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Tradition with
all mod cons
SWINDON ADVERTISER Thursday, December 5, 2013
SWINDON ADVERTISER Thursday, December 5, 2013
STEPHEN WEBB samples the delights of the Kings Arms at
Didmarton, a cosy Cotswolds hideaway
IT IS cold outside. There is a chill wind and stinging rain batters the
“posh” fish fingers that had been nowhere near a supermarket freezer cabinet,
windscreen. Then the twinkling lights of a village hostelry come into view.
followed by quite possibly the most wonderful rice pudding I have ever tasted
Inside is warmth and merriment — a smoky log fire, a smiling welcome
(sorry mum).
from bar stuff, jugs of frothy real ale and hearty food to warm the cockles.
My wife happily tucked into a King’s burger with cheddar, fries and red
A cliché? Yes, but reality too, which we experienced when we visited the
onion marmalade, and she had her own slice of food paradise for dessert:
King’s Arms in Didmarton, a delightful pub that looks and feels traditional, yet
marmalade on toast ice cream — “two scoops of heaven,” she described it.
has the requisite mod cons for a pleasant overnight stay.
She couldn’t stop talking about it the next day.
We enjoyed just that on this particularly inclement November evening — an
And after a fabulously comfortable and refreshing night’s sleep, it was back
evening in which we got to enjoy the Beaufort Bouncer.
to the dining room for breakfast. A full English for me — and I mean full
Didmarton is well located for a break away from Swindon, or to break a
— and a rather more delicate scrambled eggs and smoked salmon dish for my
journey if you are going further afield. It’s a short drive north of Junction 18 of
wife.
the M4 for the direct route; or if you want something prettier,
And all too soon, it was time to check out. The King’s Arms is situated close
head west past Royal Wootton Bassett and
to a number of places well worth a visit and we had the rest of the day
Malmesbury, through Tetbury, and you’re there in no
ahead of us.
time.
Westonbirt Arboretum is just a couple of miles away and is
The King’s Arms is situated centrally on the
highly recommended. It is usually a great place to visit whatever
A double room at
main street through the small village, and is
the weather — except pouring rain.
the King’s Arms costs £65
immediately inviting, something which was
Guess what . . .
a night; a single room is £55. All
reinforced when we checked in.
So as we were sans wellies and pac-a-macs, we gave
prices include breakfast.
The sight of the rustic bar and dining area,
those glorious autumn colours a miss and headed on a short
The King's Arms, The Street,
and the aroma of beer, food and burning
distance to Tetbury, a delightful Cotswold town that is
Didmarton, near Badminton,
logs seemed to say “Come in, have a pint,
packed with interesting little shops and buildings, including a
Gloucestershire GL9 1DT.
have a bite to eat”, but that could wait while
church that dominates the skyline, plus lots of pubs and
www.kingsarmsdidmarton.co.uk
we went to our room and freshened up.
restaurants.
Tel: 01454 238 24
And the time had come to meet the
Yes, it was nearly time for lunch – but after that breakfast I
Email: enquiries@
Beaufort Bouncer. Nothing to do with a musclecouldn’t face a thing.
kingsarmsdidmarton.co.uk
bound doorman, and nothing to do with a wellPerhaps we could go back to the King’s Arms for supper, and pop
sprung mattress – the rooms at the King’s Arms are
in to visit Beaufort Bouncer while we are there . . .
named after prizewinning hounds at the nearby
Beaufort Hunt, and we had the privilege of spending the
night in one named in honour of Beaufort Bouncer.
Method
IF you want to try the marmalade
The other rooms are Farraday, Haystack, Harrington, Sampson and Bottle.
on toast ice cream that so dazzled
I do not know what they are like inside, but we were very happy with Beaufort
 Preheat your oven to
my wife’s tastebuds, the King’s
Bouncer. The room is dominated by an imposing king-size four-poster bed,
170ºC/325F/gas mark 3
Arms head chef Matt Denham has
and there is also a small dressing room and an en-suite bathroom.
kindly let us reproduce his recipe.
“Hooray!” my wife exclaimed. Ah, she spotted the Tea Pigs tea bags on the
 Process the bread to make
welcome tray, and the proper milk (no powdered stuff here) in the little kilner
breadcrumbs. You want the crumb
Marmalade on toast ice cream
bottle was a nice touch.
fairly coarse so do not over process.
