accompanied by big fat bramble berries – I really didn’t need to eat it all, but it was far too delicious to leave.
An appointment at the skatepark meant we had to leave without enjoying the delightful walks available straight out of the pub – but in the car we were already plotting return visits, with an overnight stay in the shepherd’s hut and boy camping firmly on the agenda for our Gifford’s circus trip next year at nearby Minchinhampton – maybe I should get that one booked in now! Yes, you did hear right, Emma has a shepherd’s hut that you can rent out – and as you know I have a bit of a thing about shepherd’s huts? This one has been beautifully styled by Emma and I can’t wait to go and try it out – take a look at Emma’s Instagram feed for pics.
Our very heartfelt thanks and all the best for the future to the Daneway team – we will be back soon ????
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