New Hall Hotel and Spa

I've just returned from a stay at New Hall Hotel and Spa in Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham - I needed to visit some of my business contacts in that city and its easier for me to stay over sometimes to have a couple of days in and around the Jewellery Quarter which can be an interesting trip in itself - I've stayed at New Hall before, but just wanted to share some photos with you of the place.  It is the only remaining inhabited moated house left in England, and parts of it date back to the 12th century - it has grafitti on windows from the 15th and 16th Century (so apparently there were hooligans even as far back as then)... - of course, since then there have been lots of additions to the buildings but the tower part is the oldest are of the house and it is just fantastic - its amazing to be allowed to walk around a building this old and with this much history!

Its my little secret hideaway when I am in the Birmingham area on business and its a lovely place to stay, so if you're ever in the area and need somewhere peaceful, clean and lovely to stay, I'd recommend it; there's also a health spa and pool in the grounds which is great after a hard day's drooling over jewellery and tools in Birmingham, which is a city I know well and love very much.

The windows shown in my pics are the ones with the ancient grafitti - apparently the author who penned them was the owner of the house and was a bit of a lovestruck loon - George Sacheverell who was resident in the house in the 15th to 16th Century had plenty to tell us - some of which I wrote down ....the story goes that he fell in love with a woman who did not return the feeling....

"I prefer that I regret my fortune than be ashamed of my victory"

"If I do harm because I love, I confess I will be doing harm without end"

"You are silent and I bear it and hope"

"I do not always have property but hope is always with me"

How amazing to think of this man, standing in this room hundreds of years ago, lovelorn and hopeful, scratching grafitti into his windows, which of course would have been astonishingly costly things at the time.  I wonder if his love was ever returned.    I wonder if ten years after writing all this stuff he wished he hadn't?