August 2008

August is the month of holidays - the month that we associate with bare-foot days, swifts and swallows, summer festivals and open-air swimming. It is traditionally the bumper crop month accompanied by glorious rural scenes of high swaying fields. Even rudimentary raised beds can now provide bounties of tomatoes, broad beans, courgette or strawberries. Increasingly however the surprises that our climate has in store means that we are unable to rely on long, hot, dry days and must make the most of warm weather when we can – trying never to compare today with previous years.

Since taking over The Priory Inn four and a half years ago, we have worked closely with local suppliers, farmers and producers to provide together a high quality, truly local product which our customers enjoy and can benefit from. Currently between 70-80% of our food is sourced within an approximate 30 mile radius. We are now attempting to restrict our buying area further by launching The Priory Inn’s “30 Mile Food Zone” this Autumn.

In the current climate, where all businesses are competing for market share, we are keen to work with the small, local producers as much we possibly can. To this end, we are now sourcing all possible food (with obvious exceptions such as olives and fish) within a 30 mile radius. For example we are replacing Kellogg’s on the breakfast buffet with organic cereals made on a farm in Wiltshire and Heinz will be replaced by Tracklements, Sherston, Gloucestershire. Our cooking oils are now going to be provided by R-Oils of Stow-on-the-Wold who produce cold-pressed Rapeseed Oil grown on farms in the Cotswolds and we are stepping up our local soft drinks available at the bar. If you know of any high quality products which do not currently feature within our buying sphere with, we would really like to hear from you – or the producers.

Many local business relationships are crucial to the ongoing development of The Priory Inn’s product and one we feel particularly privileged to benefit from working with is Shipton Mill, found at the tail end of a bumpy track in Shipton Moyne Wood, minutes from the village of Long Newnton. A mill is recorded in that same location in The Domesday Book and the traditional French Burr stone millstones are still used in the same way as in mediaeval days, with as much of the grain as possible coming from local farms. Stone grinding flour is a simple, traditional process in which all the organic goodness of wholemeal flour is retained (as opposed to the modern steel "roller" milling of white flour when the essential bran and germ is engineered away and the increased heat generated can damage the natural proteins essential in producing the finest bread and doughs).

Clive Mellum – is a baking consultant who works closely alongside the operators of Shipton Mill and is passionate and knowledgeable about baking. He has passed on a wealth of information to Shane our chef and Mark our pizza chef and we are now reaping the benefits in our home-baked bread and pizza bases. Aside from the high quality, organic Shipton Mill flour, the key ingredient which we include (which is not present in any commercially made bread) is time. In all we do, we believe very much in the concept of slow food – “real” food, made with care and attention to detail. Nothing in our bread-making process is rushed. The dough is allowed to proof slowly overnight and then when the wood oven has cooled to the optimum temperature, we bake our bread.

We are very lucky to have some marvellous local art displayed on our walls. Recently we welcomed Tetbury artists Jusefa Charlamow and Marie Smith. Jusefa’s abstract oil canvases, inspired by land and tribal ancestry blend beautifully in the gastro-inn. In the coffee bar, you can indulge in Marie’s calming harbourside Maltese scenes. Their work complements the other talented local artists on display: Jacqueline Govier; Norma Crownshaw; Carole Condé; and, Nat Morley, all of whose work is for sale. Any other local artists are welcome to contact tanya@theprioryinn.co.uk if interested in displaying work.

Our coffee bar has been given its summery look by the creative team at Flowercube in Stroud. Always inspiring, certainly never “normal”, we are constantly wowed by France Fenwick’s arrangements both in the coffee bar and reception. www.flowercube.co.uk

Don’t miss Sunday live music evenings here at The Priory Inn which provide great entertainment and a laid-back start to the week. This month we are delighted to welcome Rich Maya (3rd), Bear Flat (10th), Russ Poole (17th), Lou Brown (24th) and Benita Johnson (31st).