The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
The Midlands
Our next stop was in the town of Knutsford, another postcard village a bit farther north, about 14 miles from Manchester. Our hosts were Bert and Fiona Green, also veteran travelers. Fiona is a hoot! She was prepared to have us join them for dinner at the house, but wouldn't extend an invitation until she was convinced that we were "good people." Of course, we didn't know any of this. So the doors to the dining room stayed closed while we chatted over wine and munchies. I guess we passed the test because when we asked for a dinner recommendation, the dining room doors opened!
The day was rainy but being from the Northwest, what's the problem? Fiona suggested that the historic town of Chester would make a good day trip. She was right! There is a lot of competition for the tourist dollar as you might imagine. I liked this promotional pitch painted on a garden gate. Click on the photo for a larger picture.
We did a little castle-hopping on the way to our final stop of the trip. This was our longest day of driving (On the left, of course, with a manual shift car -- very interesting), but we did have time for a quick stop at Warwick Castle on the River Avon. It was built in 1068 on the orders of William the Conqueror and added to over the centuries. While the castle is a bit more of a tourist attraction than I would have liked (busses, groups and a certain feeling of being "processed"), it was still interesting to see. The little town of Warwick also had a good pub or two for a fast lunch.
© 2003 Restaurant Doctor
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