Travel review: Witney - the quaint escape

Sitting in the morning sunshine, overlooking the picturesque Church Green and tucking into a full English breakfast is pretty much the perfect way to start the day.

That's exactly what I did on my visit to Witney in Oxfordshire, a lovely town just over an hour's drive from the Midlands.

While there's much to do in the town, it is also perfectly placed for getting out and exploring, whether that be the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, Bicester Village or Oxford itself.

A great base is The Fleece, which is a top spot for grabbing a good bite and resting your head.

The Georgian building was once the home of Clinch's brewery and reportedly a favourite watering-hole of Dylan Thomas when he lived nearby in South Leigh.

Not only does it boast a great location, but with outside tables it's perfect to soak up the last of the summer sun as we did on our visit.

The Fleece is a pub with rooms, but far better than your average B&B.

Downstairs is the homely restaurant, which serves food throughout the day but really gears up in the evening and has a sociable and lively bar, that doesn't distract when you are dining.

• The Fleece, 11 Church Green, Witney, Oxon, OX28 4AZ

• Call 01933 892270

• Email fleece@peachpubs.com

• Web www.fleecewitney.co.uk

• www.facebook.com/fleecewitney

• Twitter @fleecewitney

Upstairs there are 10 bedrooms. Our twin room was classic in style with comfy beds and a lovely light and modern bathroom overlooking Church Green.

Thankfully The Fleece has free parking so you don't have to worry about extortionate charges.

On our way down from Birmingham, we broke up the journey with a pit-stop at Bicester Village, where we browsed the rails of discounted designer stores and chowed down on some hot dogs from the Jamie Oliver food stall. Once we arrived in the town, we checked in and set about exploring.

There's a bustling high street with all your usual shops and a few pubs. It also has a twice-weekly market, although we didn't see it during our visit.

We were only staying for one night, but if we'd have had more time we would have liked to have tried the Witney Wool and Blanket Trail, a circular walk of just under three miles, which takes in the town's woollen trade history.

But tight on time we returned to The Fleece where we had just enough time to get changed before dinner. The menu at The Fleece is very good and we struggled to choose what to eat with so many options.

We started off with a couple of cocktails while we made our choices – classic Cosmopolitan for my mother, while I went for the English Garden – a delicious blend of gin, apple juice, elderflower and cucumber.

Starters of the ham hock and leek terrine and the parma ham and roasted red pepper bruschetta were devoured.

Both light, tasty and cooked well, but left plenty of room for our main courses. I couldn't resist the ice cream for dessert. The creamy salted caramel with a huge waffle cone which came on an elaborate stand was just divine – definitely a grown-ups ice cream. The lamb was perfectly pink, while my pork was cooked well and the accompanying smoked bacon croquette added a delicious saltiness to the dish.

We finished off our bottle of red in the front garden which was busy with after-work drinkers and those out for a few Friday night drinks, before an early night before our journey home.

We returned to the Midlands via Oxford and our only complaint was that we hadn't had more time – definitely making it an excuse to return soon.

By Lisa Wright