A Thick Slice Of Country Life

With restored cottages, pudding parties and stylish bakery-cafés, the rural Cotswolds in south-central England is upping its game as a food and lifestyle destination

- Lin Weiwen

Friday nights at the Three Ways House hotel—a 48-room property located in the rural region of the Cotswolds—have a different kind of air. There is an underlying tension; anticipation. The furniture in the lounge is pushed back to the walls to accommodate a group of 60 guests, who make small talk as they wait for their host to make the important announcement they have been waiting for: the seven puddings they will have for dinner. Once they have been revealed, applause breaks, and the staff take the puddings on a little parade from the kitchen to the restaurant.

The guests are members of The Pudding Club, a tradition started by the hotel’s previous owner, Jean Turner, in 1985, after she learned that there were many people who wanted to enjoy old-fashioned British puddings like Spotted Dick and Sticky Toffee but could not find them in restaurants. “Turner decided to have a meal with some friends, where they’d have a light main course and seven puddings,” says Jill Coombe, the current owner of the hotel. “The club has since grown, and the format remains the same. Our guests are excited about [having puddings] without someone telling them, ‘No, you should not eat this much’.”

There are rules, though. The host invites one table at a time to help themselves to a portion of pudding. You aren’t allowed to come back for second helpings if you haven’t finished what you have in your bowl. The proof is indeed in the pudding.

“We don’t advertise [The Pudding Club], but people know about us. We have had visitors from Japan, too,” adds Coombe. “People come in pairs, and then return as a group of ten. We have also added some Saturday nights to satisfy demand.”