Factfile
by Russell Grant
There are plenty of the usual bland brands to stay in or around Gloucester but in my pursuit of both 5 star history and luxury I like to nestle in a place where I can pamper myself in comfort and have the joy of the pleasures of yesteryear to look at and listen to.
To this end I discovered the charming Greenway, a country house hotel, with an ambience that blends together the Tudor, Stuart and Edwardian eras. Only a few miles out of Gloucester city centre in the village of Shurdington , about 15 minutes drive on the road to Cheltenham Spa, you find peace in the quiet of the Gloucestershire countryside.
The Greenway was the Manor House of the Lord of Little Shurdington. Built between 1584 and 1616 during the times of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I/VI by the then Lord of the Manor, William Lawrence, whose kith and kin came from Lancashire way back at the end of the 12 th century.
When he died in 1638, William passed the pile to his nephew, William. Now this could get confusing as nephew William married Anne and they had a son called…you got it, William! Son William died when he was just 22, following his mother to an early grave. All three are buried at nearby Badgeworth Parish church. There is a memorial tablet along with the Lawrence coat of arms.
The Greenway's tranquil gardens remain today very much as they were first laid out way back then in memory of William's beloved wife and son; the Great Oak still stands in the meadow and the Sunken Garden is still a place for contemplation as it once was.
It wasn't until some time in the 1700s that The Greenway ( from the Anglo Saxon, weg meaning path, (dirt) road or way) was given the name it is now known by, before then it was called the Little Shurdington Estate. The long straight narrow road that leads to the house is part of a pre-roman path or drover's road that runs up into the hills and the mysterious long barrow. A long barrow is a prehistoric earth mound housing a collective tomb dating back to the Neolithic age – 4000BC-2500BC .
The Greenway stayed in the Lawrence family until 1853 when it was acquired by Roger Fairbridge and following his passing the widow sold it on by auction at the Bell Hotel in Gloucester . Most of the cosy interior dates from Edwardian times: in 1910 the Venerable Archdeacon Sinclair of Hatherley employed Ernest Newton to remodel the house. Newton added the projecting wings on the east front, the long service wing on the north side and imported the eye-catching mid 18 th Century chimney piece in the entrance hall.
In 1946 many aspects of the original house were converted by the Austen family into the county house hotel as it is today and mighty comfortable it is to and as for the food? Make sure you spend many evenings booked into the restaurant. Marc Hardiman, the young chef with a bright future, has come up with one of the most innovative, imaginative and unusual menus I have ever had the pleasure to enjoy. A stickler for using local organic foods from the Cotwolds and a cellar full of fine wines you will feel totally sated. You can't drink and drive so put your feet up and relax and feel at home and let the friendly staff a la Français do all the running.
For you royal lovers, Her Majesty the Queen Mother often stayed at The Greenway when pursuing her favourite hobby, horse-racing at the Cheltenham Gold Cup. I was delighted to present to the management, Von Essen Hotels, the remaining photographs of me with the Queen Mum when I met her back in 1978 at Olympia in London . It was then I was tagged by the British media, the Astrologer Royal, becoming the first astrologer in 400 years to publicly present to a member of our royal family their astrological charts.
Pay a visit or stay a while and you will be able to see the Queen Mum and I in pride of place adding a little more history to the story of The Greenway – oh and be sure to tell them I told you to call!
http://www.thegreenway.co.uk/
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Russell interviews Greg Ward at Country House Hotel & Restaurant in Gloucester
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