Adam and Dan Travel Blog

Thursday, 4 November 2010

Manchester Trafford Centre – Oct 2010

The Trafford Centre is a large indoor shopping centre and leisure complex located in the Greater Manchester. It is popularly known for its vivid and quirky resemblance to a rococo/late baroque architectural style. The centre is the 6^th largest shopping centre in the UK by retail size. It also boasts Europe's largest food court in the Orient hall and the UK's busiest cinema.

The Orient - primarily a 1,600-seat food court which is mainly themed on a ship but incorporates themed designs from around the world including China, New Orleans, Egypt, Italy, America and Morocco.

The Great Hall - houses an elegant sweeping staircase featuring hundreds of metres of marble balustrade from China, and the largest Chandelier in the world. The chandelier has three levels of plant walkways inside, is around 11 m (36 feet) wide and 15 m (49 feet) high, weighs around five tonnes, and has more lighting control systems than most shopping centres.

Barton Square - Barton Square is located to the west of the main building and is linked to the rest of the centre via a glazed bridge. The architecture is based on an Italian square and includes a large fountain as well as a campanile tower.

Xmas at Trafford Centre – there is always really good decorations at the centre when it come to Christmas time

Macclesfield – October 2010

Macclesfield is a market town within the county of Cheshire, England, with a population of about 50,688. A person from Macclesfield is sometimes referred to as a "Maxonian".

A brief bit of history:

Mentioned in the Doomsday Book of 1183, it is thought that Macclesfield got its name from "Michael's field" - referring to St. Michael, as in the St. Michael's church. Later, Macclesfield was granted a borough charter by the Lord Edward, the future King Edward I in 1261. The parish church of St Michael was built in 1278, an extension of a chapel built in approximately 1220.

Macclesfield was the administrative centre of the later Hundred of Macclesfield, which occupied most of east Cheshire. The Earl of Chester's manor of Macclesfield was very large, and its boundary went as far as Disley. The manor house was situated on the edge of the deer park, on the west of the town.

At one point, Macclesfield was the world's biggest producer of finished silk; now, the four Macclesfield Silk Museums display a huge range of information and products from that period. At one time the silk manufacture was home-based but as machinery was introduced large sheds were built to accommodate it and the workers were expected to move into them.

Macclesfield is said to be the only Mill Town left unbombed in the Second World War.

Geography:

Macclesfield is located in the east of Cheshire, on the River Bollin, a tributary of the River Mersey. It is close to the county borders of Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east and Staffordshire to the south. It is near the towns of Stockport to the north, Buxton to the east, and Congleton to the south. To the west of the town lies the Cheshire Plain and to the east lie the hills of the Peak District.

Sun set over Macclesfield with a view east towards the Peak District:

Wednesday, 3 November 2010

Chestergate Bistro – 28th Oct 2010

66 Chestergate, Macclesfield, SK11 6DY

At quick one down the Flag before the meal

Décor (7/10) – a warm comfortable dining area with wooden floors and wooden chairs and tables, set over two floors separated by a short staircase.

Atmosphere (7/10) – relaxed atmosphere, almost like dinning in a family dinning room at home

Food (9/10) – The food was fabulous, excellent presentation, couldn't believe how nice it was. We booked early and paid only £13 for two courses which is excellent value for money. Furthermore the wine here was not overpriced at £11 for a bottle. This is one of the best meals I have had in a long time and I will defiantly be returning.

My main duck on bed of sweet potatoes

Desert

Dan went for the cheese option

Service (8/10) – The staff here are particularly friendly and helpful, adding to a very enjoyable evening

Overall 31/40 = 77.5 % amazing food defiantly worth visiting

Thursday, 28 October 2010

HARPURS RESTAURANT – 23rd October 2010

Harurs Restaurant, 46-48 Tavistock Street, Bedford, MK40 2RD

With an modern, attractive looking frontage, its difficult to miss Harpurs resturant at the corner of the street. When in bedford you be hard pushed to do better than a meal here, and at the weekend booking a table ahead is recommended.

Décor (7/10) – With cream walls, wood floors and beech tables and chairs the modern décor is hard to imagine as this as being warm and friendly place, yet this restaurant manages to pull it off well.

Atmosphere (7/10) - There is a wine bar situated downstairs from the restaurant as well as a bar situated to the side of this packed restaurant, both seem to blend to add a relaxed atmosphere rather than separate areas. One small thing was that the place did have tendency to leave one of the main doors open allowing a breeze in which acted to cool our food faster.

Food (6/10) – For starters we both had spinach and goat’s cheese parcels with a leafy salad (£6) which was both tasty and substantial in size. One point to note is that despite this being an enjoyable start to the meal, the speed in which the starters were served after they were ordered meant they had been prepared earlier that day; some prefer food prepared to order. The same scenario does not apply to main courses however which are most definitely cooked to order. I had duck pancakes (a little unusual serving choice maybe) while Dan had sirloin steak.

Service (7/10) – The team at Harpurs are particularly friendly, efficient, helpful and knowledgeable. They simply added to what was an enjoyable evening.

Overall 27/40 = 67.5 % this was our second time, and I am sure it will not be our last.

De Vere Venue Milton Hill House (Abingdon) – 2nd October 2010

Milton Hill House is a charming Georgian Mansion House set in 22 acres of peaceful parkland. The enchanting Georgian manor house which has been sympathetically extended over the years is surrounded by 20 acres of tranquil parkland and is delightful blend of modern comfort and traditional charm. It's perfect as a stopover for experiencing some of the huge variety of attractions close by. After a day exploring, take time out at the health and fitness club with mini gym, swimming pool, whirlpool spa, steam room, sauna. Relaxing, stimulating and incredibly convenient, Milton Hill House is situated just off the A34 and only 20 miles south of Oxford.

Grounds 6/10