Makes 1 litre
The décor was classy but cosy, accentuated by the mural of a Stubbs
No churn (no need for ice cream
painting of, of course, a horse, which my wife recognised from seeing the
 Mix the breadcrumbs with dark
machine)
original in the National Gallery.
brown sugar and spread onto a
The room was sheer comfort, emphasised by a glance out of the window
grease proof lined tray. Bake in oven
Ingredients
where the illuminated pub sign just a few feet away swung in the wind and rain.
for 15 mins until crisp. Leave to cool.
The time had come to dine and so we tore ourselves away from one little
 100g whole meal bread
corner of heaven to go to another.
 Whisk the egg whites in a clean,
 70g soft dark brown sugar
The King’s Arms takes as much pride in its restaurant as it does in the
dry bowl until soft peaks form. Add
 2 large egg whites
accommodation it provides and we enjoyed a thoroughly delicious meal,
the icing sugar a bit at a time until the
 1 tablespoon icing sugar
freshly prepared from mostly locally sourced produce.
meringue is glossy. Do not over work
 400g Seville orange marmalade
We enjoyed three simple but delicious courses — among them I had some
otherwise it will become to stiff.
 350ml double cream
T
 ISLE OF WIGHT: Wightlink (0871 376 1000) offers three
nights' B&B at Seaview Hotel from £173 from December 6 or
two nights' B&B (plus one dinner) from December 10 at Priory
Bay Hotel (with private beach to stroll on) from £183, incl car
ferry travel.
 CHRISTMAS IN CORNWALL: Breaks in Cornwall (01621
784666) offers four nights' self-catering from Dec 23 at Bay
Retreat Villas within the St Merryn park, near Padstow, from
total £290 — saving £100 —or as little as £58 per person. Four
of these villas also welcome dogs.
 SHORT BREAKS: Cresta (0844 879 8014) offers three
nights' B&B at two-star Hotel Jardins de Montmartre from
£175, saving £70 per couple ex-St St Pancras International
January 13. Same operator offers three nights' room-only at
three-star Harding Hotel, Dublin from £135, saving £125 per
couple, with easyJet flights ex-Cardiff December 9
 BALI: Hayes & Jarvis (01293 735831) offers 10-nights' B&B
at three-star Centra Taum resort from January 15, from £749,
saving £39. Incl transfers and return Qatar Airways flights exHeathrow.
 DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: Hayes & Jarvis (01293 735831)
offers seven nights' all-incl at five-star Dreams Punta Cana
from February 5 from £995, saving £293, incl return flights ex-
S
L FAC
E
V
T
RA
TRAVEL
TAKE-OFF
Gatwick and transfers.
 AUSTRALIA: Austravel (0800
988 4834) Cruise & Stay package
from May 9 incl three-night Coral
Princess cruise from Cairns to Great
Last minute
Barrier Reef, followed by a five-night
availability
stay at the three-star Rendezvous
Reef Resort in Port Douglas from
£1,849, saving £556 per couple, incl return
Qantas flights ex-Heathrow, if booked by
December 16.
 NEW YEAR IN FLORIDA: America As You Like it (0208 742
8299) offers seven nights’ room-only at Helmsley Sandcastle,
Sarasota, on west coast of Florida from £979, incl BA return
flights ex-Gatwick January 5 to Tampa and economy car hire.
 FLIGHT DEALS: netflights.com (0844 692 6792) offers
return flights to Dubai with Ukraine International Airlines exGatwick from £292 for travel until February 28; return Air
Transat flights to Toronto from £392, ex-Gatwick January 7March 12. Return Delta Air flights to New York from £406, for
deps until Dec 13 and Dec 25-Mar 30; return China Southern
flights ex-Heathrow to Phuket, Thailand, from £434 on deps
Nov 26- Dec 4.
 Above, the cosy bar area. Right,
one of the king-size four-posters
 Mix the marmalade and cream
together and whisk until soft peaks
form. Again do not over whisk as you
will not be able to fold the two
mixtures together.
 Using a spatula, in a figure-of-eight
motion, fold a little of the meringue
into the cream being careful not to
lose too much air.
