Sister pubs with rooms in two idyllic Cotswolds villages offer a warm welcome (even to non-Tories) and excellent food
Given the photograph in pride of place by the bar of The Five Alls inn, in the cute village of Filkins, I was a little anxious about the welcome a leftie Guardian journalist like me would find here. David Cameron beams down from the wall, flanked by owners Lana and Sebastian Snow, and an accompanying letter on Downing Street notepaper says how delicious lunch was and adds, “I must try and pop in one day with Samantha and the kids.” (I resist making cheap gags about whether he had the pork or left any of his children behind.)
But my pinko prejudices are clearly unfounded, because Sebastian, the chef, and Lana turn out to be as warm and friendly as can be. Neither is there to greet me, however, as they are crazy busy: as well as having just added new bedrooms here, they had recently opened a second pub, The Plough, in nearby Kelmscott, after a lengthy refurb. I’m here to spend a night in the new rooms at each of the old inns.
Continue reading...