Unit 4,
Tortworth Business Park,
W-U-E, Glos,
GL12 8HQ
Not to be confused with The Hideaway in Stoke Bishop.
Those of you who follow regularly know the routine.
We four old folks meet up every now and again for breakfast, some one gets to chose the venue but they have to pay, so if you chose some where posh, it costs you!
This time it was Steve’s turn and he chose the Hide out.
His son had told him about it so he decided it was a good opportunity to try it out.
Its a bit farther afield than usual but as it was Steve’s Idea he offered to drive.
This used to be part of Leyhill Prison but I suspect has been sold off as a way of raising money.
When I started life as a Student Nurse at Brentry Hospital the Deputy Chief Male Nurse (Basher Williams, so named because he didn’t use medication to subdue troubled patients) gave us an introductory lecture which included these famous lines.
“You will never be out of work because they will never be able to close these Hospitals.”
Well, look how wrong he was. All the Hospital have been closed now and the land sold off for housing. Hortham, Brentry, Farleigh, Stoke Park, Barrow, Star Cross, the list goes on. What happened to all those patients, some of whom couldn’t even feed or dress themselves?
I went out for coffee this week with some old colleagues from my nursing days and we were talking about Brentry Hospital.
When we first started nursing they still had ‘The Bear Pit’ a circular hole in the ground, too deep for anyone to climb out and patients were sent out there for exercise, rain or shine whilst the staff made the beds and did all the domestic chores. It was of it’s time and probably not good practice even then but I’m not sure ‘care in the community’ was any better.
We met an ex-patient in the Crow Inn on Boxing day some years ago and he said.
“Its terrible Boss. We didn’t even get a Christmas Dinner”.
When we got to the Hide out I was very impressed with its appearance.
There was ample parking outside with a large covered area that would be ideal in the summer but was still usable on a dry winter day.
We were met at the door and shown to a large round table with a bright decorative mosaic patter. In fact the whole place looked bright and modern, clean and spacious, though I’m not sure the military rifles hung on the wall were appropriate decorations for a family Cafe?
The menu looked very good and it would appeal to my Girls as well as the Fat boys with options such as Eggs Benedict at £7 or American Pancakes at £7.50.
We of course stuck to a far more traditional option, the full breakfast at £10.50 which included:
1 x strip of Bacon (only one)? 2 x Cumberland sausages, which were very meaty and the boys loved them but my Girls would turn their noses up at these , in fact anything with lumps in is a ‘no no’.
They much prefer breadcrumbs.
2 x free range eggs and a slice of black pudding which I found a bit dry and tasteless. Potato and Mushroom saute, sadly two of my chums complained that the Potato wasn’t cooked and was hard. Tomato, Sour Dough Toast (not a fan but there are options) and Beans in a small dish.
This was a good breakfast though the presentation left a bit to be desired. Why not have a bigger plate and lay things out nicely instead of piling it up in a heap?
I hate having the Toast on the same plate as the breakfast. How do you spread the butter if you dont have a separate plate?
Steve chose the smaller option at £7.50 with a poached egg. All very arty?
Drinks were fine and service was efficient, The seating was comfortable and relaxed. We were able to sit there for a while and chat, without feeling pressured to vacate the table. In fact we went for another round of Drinks. sadly there was nowhere to put the debris which had to be left on the table.
By the time we had finished the place had filled up considerably and I noticed there were several groups of ladies meting for brunch which means, I hope, they felt comfortable in this environment. Interestingly they offer Afternoon Tea on some dates and this is some thing the Girls love. They take Jakis Mum and stuff themselves to bursting with Cucumber sandwiches and Cake.
In summary, a good venue, good food but at the top end of a breakfast budget.
NB: I have recently discovered Anchor by Spotify which converts my Blog to a Podcast which is quite exciting. However, the voice is American and it is very literal. So where I wrote MOT its reads it out as ‘mot’ (as in Mott the Hoople). It also pronounces Jaki as Yaki . But it’s a bit of fun and it delays the onset of Dementia. I have to convert each Blog so it may take me a while to get this up and running but its the future!Who would have thought Little Billy Hendy from Four Acres Rd Withywood would be making a Podcast.
In search of a great Breakfast 