A Touch of Midlands

I said in my blog post on our trip to Monks Cowl Golf Resort that I would share a few photos of our stop on the way to the Drakensberg and on the return home.

It is about a 3 hour trip to Monks Cowl so we only stopped once and that was in Nottingham Road at The CoffeeSmiths so we could have a cappuccino. The CoffeeSmiths is owned by Mike and Rosie Sadowski and they have a quirkerly decorated shop that my Mom called “industrial chic”. They use coffee supplied by Blueberry Cafe and
we had cappuccinos made from Ethiopian Yirgacheffe. They will soon be selling and using their own branded coffee with the names : Iron Monger, The Gentleman and The Aviator (aren’t those fabulous names!). After our fortifying coffee and a lovely chat to Mike and Rosie I took my Mom to see the old church next door to Meander Square.

Entrance to shop and my delicious cappuccino

Mike and Rosie (pictures from their Facebook page)

St. Johns has wood and iron buildings built in 1885. There are a few very old graves in the front and the back of the buildings and there is also a memorial for the men of the district who died in the Great War 1914 – 1918.

Entrance and one of the buildings

Two other buildings on site

War memorial

On our sad trip home after our wonderful restful time in the Drakensberg we were very happy to stop at the beautiful Granny Mouse Country House & Spa. My Mom has never been there before so she was especially excited to finally see it. It was a stunning day so we could appreciate the wonderful gardens with their quirky signs. We sat in one of the lounges above the pool and I had a cappuccino and a scone, my Mom had Earl Grey tea and my daughter had a strawberry milkshake. It was lovely to sit and relax and enjoy the view of the cows and horses on top of the hill. Granny Mouse is so unique with its warren of rooms and all the beautiful decor. After our coffee, tea and milkshake Mom and I had our photo taken at the new social media selfie point #GMselfie. I look forward to my next visit to Granny Mouse Country House and the joys of the Midlands Meander.