The Mid-week Tour took place immediately preceeding the Spring Lunch, held as usual courtesy of the MacPherson’s at Armsworth Park House, Old Alresford, Hampshire on Friday 26th April.
We were based at Brockencote Hall, a delightful historic country house hotel near Chaddesley Corbett with distant views of the Chilterns. The hotel has recently been restored to its former glory and the accommodation and attention to detail was superb – to say nothing of the wonderful meals we were presented with every evening and morning.
We all arrived during the afternoon of Tuesday 23rd April, and settled down, mostly in the Bar or on the terrace to catch up with old friends before having a splendid dinner.
Whilst the weather was not as good as one would have wished for in ideal circumstances, it nevertheless stayed dry for a lot of the time which enabled some brave (foolhardy?) members to firmly keep their hoods down.
Wednesday had one organised group tour – to the Morgan motor car factory, and we spent a fascinating few hours being shown every stage of the manufacture of these unique cars from inception to completion, following which we were given a splendid lunch in the factory’s cafeteria. Following this we were all free to go to wherever we chose from a list of places carefully compiled by our organiser Ken Forbes. In the afternoon some of the group visited the Elgar museum, a must for those of us who love his music. There was a tea stop in Ledbury and a walking opportunity on the Malverns, following which it was back to the hotel for drinks and dinner.
On Thursday we were presented with a wonderful choice of venues – Witley Court, a fantastic ruined mansion administered by English Heritage together with the adjoining Baroque Church. Some of the members stayed on for a light lunch in the adjacent cafeteria. There was a scenic route, stunning views, via Tenbury Wells to Croft Castle, plus a tour of Herefordshire Black & White villages, Weir Garden and the Brockhampton Estate, so many different places to see and visit. Then it was back to the hotel for drinks in the bar and our last delicious dinner, this time with everyone dining together at one large table rather than separate ones.
On Friday we all departed after a leisurely breakfast, some of us leaving to go straight to Strone and Alex Macpherson’s Spring barn lunch, where a good display of cars could be seen – although one did see rather more moderns than one would have wished for!
All in all a wonderful few days.
