This was our first visit to Warner’s Alvaston Hall. We were here for a long weekend with our friends.
Our room
Our room was in the main building and overlooked fields.
We had plenty of USB sockets and plugs, along with a ‘fridge with soft drinks and best of all some milk.
After a couple of days we realised that room service did not include changing the mugs (and glasses?) in the room everyday. We now boiled the kettle and sterilised everything before using.
Friday evening in The Grove
The six of us shared a table in the main restaurant. We were on a higher level than the dance floor and tables below us. The whole row of tables on our level were at a 90 degree angle to a barrier. This did mean were sideways on to the stage and sitting at the end of table meant a very poor line of sight to the stage.
We were hemmed in on both sides with hardly any room to move – not a great way to be seated simply crammed into a space. This was made worse by the occupants on the next table not sitting close to their table but taking up lots of the available space.
Some courses were from the the buffet, others were delivered. Our servers changed each evening and we mostly had to wait an extended time to be served or have our table cleared. Clearly there were not enough staff for the number of tables.
This was also where we had to sit for the entertainment.
All in all not a great place to eat or to be entertained.
The first evening we were entertained by the Blackjacks who were the house band.
Anderton Boat Lift on the 12th.
After breakfast we left Alvaston and headed to the Anderton Boat Lift. Once in the visitor centre we had a coffee before going downstairs to the small museum to find out the history of the lift.
https://canalrivertrust.org.uk/things-to-do/museums-and-attractions/anderton-boat-lift-and-visitor-centre-cheshire
We walked up to the Trent & Mersey Canal. From the pedestrian bridge, I had a great view across the basin to the top of the two lift’s. Then we went down the path to the River Weaver and we could look up at the amazing structure.
On the opposite side of the river was this industrial plant.
A mural above us celebrated the engineers…
While we were at the side of the river, two canal boats entered the lift. As we watched they were slowly lifted up to the canal above. We had enough time when they reached the top to get up to the side of the canal to see them exit the basin.
And here’s one of the captains as he made the turn out of the basin into the canal.
Nantwich
We were close to Nantwich and for some of us this would be a first visit. We had a sandwich for lunch in a bookshop on the main street.
St. Mary’s Church had a grassed open space in front. After exploring around the side of the church I went inside.
Walking back to the car park we passed lots of historic buildings. Definitely a place to go back to to explore some more.
Saturday evening: Counterfeit Quo in The Grove
The service for our evening meal was very slow with nearly a 30 minute wait for our orders to be taken. Then we had an extended wait for our food. This was again another cramped meal at our table. We were so late being served that our desserts were delivered as the evening’s entertainment started.
The main entertainment for the weekend were the Counterfeit Quo. This was a very popular group and our neighbours on the tables even had face masks of the real Quo along with fan t-shirts.
The dance floor was packed as all of us enjoyed a great performance from the band.
Very authentic Quo!
Sunday: Mölkky in the grounds
We had a restful morning exploring around the grounds. Then after lunch we went to participate in the Finnish game of skittles, Mölkky.
The game was very different to any game of skittles that I had seen before. Sitting watching our friends and other guests was a very fun way to past the afternoon. Here is a Mölkky set on Amazon UK.
Sunday evening: Callum Wright in the Fountain Bar
We had yet another change of server and had long waits to be served. The space around our table was just as cramped as on the earlier evenings. Rather than stay and watch the Warner’s team in The Grove we all left to listen to the solo guitarist in the Fountain Bar.
Summary of Alvaston Hall weekend
This was not a memorable place to stay and we were disappointed in the way meals and entertainment at the hotel were organised. We did, however, have a great time with our friends and visited a couple of memorable places in Cheshire.
The hotel’s car parks were rammed and had such small spaces that it was not easy getting in out of them. Our cars were in the furthest car park away from the building. Unfortunately there was no provision for walkways so getting to our cars with luggage was not easy!
