Gosh, it really does seem to be getting colder and darker – in both the literal and the metaphorical sense. At this stage in the proceedings, I feel we all deserve a little weekend break, 48 hours in which to recuperate. And if you are looking for somewhere quintessentially and comfortingly English, a town stuffed to the ceilings of its neo-Tudor tearooms with the constancy we are missing, I have just the place.
The George and Dragon at Westerham, in Kent, is a 16th-century coaching house, which, according to its website, would once have been the last stop before London for people travelling from what my family used to call “England’s bottom”.
Now – after an exhaustive refurbishment and reopening in August – it seemed like it might make an ideal weekend destination for families travelling in the other direction. We pulled off our newish trick of collecting two children from schools on opposite sides of Norwich at the same time, ageing by a decade in the process, but still making it to Westerham in good time for a Friday supper.
A busy, family-friendly local
The George is the newest addition to the Bel & the Dragon brand, whose other country inns, scattered across the south of England, have earned them a reputation – to my mind at least – as the Mr Kipling of the hotel world. They follow a standardised recipe, but one that makes for an exceedingly good weekend break.
At the George, swirly carpets and crazy-paved walls have been ripped out, the ceilings and walls whitewashed, and the bar painted a velvety dark green that seems a hit with the locals. It was absolutely heaving at 6pm. Thankfully, we scored some deep leather armchairs in one of the adjoining lounges (given the same “Hunter welly green” makeover), before moving into the dining room, carved out of an extension to the pub’s back, prettily decorated in a style I am calling “modern diner meets Victorian greenhouse”.
