I had my wedding reception in Penny Square Barn. What an amazing venue this was for a wedding…read morereception. The barn is owned by the fabulous farmer Bruno and Gill, such wonderful people! I stayed with Bruno and Gill for B&B and one of my fondest memories is having a bottle of vino and a gas with Gill in the kitchen. Honestly Batcombe is just a fantastic place with some amazing friendly, interesting people. Bruno had just put in toilets when we got married here which was fantastic and the barn had not been used all winter so we had a lot of cleaning up to do. Its no frills but it makes it for economic sense as a wedding venue if you have the vision and want to get married in a glorious location. The main barn itself is gorgeously rustic, just put some dichroic floods as a backdrop and it becomes wonderfully atmospheric. We had a friend climb around like a monkey and do an amazing job on lighting and hung long swathes of black fabric over the not so pretty metal door entrance to the barn. In the smaller barn annex we also hung fabric to disguise the galvanised roof. We were able to have a fire going outside and allowed to have fireworks (before 10pm of course) and a flamethrowing fire engine. The villagers were just fantastic and welcoming and Bruno was an absolute star! Not only was he a bell-ringer, but he ran the bar at the village hall and made sure we had enough fuel to run the genny for the weekend. Barn does get cold at night so its worth renting a couple of space heaters. We got a TENS from Mendip council and ran our own bar which was fab. This is a beautiful quiet village so its not the spot to pound music late into the night as noise does carry but its a perfect venue for an event such as a wedding in the summer.

10/10! By far the best restaurant in the area. Great food, lovely staffread more

From the owner: Weddings, Restaurant, Steak House, Accommodation, Converted Barn, Functions, Conferencesread more

Old Down Country Park reopened this year and is a brilliant place to amuse your kids for the day…read more Loads of animals to entertain the kids and plenty of gardens for your kids to run off steam. Tickets prices are affordable for a family (I think we paid £12.50 for the 4 of us) and the staff were very smiley too. Worth a look if you are struggling for new places to visit. Just off the A38 near Thornbury www.olddowncountrypark.co.uk.

From the owner: Situated just off the A38 near Thornbury, Old Down Country Park is a fun day out for the whole…read morefamily. With lots of interesting and unsual animals to meet, an adventure playground, fishing lake, walled Victorian garden and woodland walk there is plenty to keep you entertained for a whole day. In the park there is also a rustic Cafe serving hot and cold snacks year round. With plenty of outdoor seating for the warmer months and wood burning stoves keeping it warm throughout the winter the cafe area has proved a popular addition to the park. The cafe area can also be hired for childrens parties or evening functions. There is also a farm shop in the park selling organic veg, free range eggs from the farm, local meat, cheeses, chutneys, jams and toys and gifts. There is no charge to just use the cafe or farm shop.

I'm sorry but this was an absolutely disgusting place to stay. There is water damage everywhere, on…read morethe ceiling, the carpet, and furniture. After reading other reviews it seems pipe problems is fairly regular and so I have to believe mold is an issue. And then we woke up to yellow water dripping down the bathroom ceiling. There was no fitted sheet on the bed, when I called down to inquire they said they don't use fitted sheets but a bed sheet is used and tucked in around the mattress BUT the sheet wasn't big enough to actually be tucked in. The pillows and bedding was poor quality. To top it all off we had loud drunk people yelling outside our window for hours. The windows did nothing to keep the noise out.

We were part of a bus tour group of more than 30 Americans for a Welsh night, so not only did we…read morehave dinner and drinks, but entertainment including some Welsh songs (or songs from famous Welsh singers, like Tom Jones), a Welsh poetry reading and a limerick contest - all good fun. I have no idea whether our experience was typical for this "establishment," which I'm not sure about, but my impression is that it's called Culley's Kitchen and Bar and that it's situated within the Coal Exchange Hotel in Cardiff. I described my soup, entree and dessert below the appended photos. Suffice it to say, beyond that, while the soup wasn't bad, the entree and dessert were great. The room reminded me of a gym with tables and chandeliers and the performing "stage" was just a space beyond the tables. Our evening was dinner theater tailored for tourists and they all did a fine job.

Fantastic warehouse space, happened to be holding a pop up food event tonight.. Burgers, hot dogs,…read moredirty fried chicken.. Brulée Shack... Lots had sold out by the time we arrived.. But very very funky space, quirky fun seating areas in tuktuks or built from palettes!

Elbow room has everything going for it; it's got a well stocked bar, good location and a cool name…read more But I am really not a fan. Not to sound like a Park Street snob but this bar is usually packed with people who wouldn't normally enjoy the quirky retro chic of the other bars up and down the hill. On more than one occasion I've walked in to find people passed out on the floor or crying in a corner - not a great start to any one's evening! I'd recommend coming here during the day when the pool tables are empty and the aforementioned undesireables are yet to come out and play.

