Where Was I? .... with two possible answers...

[Brian Smith]

Win a luxurious London break for two at the Lanesborough

The clue

"I wonder what this place smelt like?" Friend pondered as we strolled
through the grounds of a museum first opened in 1959, on a much older
site. I was thinking more of the heat, but either way it must have been
an assault on the senses.

You could have said the same for the itinerary that Friend had put
together. Attraction followed attraction as we explored a narrow valley
and an adjoining dale. Victorian shops, kilns, bitumen - we’d seen
seven sites on or near the banks of a long and mighty river; this
museum was the eighth.

Together they were a fitting tribute to the ingenuity of the area’s
entrepreneurs and the generosity of Mother Nature - it was her
provision of raw materials that enabled much of the innovation.
Crucially one of them was low in sulphur. Its use on this site, 312
years ago, helped to spark a revolution.

Enough of history. My interest was beginning to founder under the
summer sun. "This place is like a furnace," I moaned. "Can we have our
picnic?"

"No," Friend said, and he led me back to the district’s defining relic.
"Only two more museums to visit." Both lay south of the river.

Clearly there was no way to bridge the gap between my hunger and his
iron-willed determination to see absolutely everything. So I sat down
on the pavement instead, and pulled a can from my rucksack.

"Come on, you decide: what’s next?" Friend asked.

"Isn’t it obvious?" I said. "Forge ahead if you like, but I’m having a
Coke and a smile right here."

The prize

The winner and guest will stay for two nights, B&B, in a junior suite
at the Lanesborough, the stuccoed, five-star palace on Hyde Park Corner
in London. Home to 93 rooms and suites - including the £20,000-a-night
Royal - the hotel is part of the Oetker Collection and serves up a
sense of grandeur entirely in keeping with its Regency architecture.
Expect glittering chandeliers, marble bathrooms and richly embroidered
fabrics; each room comes with its own 24-hour butler service.

The prize includes one à la carte dinner for two (excluding drinks) at
the Michelin-starred Céleste, as well as access to the award-winning
Lanesborough Club & Spa. It must be taken between May 17 and November
30, 2021, subject to availability.

The Lanesborough is taking part in Hotel Week London from May 28 to
June 6, when hotels are offering discounted rates and value-added
packages to entice UK travellers back into the city. For the
Lanesborough’s offer visit oetkercollection.com.

1 What is the name of the first mentioned museum? COALBROOKDALE MUSEUM
OF IRON

2 What is the name of the river? SEVERN

Terms and conditions

The winner and guest will stay for two nights, B&B, in a junior suite
at the Lanesborough, the stuccoed, five-star palace on Hyde Park Corner
in London. Home to 93 rooms and suites - including the £20,000-a-night
Royal - the hotel is part of the Oetker Collection and serves up a
sense of grandeur entirely in keeping with its Regency architecture.
Expect glittering chandeliers, marble bathrooms and richly embroidered
fabrics; each room comes with its own 24-hour butler service.

The prize includes one à la carte dinner for two (excluding drinks) at
the Michelin-starred Céleste, as well as access to the award-winning
Lanesborough Club & Spa. It must be taken between May 17 and November
30, 2021, subject to availability.

The Lanesborough is taking part in Hotel Week London from May 28 to
June 6, when hotels are offering discounted rates and value-added
packages to entice UK travellers back into the city. For the
Lanesborough’s offer visit oetkercollection.com.

[Brian Smith]

Win a foodie break for two in the Midlands at Hampton Manor

The clue

Talk about a grand design. Built by a former prime minister, with
architecture by a leading neoclassicist, this mansion has survived two
fires and several revamps, and still it’s magnificent.

"How come I’ve never noticed it?" I wondered. "I zoom past it all the
time."

"Trees screen it from the motorway to the west and the railway to the
east," Friend said. "Even so, I bet you’re too busy worrying about
missing your flight to look." True: I’ve had some close calls near by.

Sadly we hadn’t booked rooms here for the night. It was a day trip, and
Friend said that he had other surprises in store. So we drove to the
centre of a market town, nearly six miles west-northwest of the
mansion. Here, close to the crossing point of two ancient trackways,
Friend showed me a former school. Built in the 1880s and 1890s, the
main building is ornate but modest in size. Its alumni include a
Pakistani prime minister, a construction-minded TV presenter and a film
star. "But he was from Montana!" I cried in disbelief when Friend
mentioned the third pupil. "Yes, but his dad came from just north of
here," he told me. "So he knew some Latin as well as how to ride a
horse."

That wasn’t the only surprise. A third of a mile north of the former
school Friend showed me a station on an unusual transport system,
opened in 2013. "Not as glamorous as a tram but more cost effective,"
Friend said. "Even if it did go way over budget."

"Why?" I asked. "Cowboy builders?"

"No, Japanese knotweed."

1 What is the name of the mansion? LUTON HOO

2 What was the name of the film star? GARY COOPER

The prize

The winner and guest will enjoy a break at Hampton Manor, the
countryside hotel with a Michelin-starred restaurant in Hampton-in-
Arden. Set in 45 acres of grounds, this 19th-century mansion has been
transformed into a relaxed and informal foodie hub. Smoke, on the edge
of the kitchen garden, specialises in wood-fired feasts, with a menu
that changes according to what is fresh that week, and the same
garden-to-fork philosophy guides head chef Rob Palmer at Peel’s
Restaurant.

You’ll want to try the wine too: Hampton Manor won the AA’s Wine List
of the Year award in 2019. Upstairs there are 15 sumptuous individually
decorated bedrooms, complete with William Morris wallpaper. For details
visit hamptonmanor.com.

The prize includes B&B accommodation, plus dinners for two (excluding
drinks) at Smoke on the first night and Peel’s Restaurant on the
second, as well as a guided wine tasting. It’s valid for a Wednesday-
Friday or Friday-Sunday stay, and must be taken before November 26,
subject to availability.