The Church Inn

What a great find! The Church Inn, (so named because it's located right next to St. Mary's Church) is a great place to stay. In spite of the fact that our room was up two flights of stairs and there was no one available to help, the staircases were wide enough to maneuver the bags and the room was quite large. We were less than a thirty minute walk from both of Mark's kids, even though much of the walking was in the rain. (The Manchester area is not known for it's idyllic weather and we did have the umbrellas that we bought in Clacton.)

The room was very spacious and had a large double closet, plenty of drawer and shelf space and a good-sized bathroom. We were served a full English breakfast (well half, in my case) each morning and they went out of their way to prepare food for us on Sunday evening, even though they typically don't serve food that late on Sunday.

The owners and the staff went out of their way to accommodate us and even though there are some other inns within walking distance that look promising, these people are so nice that we've already booked our February stay with them. (We'll only have one flight of stairs next time!)