For the few days we stayed in England (May of 2010), our lodging was in a quaint little hotel in Tewkesbury, called “The Royal Hop Pole”, an old coaching inn that had been converted to a hotel and recently taken over and renovated by JD Wetherspoon Ltd.
Tewkesbury is a medieval market town and civil parish in the north of Gloucestershire, England. The town has significant history in the War of the Roses and grew since the building of Tewkesbury Abbey. It stands at the confluence of the River Severn and the River Avon, and thus became an important trading point. The town gives its name to the Borough of Tewkesbury, due to the earlier governance by the Abbey, yet the town is the second largest settlement in the Borough. The town lies on border with Worcestershire, identified largely by the Carrant Brook (tributary of the River Avon).
The name Tewkesbury is thought to come from Theoc, the name of a Saxon who founded a hermitage there in the 7th century. The Battle of Tewkesbury, which took place on 4 May 1471, was one of the decisive battles of the Wars of the Roses and is marked annually by a medieval festival throughout the town, including display of historically-accurate banners and reenactment.
Upon check-in at the reception desk, located to the side of the pub, through a narrow door, I was given a key to my room, #207, and pointed to a set of stairs. No elevator and no porter, so main bag on my back and carrying another bag, key in my mouth, camera in the other hand, off I go, not knowing the adventure that lay ahead me.
As you can see, the stairs were a bit of a climb. What you can’t see is the uneven, slanting steps. It was through the door at the top of the stairs, then .…
Down a hallway and through another door to the right …..
Down another narrow hallway and through a door.
Then ….
Now it was down a hall and jog to the right to go through another door.
I was very thankful I didn’t have to go up those stairs. And, no, my camera was not tilted. Then ….
Once through the door, it was up stairs, down a short hall and through another door.
The journey continues …..
Notice the green emergency exit sign through the door, pointing straight down!!
So where was the exit …..
never did find it.
Anyway, through this door, down(yes, I said down) some stairs, across an open area, and ….
another door ….
Notice the beam, even I had to duck to get down those steps.
By now I was getting quite concerned that I would never find my way out of here. I had definitely not left a trail of bread crumbs.
Anyway, through the door …..
Oh yea, more stairs to go up! Let’s see, my room was #207, and I had gone up and down how many flights of stairs? I really had lost count.
The bags were getting heavy, my back was tired, I had no idea where I was going or how to get back.
Through the door …..
Another hallway, and each was getting narrower and less straight. Plus this one had a downward slope to it. And steps down!!
You see that light wood on the left of the light? That turned out to be the door to my room.
At last !!!
And what a cozy little room it was.
Getting up in the middle of the night was a challenge. Make sure you duck to get into the bathroom. And yes, the room really did slope down that much. It is tough to have to hike uphill to get back into bed.
As I recall, a total of 6 doors, 5 hallways and 4 sets of stairs to get from the reception desk to room #207.