Despite living in the UK for so many years, I still struggle with pubs. A selection of beers on tap doesn’t tempt me and the only time I’ve actually visited pubs lately is for Thai food (Walmer Castle/Churchill Arms in Notting Hill – Yum!) or if I’m on holiday in the country!

Pubs are unavoidable here in Surrey and thankfully, there seem to be some lovely, scenic ones around. We decided to begin our Surrey pub crawl with a visit to our local gastro-pub on a stormy bank holiday Monday afternoon.

The beauty of the Great British countryside never fails to impress me. We went on a family holiday to Wales last week and there were several moments of our journey when I actually felt I was driving through the lush green hills of Tuscany (minus the weather, of course!)

We stayed at The Manor House , a beautiful 19th century country house that is part of the massive Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, South Wales. Celtic Manor is famously known for its sprawling golf course, regarded as one of the best in the world. We weren’t here to play golf though.