Warner Weekend 2025 – Return to Holme Lacy (Day 2)

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The Northants Nutters (aka, Paul & Sue, Geoff & Rhonda and us two, plus ‘Honorary Nutters: Richard and Nicki) are here at Warner’s Holme Lacy House. Last time were here was in March 2020 – just prior to COVID – it was therefore good to be back under less threatening circumstances.

Welcome to Day 2! If you missed yesterday’s Post, it’s HERE.

We weren’t expecting miracles with the weather here today – the forecast was spot on! (unfortunately!) 🙁

7.03am: A later start for us, and we both slept well! 👍

10.05am: Breakfast! Even I’m still feeling stuffed from last night, and so I ate lighter. Today we were in their Brasserie32, a more upmarket experience than the self-service Market Place. Although in the Brasserie there was a buffet of sorts (for cereals, juices – and playing ‘find the cereal bowls’), it was table service for any cooked choices. Nice! 👍

11.00am: With the most important meal of the day sorted, it was time to exercise my little grey cell with ‘The Morning Trivia Quiz with Hannah’.

Today’s Quiz was 15 questions covering general knowledge. No group could be larger than four, so The Nutters split into two groups. It was a bit of a head-scratcher, and although we were confident of most of our answers, we fell short on four of the questions…

• When was the first email sent?
• How many sides has a Tetradecahedron?
• What is the other name for ‘Stinking Rose’?
• What was the original use for Play-Doh?
  
  *Answers on request! 👍

So, with a score of 11 out of 15, how did we do? I’m pleased to report that we, the ‘Nutters II’ team, achieved the top score. What WASN’T so great was the prize! As I’ve commented before, Warner’s is ‘watching the pennies’ and is clearly on a cost-cutting exercise (well, they are here!) and our ‘prize’ was… wait for it… A hot drink and a slice of cake for (just) £6.95. Yes, you read that correctly! NOT £6.95 towards the cost, but the price we were expected to pay!! Apparently, the full cost is £10ish! We weren’t impressed!! 😠

12.04pm: With our vouchers filed away (and unlikely to be used) it was time for our morning stroll!

Nicki located an information sheet just inside the main door of Holme Lacy House that outlined the short walk to a local Church – St Cuthbert’s!

It was a pleasant walk, but it didn’t take long for the weather to fulfil its promise. Drizzle turned to rain, but we plodded on, putting the world to rights whilst reflecting on the silliness of the Quiz Prize!

An interesting Church that also contained a history of the local Lords and Ladies who had lived in Herefordshire, courtesy of the Churches Conservation Trust.

1.32pm: Phew! That was a damp one! 🙄 but we were all feeling somewhat righteous having braved the elements! Total distance covered? About 2½ miles.

2.00pm: Trivial Pursuit time! Boys v Girls!! Gosh! I haven’t played this for over 30 years!! 🤔. Not quite a suitable replacement for ‘Axe Throwing’ (that I was looking forward to, but had mysteriously been airbrushed from the today’s itinerary.

4.16pm: Three games in, and the winner was clear! The Boys won! All three (just saying! 😉), where our second game’s victory was achieved in record time – just 30 minutes! Ahh well, it’s the taking part, not the winning isn’t it? 🤔. Err, NO! 😉

Time for a short rest before heading off to Paul & Sue’s room for tonight’s hosting.

6.30pm: Thanks for hosting, Paul & Sue! Champagne and nibbles – we’re getting a taste for this! 😋

7.20pm: Off to Brasserie32 tonight for our evening meal. Helpfully, they’d offered to pull our table time from 7.45 – and that suited us perfectly!! 👍😀

Really good, friendly service – so much a hallmark of Warner’s! 👍. Well, at least that’s how it began. We even had a visit from ‘Dave’ part of the management team, to ensure we were satisfied. Sadly, it then all ‘fell off a cliff’ as all the waiting staff seemed to disappear!

9.30pm: We eventually got our just Desserts (with just our Desserts) and then sprinted off to The Pavilion for tonight’s headline act – The Simon & Garfunkel Story.

It was almost a full house and getting seats together was impossible (arriving later than planned didn’t help). Nicki and I stood at the back, nearest the Bar, giving us a clear view of the stage without the hassle of having to squeeze ourselves in amongst the hordes of our fellow guests. Later, this was to prove to be a really bad move for me personally! (do read on!) 🫨🤔.

I wouldn’t say I’m S&G biggest fan, and consequently, some of their earlier compositions were lost on me. Overall though, it was a very well-rehearsed and solid sound and where the most important part – the harmonies – were spot on! Visually, they both (sort of) looked like the famous duo too. Personally, I thought the support Band (Bass, Lead and Drums), as accomplished as they were, didn’t add much to the overall sound mix and ‘Paul’s’ skills on the acoustic guitar were so good would have been enough to provide the instrumental support.

If tonight’s entertainment wasn’t memorable enough, Saturday was also the night when I was chatted up by a slightly inebriated fellow guest who desperately wanted to buy me a drink (poor deluded soul!). He, yes HE did try his best – three attempts – to get me to join him for a snifter, and I tried to give him all the signs that he’s definitely picked the wrong gender bloke. You’ve still got it Mr P, but tonight, I really wished I hadn’t!! 😂😂. We parted with a short handshake, and he disappeared amongst the seated S&G fans!

With the limited leisure activities here, I’m really hoping he’s not a fellow axe-throwing enthusiast! 🪓🪓🤕

10.25pm: That’s it for another day! The food’s been great, and in some ways, it was good that we made our own entertainment. However, we all agreed that the cost-cutting measures across Warner’s was very obvious – and not in a good way!

Tomorrow, it’s probably more of the same: eat – drink – walk – play – eat – listen – avoid looking gay – drink – sleep! The headline act is ‘The Everly Brothers (and Friends)‘ where I’m probably not going to stand at the back! 😉😧. See you Sunday!!!