Monday, 22 April 2013

Goodness Me, Where has the Time Gone?

Is it really nearly three months since I put anything on the blog? I really must get down to doing something, so here goes.......

Last week (Thursday until Sunday) we visited Thornton Hough, a delightful village in the Wirral in Cheshire. The reason being that we had been invited to attend the wedding of Dot's cousin's son, and I had been invited to play for the service.

We decided to make the trip a long weekend, so that I could attend the wedding rehearsal on the Thursday afternoon. We had booked into Thornton Hotel and Spa. This turned out to be an old house, complete with all its original fittings and grade one listed, so that nobody could "modernise" it. It was complete with modern new additions which housed the majority of the bedrooms.




 Our Bedroom - the bed was large enough to accommodate at least half a dozen people!


The Wet Room, complete with fitted wall tile TV in the shower!


 The entrance to Thornton Hotel and Spa


 The hot tub in the garden


The ornamental lake and fountain at the entrance

The staff were very helpful and attentive to our every need, and really went out of their way to make us feel welcome. The food was superb.



Having a completely free day on the Friday we decided to explore the Wirral peninsula. We found this delightful little spot, known as Brimstage Hall and Courtyard. The complex houses many individual craft shops and a country cafe called the Country Mouse, which served delicious home made food.


Inside the Country Mouse Cafe


A resident friendly rooster was to be seen strutting around the courtyard.

The wedding took place in Thornton Hough Parish Church, and the reception in Thornton Hall, which is a superb Tudor Manor House. Again this building is grade 1 listed and retains all the original features - ornate carved ceilings, oak wall panels, marble fireplaces etc. The hall is still occupied, but like many residents of such palatial manor houses, they cannot afford the upkeep, hence the fact that the hall is available for wedding receptions at weekends. The family move out of the hall and into an appartment! We were then given free run of the whole magnifient hall!!!



Thornton Manor Gatehouse


Thornton Manor Front Entrance


Thornton Manor Front Entrance

Some Shots of Stu and Steph......










This was their Wedding Cake



 The sweets for the evening reception were all selected from childhood sweets and a "Sweet Stall" was erected in the hall!