I don't like this place. It's halfway up Park Street and gets rammed with a slightly 'Trevory'…read morecrowd. It's half bar, half pool hall, but the bar part isn't big or unique enough to keep you interested and the pool tables are those big American ones and are expensive to hire (you pay at the bar for a certain amount of time, not by the game). Also, despite the name, it's not really big enough, which is pretty ironic, though considering the Stateside focus of this unspectacular place, they probably wouldn't understand this. The only time I've vaguely enjoyed this place is on a Sunday afternoon watching the footie, as it's less crowded then and they have some cheap drinks offers.

Folly Farm is a 250 acre nature reserve about a half hour drive from the centre of Bristol. There…read moreare several walking and hiking routes within the farm and the Folly Farm Centre is made up of barn style function rooms and accommodation that can be hired out for weddings, corporate events and educational visits. I came here looking for a potential wedding venue and was bowled over by the beauty of this place. From the farm there are views of rolling hills and a nearby lake and on site there are meadows for camping, fields full of pigs and sheep and plenty of wild flowers scattered about the place. It is simply idyllic. With a car park at the bottom of the centre this place would be ideal to hold an event or simply go on one of the popular walks. The function rooms are of varying sizes and hire of the venue comes with the use of chairs, tables and a large industrial kitchen. Although the buildings are relatively new they have been built using traditional stone so they don't stand out for being too modern. The farm is quite easy to find from Bristol and once you're a mile or so away there are several signs to point you in the right direction. Although popular with walkers and nature lovers the farm does not allow dogs of any kind due to the other animals on site.

So I may be slightly biased because the reason for my visit was my own wedding, but this place is…read moreincredible! It's an old farm yard owned and run by Avon wildlife trust, a non profit Eco friendly business. The set up is based on a nature reserve which offers a series of walks from 20-30 minutes to 2 hours, the nature reserve is open to the public and I'd certainly recommend anyone having a stroll. The site is on top of the hill overlooking the rolling vast green hills that is chew valley and over looks the stunning chew valley lake. Not only is this a wedding venue it's also a conferencing and education centre as well. And offers tutorials for children and adults giving education on wildlife and related topics. Now let's get to business- WEDDINGS!!! So the set up is can have the venue anything from a few hours to a few days, which provides a perfect chance to do something a bit different, we organised our very own DIY festival wedding. We had the venue Friday to Monday. There are minimal staff insight but you rarely see them, unless you need them. And this gives you the freedom to do what you wish with the grounds, obviously within reason, bearing in mind this is a nature reserve! You can chose from 4 rooms for your ceremony, and either use this room for your meals/ reception or as we did hire a marquee. This I have to say made it for us! There is accommodation for 45 people, which is either basic dorms sleeping 2-4 or small apartments with kitchenette and ensuite bathrooms. They also have a camping field which they tell you holds 15 tents but I think we could have got at least another ten in there. There's loads of indoor and outdoor entertaining space,BBQ areas to chilled out sofa areas. Folly Farm is a perfect wedding venue, I am so pleased we chose it and have had nothing but good feedback from people, other than three days is not long enough, I have to say I agree!

A lovely local pub in Winterbourne Down…read more This has been my family's local pub for around 20 years and it hasn't changed one bit. It's still as charming, still has the same locals, still the same landlord and, I think, still the same roaring log fire. The Cross Hands doesn't do food, but it does do lots of guest ciders, ales and a brilliant atmosphere. The landlord and landlady (Pete and Lesley) are great (Pete is the spitting image of Peter Stringfellow - with open shirt and hairy chest) and make you feel like part of the furniture - which can make leaving quite difficult at times! Friday nights are good fun. Typical local pub style. A bit of cheese on the jukebox and a good mix of young'ens and old'ens to keep it interesting from one end of the pub to the other. But the best thing about this pub isn't its huge back garden. It isn't the fact you can use one of their massive BBQ's and bring your own meat/food. It isn't even the regular events they hold in the summer with live bands and cider in boxes. The best thing about the Cross Hands is the pub dog. A beautiful Staffordshire Bull terrier who has the gentlest demeanour and wonderful personality. She'll pin her belly to the ground and wiggle her way over to say hello. All the while snorting like a little pig. She has her own arm chair and sits with the locals who play cards on the big round table from 4pm every day. This is a lovely little boozer that has a huge garden for the summer and wonderful warm log fire for the winter. As it is out of town, you can knock 40-80p off the price of pint. A must if you're in the area.

They dont do food here mate ! But you can bring your own and cook it up on one of the complimentry…read morefree bbqs ! This place has tons of character and a great choice of beers ciders and ales all at a very reasonable price. There is a beautiful big garden out back or benches out front if you fancy just sitting and watching the world drift by. Pete the barman is one of lifes winners always there with a warm welcome and a joke or two for you to enjoy. Stick a lepord print thong on him and marvel at the way he transform into Peter Stringfellow oh yeah ! All in all a class bozzer in the country.