Our Clients’ Winning Ways

Hawarden Estate Farm Shop

Visit Chester and Cheshire’s 6th Annual Tourism Awards took place on 11th June at Chester Racecourse and proved to be an excellent night for many of our clients and TIP hosts.

Tatton Park won Large Visitor Attractions of the Year; Blue Planet Aquarium took Best Tourism Experience of the Year for their Shark Dive; Chester Zoo received the Sustainable Tourism Award; Cholmondeley’s Pageant of Power walked off with Best Tourism Event and Anderton Boat Lift collected the Access for All Award.

Of our TIP hosts, Carden Park Hotel came first in the Excellence in Business Tourism category and Manor Wood Holiday Park carried off the Holiday Park of the Year award. Doubletree by Hilton Chester was also Highly Commended in the Large Hotel of the Year category.

We were delighted to learn that over at the TMP Tourism Awards in Merseyside, Echo Arena Liverpool won Performance Venue of the Year. In the Manchester Tourism Awards, the Lowry Hotel won both the Taste of Manchester and Outstanding Customer Service awards and Martin Mere Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust was Highly Commended for its Swan Spectacular at the Lancashire & Blackpool Tourism Awards.

Many congratulations one and all!

Over to Wales

We wish our Welsh friends and clients all the very best of luck at the National Tourism Awards for Wales, which will take place at the Vale Hotel, Golf & Spa Resort near Cardiff on Thursday 21st October 2010.

Fresh Fruit at the Farm

Diana and I went to Hawarden Estate Farm Shop earlier this month, an outlet specialising in delicious homemade, locally sourced, handpicked "foodie favourites" from around the UK.

The Estate consists of almost 20 acres of fruit and vegetable rich land (their asparagus is renowned for being exceptionally tasty), a food emporium – complete with deli counter - and the Cook Shop Cafe, which serves a mouthwatering selection of cakes, pastries, sandwiches and hot daily specials.

We thoroughly enjoyed mooching around the grounds, following the nature trail and looking at the pigs and hens, before relaxing with a coffee on the terrace. The Emporium was brimming with a splendid assortment of cheeses, cooked meats, puddings, chutneys and other treats for the taste buds, while shelves in the cafe were stocked with a range of unusual kitchenware and gift items from the Farm Shop’s sister company, Pedlars.

If ‘real food’ produced in North Wales and Cheshire is your bag, you should definitely take a look at Hawarden Estate’s excellent website and sign up for their newsletter - or even better, go there for breakfast or lunch (you can place your order over the phone so it will be ready when you arrive).

Hayley will be dropping in for the Real Food Fete, which is taking place on 19th and 20th June (10am-4pm) to coincide with the start of the fruit-picking season, so be sure to look out for her wandering around the stalls indulging in homemade ice cream.

Image: Hawarden Estate Farm Shop, ©LDS Tourism Services Ltd. 2010