Tewkesbury 2026 - Its Too Hot!

I’m in Tewkesbury for this years Medieval Festival but decided to travel over early and have some time in the town as it’s somewhere I’ve never visited before. Having left early the sat nav went into full on traffic avoidance mode so I’d struggle to say exactly where I went on the way other than that quite a bit of it was on the Fosse Way which is from the wrong era! 

Parking in the town proved remarkably easy and was free with the blue badge (it’s not overly expensive anyway) but getting round was definitely a scooter job. The first port of call was the Abbey Cafe for a much needed coffee followed by visiting the Abbey itself. It’s not huge, and is fairly understated, but very pleasant although I did have to dodge a party of primary school children. 

There was an exhibition of embroidered wall hangings illustrating the life of Jesus of which these are just a few:

Overall worth the visit and it was nice not to be mugged for an entrance fee (although I did make a donation). 

From there I trundled around the town, with a quick call in to Boots as I’d forgotten the SPF50, before ending up back at the Abbey for lunch and a quick browse around their shop - I might have bought a battle t-shirt but I’m not sure if I’m a Yorkist or a Lancastrian! 

I trundled down to the riverside for a short while on my way back to the car and came across a slightly posh ice cream place, I was just after a cone but ended up with a mint chocolate sundae - it was almost too much for me to finish! From there I picked up the car and drove round to the hotel, I was a bit early to check in but a pint of Wye Valley Butty Bach filled in the time nicely. Once in my room I chilled for a while (as much as I could - no air con but a bit of a breeze helped).

I don’t eat posh very often, and frankly it’s sometimes disappointing when I do, but that certainly doesn’t apply to this hotel. I had a delicious goats cheese tartlet with pickled beetroot to start followed by a huge ribeye pork steak in creamy peppercorn sauce and cheese and biscuits to finish - there was even an extra touch with the latter as one of the cheeses was smothered in honeycomb which provided a perfect blend of sweet and savoury. Prices weren’t that ridiculous either, I’ve paid as much for lesser meals before!