 Fold in remaining meringue again
being careful not to lose too much
air. You want a light and airy mix.
 Then fold in breadcrumbs,
distributing evenly throughout mix.
Pour mixture into a tub and freeze
overnight.
UP, UP AND AWAY IN THE VIRGIN BALLOON
Up to 50 per cent off balloon rides from £99pp
GIVE the gift of flight this Christmas with Virgin
Balloon Flights who are offering readers of the
Swindon Advertiser up to 50 per cent off their
unforgettable balloon rides.
This limited-time offer includes the Christmas
Gift Package at £135 for one (RRP £159) or £245
for two (RRP £289) - saving 15 per cent - including:
• A balloon flight of around an hour &
Champagne toast (or soft drink)
• Choice of more than100 launch sites across
the UK, including Salisbury and Swindon
• Flight certificate endorsed by Sir Richard
Branson
• Merry Christmas Balloon in a Box and
Champagne chocolate truffles
• Luxury flight voucher with recorded delivery
• 12 months to book a flight, AM or PM,
weekday or weekend
You can also save 29 per cent on Weekday
Anytime flight vouchers at £99pp (RRP £139pp) or
50 per cent on Adventure Gift Packages for Two
which offer 18 months to book, exclusive flight
packs & express delivery at £249 (RRP £499).
Be quick, this offer ends on December 20.
Call 0844 844 8070 and quote ‘Newsquest
Wiltshire’ or visit the website:
virginballoonflights.co.uk/offer/newsquestwiltshire
TERMS & CONDITIONS
Reader offer valid until December 20, 2013. Subject to availability. Price is for one person including VAT at applicable rate. Includes
standard delivery unless stated otherwise. Cannot be used with any other offer. Flying season is March to October with regional
variations. Ballooning is weather dependent. Passengers must be aged 7 or over and at least 4’6” tall. Passengers who are pregnant or
have recently undergone major surgery are unable to fly. Virgin Balloon Flights reserves the right to withdraw the offers or amend these
conditions at any time. Customers must be aged 18 or over. Full conditions at www.virginballoonflights.co.uk/legalstuff VIRGIN and the
Virgin signature logo are registered trademarks of Virgin Enterprise Limited and are used under licence. Usual Newsquest rules apply.
THE value of sterling against
the US dollar has leapt by
nine per cent since July
— a welcome thought
for British visitors
going Christmas
shopping in
New York or
Boston.
The sixth
annual Post
Office Travel
Money
Christmas
Shopping
Guide,
produced with
Virgin Holidays,
says British visitors to the US
can save up to 50 per cent
on some gifts, and many
US stores have even
pegged prices at 2012
levels to undercut
London.
The biggest savings are
found on jeans and US designer label clothes, with
Boston even cheaper than New York because of lower
sales tax and higher tax exemption rates.
Savings of 30 per cent-plus are commonplace in both
cities though, and shoppers can shave 50 per cent off
the London price of a Polo Ralph Lauren gilet (£295
against £146.61).
Leading brands of jeans, like 7 For All Mankind,
Hollister, Levi's and J Brand, cost over 40 per cent less
in the US: for example, women's J Brand jeans come in
at under £130, almost half the £250 London price tag.
British bargain hunters would be wise to chase
electronic gadgets too, usually 18-26 per cent below
London levels.
Seek out big savings on make-up, skincare, fragrance
and toys as well; Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream is
45 per cent cheaper in the US than in London, and a
child's InnoTab 35 tablet costs about 44 per cent less.
Remember though, that it is not all savings, and some
items, particularly prized British brands like Ted Baker
and Burberry, cost more in the States.
Andrew Brown of Post Office Travel Money said: “After
sterling’s recovery against the US dollar, there are great
bargains in US shops, but always do your homework
before parting with cash.”
 INFORMATION: Three-night, room-only breaks with
Virgin Holidays before Christmas -start at £719 in
Boston, from £872 in New York. Price comparison of
Christmas gift prices on either side Atlantic is available at
the website www.postoffice.co.uk/shoppingguide2013
the entertainer travel & offers
CHRISTMAS
SHOPPERS CAN
SAVE A
FORTUNE IN
THE USA
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