Worcester: Long Weekend – Friday

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We’re off to Worcester for a few days. We haven’t been there for about 10 years, so it’ll be interesting to see if/how the place has changed very much.

First stop was intended to be the iconic Royal Worcester Shop, only to find that it ceased to exist (much like the the Royal Worcester Porcelain factory opposite) – both have now been replaced with a massive housing area.

Fortunately, our second stop was still standing – the mighty Worcester Cathedral. Very ‘cathedrally’ in all its glory!

 
Next up, a bit of retail therapy! I say ‘a bit’, but this part of our day took care of about three hours! We didn’t recall Worcester having quite so many shops last time – and we enjoyed the variety: big chains all mixed in with small independents. From our point of view, what was especially interesting was the the town centre Sainsbury’s had disappeared from the shopscape. We thought we knew where it stood, but there was a Travelodge there now!

The main shopping mission was two-fold: one, to get Bev’s Birthday pressy (mission accomplished!) and two, to buy some bedding for the new bedroom (miserable failure!). Still, only 30 days to go until the bedroom is supposed to be ready – no pressure! (and no pillow-cases, pillows, duvet cover, valance, wallpaper or tea-set!)

We stopped for lunch at a rather quaint Bar/Restaurant called Charleston’s in the shopping area – great food and great service too.

 
Then it was back into shopping-mode to finish off before heading off to our B&B: Henwick House, a few miles outside Worcester. Wow! what a nice place. It’s a very well-equipped room (flat screen TV, fridge, ensuite bathroom and DVD player) and it’s got free internet too!

We put our feet up for an hour or so, before heading back towards town for our evening meal at the local pub: The Blue Bell. It was pretty busy when we arrived and we were lucky to get a table. We shared a fried platter of spicy chicken wings, garlic bread, chips, onions rings and garlic mushrooms – hardly a gourmet meal, but it filled a hole and the staff were very friendly. And because we’re lazy, we’re planning to eat there tomorrow night!

it’s been a good day – in spite of the absence of the Royal Porcelain shop! We’re heading off to Tewkesbury tomorrow in search of wallpaper!