My wife Elena and I vacationed in Great Britain earlier this summer. We spent two and half weeks touring England, Wales, and Scotland. We spent several nights in London, visited the mineral baths in Bath, walked among the thatched roof homes of Stowon- the-Wold, and the university city of York in England. We also spent a few days in the old medieval castle town of Conway, Wales, and were able to walk the top of the old walls and turrets surrounding the city. We ended the trip in Edinburgh, Scotland, where by some lucky twist of chance, actually saw Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip as their limo drove out of their summer palace in Holyrood in Edinburgh. They were no further than five feet away from us. Her Royal Highness even waved to us as they drove past! Great excitement so be so close to royalty.
While that’s worthy of a story for another time, you probably want to know what does this have to do with the Cloughs? While driving cross country on our way to York, we discovered the little village of Rastrick in West Yorkshire. Along the road, we came across The Clough House. It was a fine looking local pub with a beautiful set of flower boxes outside each window. Naturally intrigued, we stopped in for a little liquid refreshment. While sitting at the bar nursing a Red Bass Ale with a few of the locals, I inquired to the bartender about the history of the place, and is the proprietor a honest-to-goodness true Clough from the old country? 7 The excitement was almost too much. I showed him my MA driver’s license with my famous surname, figuring he might think I might be some long-lost cousin. I was only partially disappointed when the 20- something bartender seemed surprised but didn’t know too much of the place’s history. But from some other literature I found, I learned that The Clough House dates back to the early 1800’s. It is owned by Martin and Lauren Cockram, who have been running it for about a year, although Martin has been the head chef for four years. I did not get a chance to meet the Cockrams, so unfortunately could not learn any more of its famous namesake. The young bartender was kind enough, though, to inform me the name is pronounced “Cluff”. So I guess that settles THAT argument (much to my own dismay, whose family has always been pronounced Clow!). In any case, they had a great looking menu and we couldn’t resist the opportunity to sample something because we came all this way. Elena and I both had the most scrumptious lobster bisque we can ever remember having. Other choices on the menu were beer-battered fish & chips, pan-seared lamb’s liver, dried cured bacon and home made pies. Everyone was very friendly and we were sad when we needed to hit the road to get to our next destination. However, on our next trip to England, we vowed to come back and spend a bit more time at our ancestral home away from home, The Clough House!!!