a wonderful gift

Our daughter gave us a wonderful gift for Christmas, bed and breakfast in a favourite hotel/restaurant in Bridgwater,  just twenty miles away. For some reason, completely baffling to us, the Somerset town has an unfortunate reputation, and many people disparage it. It’s one of our favourite places, and yes, it has the sort of problems many places have these days, but we always find it interesting, and enjoy visiting.

We arrived this morning and had our usual amble about, heading to the museum, the Bridgwater Blake Museum:

Blake Museum is a 16th century house located in the heart of Bridgwater, a historic market town and port, first mentioned as Brugie in the Domesday Book of 1086. The Museum was first opened to the public in 1926 and it is said that Robert Blake, the town’s most famous citizen, was born in the house in 1598.

However, unfortunately it was closed! Some people might say it’s what you might expect in the town, but it’s the same for many small museums run by volunteers. Luckily we live near enough to visit again! We visited the church, and as in many, there was a pop-up cafe and we had coffee and homemade cakes. We wandered about, in the rain, and when the time came to check in we sauntered along to the hotel, the Old Vicarage. We have been for meals here several times and it’s a favourite place and this is what they say:

The Old Vicarage Hotel is a 15th century Grade II listed building in the heart of Bridgwater. Overlooking St Mary’s Church, our hotel is a hidden 15th century gem full of history. We have 16 unique, comfortable en-suite bedrooms, many with beams and one with a wig cupboard. We have an excellent restaurant and bar. We also have a glorious walled garden, and we are close to many places of interest and wonderful walks. We are a very special place to stay.

So here we are, staying in the Old Vicarage in the most comfortable and lovely room, looking out onto the 850 year old St Mary’s Church. Apparently the hotel is haunted… will we be visited tonight? I will let you know!