Tag Archives: cream tea

New Beginnings

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The first thing I saw as I got out of the car in Peterborough last week was an unfamiliar bird in the band of woodland that runs near the house. It is actually separated from us by the width of a driveway and a cycle track. I had a good stare and it came back into view after a moment – a Green Woodpecker checking out the trunk of a tree. That’s one of the good things about autumn/winter, birds are easier to see in trees. They aren’t particularly rare but it’s always nice to see one. The yaffle call is distinctive, and that’s normally how you know they are about as you rarely see them when there are leaves on the trees.

Then the wind got up and the rain started. We had two nights with the leaks in the porch and conservatory roofs adding a musical accompaniment of plinks as they fell into bowls and buckets. Added to the banshee wail of the wind and the sound of raindrops on windows, this was not great. However, when Julia and my sister went for a walk on Sunday they were able to photograph a heron and an egret, despite having phones rather than cameras. Julia likes this so much that it completely outweighed the leaks/missing builder feelings she had experienced the day before.  The proximity of three tearooms (one at the steam railway station and two in the park) also helps with this.

My sister brought the makings of a cream tea for Sunday – one savoury, one sweet – plain scones, fruit scones, cream cheese, plum and blackberry jam, clotted cream, onion chutney. All from M&S. It ws a very enjoyable meal which we ate whilst discussing the herons and egrets.

Little Egret – Ferry Meadows

In the morning I had been round a military collectors’ fair. It was better than I had expected and I am thinking about standing it in the spring to get rid of some of my surplus items. I have plenty of collectable clutter and it might be a nicer way of getting rid of it than just sticking it in auction. I will be able to talk to people, meet other dealers and, hopefully, take some money.

Spoke to Number Two Son on Sunday night. He was given a custom-made couch by a contact of his partner. It was expensive and big and wouldn’t fit in the lift or up the stairs at the apartment block. There was nowhere to store it so they advertised it on the internet and sold it that night for $1,200. It had to be done instantly or the waste disposal people would have taken it next morning.

While they were doing that they noticed someone had dumped a couch. It was in great shape apart from a broken bracket holding up the back). Number Two Son and his neighbour (an engineer) fixed the bracket and he now has a new couch and $1,200. It’s good to see the dealer genes being passed on!

Green Woodpecker feeding on ants

Heron photo from Julia, egret from my sister and woodpecker is one of my old shots from the farm.

Day 99

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We had an email waiting this morning. It had several blurred screen shots, several paragraphs of broken English and a declaration that the would be purchaser would only pay £30 for postage and packing. We deciphered the note, calculated the cost of the parcel and found that it was going to cost a lot more than £30.

The trouble is that some people fixate on the P&P, ignore the fact that eBay charge us commission and fees on our postage costs and don’t appreciate that if we are sending a parcel with £400 of goods in it we want to insure it.

On top of that, this is now the ninth message we have had from him this week and the 22nd we have had this year. Not one of them has actually resulted in a sale. The problem is that as soon as you say yes to one of his irksome suggestions/demands he starts with another.

It’s £400, some of the stuff has been hanging around for a while, and the idea of making the sale is quite attractive. However, the sale is only good if you actually get the money. If anything goes wrong, eBay will undoubtedly side with the buyer and we will end up losing £400 plus postage fees. It’s easier, as I pointed out, to save postage and the labour of packaging and arguing, and just flush £400 down the toilet.

Some deals, as was pointed out to me as a young man working in sales, are simply not worth the effort. It seems counter-intuitive but I made one or two of those sales, including one where I lost the company £7,000 (which was a lot of money 30 years ago) and that always comes back to haunt me.

In summary – today was a day of frustration, annoyance and ghosts from the past.

We had veggie burgers (which we ended up buying from the shop rather than making) for tea, in nice fresh cobs, and I enjoyed them. We also had chocolate brownies as Julia saw them whilst shopping. Then we slept in front of the TV. Is this, I ask myself, where all that hope and ambition ended up?

I suspect there may be a poem concealed within that thought.

For some reason, whilst snoozing, I dreamed of cream teas.

The Scone Chronicles XXII – Afternoon Tea

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Sorry, I had intended managing one instalment of the Scone Chronicles a week, but we haven’t been out much this year and when we do go out it tends to be repetitive. Added to that, I don’t always take photos, I don’t want to admit to all the rubbish I eat and I’m not always very efficient.

This post has been maturing like a fine wine, for over a week. This probably tells you something about my definition of “fine wine”. That, in turn, reminds me of the wine kits they used to sell in Boots chemists thirty years ago. No, forty years ago…

How time flies.

However, I will return to the subject of scones rather than drift off on a digression relating to cheap wine.

Julia’s brother and sister-in-law have been up to visit and invited us to Afternoon Tea at the St James Hotel in Nottingham.

The review is a bit tricky because I don’t want to criticise a meal I’ve been treated to. Fortunately, after we’d left, the in-laws said it wasn’t a patch on their local tearoom and was more on a par with the local Patisserie Valerie. That’s not meant to be a slur on Patisserie Valerie, because they are a chain and a chain does things differently to somewhere claiming to be a boutique hotel. Or it should do.

It is, considering the deal they do, a very good value budget Afternoon Tea – if their website is correct, afternoon tea for two costs slightly less than afternoon tea for one at Bettys. If you don’t get the discount, it’s still a lot cheaper. However, don’t be fooled by the picture on the website, the sandwich fillings were much less generous in real life and the cake selection was not as good.

In fact, the sandwich fillings could accurately be described as meagre, the cakes and scones all seemed to be mass produced and they really should have been quicker on bringing the tea.

However, they surroundings are pleasant, and not as crowded as Bettys at Harlow Carr. The company was, as you would expect, excellent, and the neighbours were sufficiently far away as to be part of the background chatter, again, unlike Bettys.

So – comparisons.

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Scones with jam and cream

Cakes at Bettys were far better. Sandwich fillings at Bettys were better. Scones at Bettys were better (and not dusted with icing sugar – I hate it when they do that).

However, sandwiches at St James’s were fresher, surroundings were more relaxing and the cost was more affordable.

At St James we got one pot of clotted cream between two of us – it’s enough, but it’s the only place I’ve ever been that does that. Don’t know whether I’m happy not to clot my arteries or unhappy at being short-changed.

I’m not sure which was better value, as they both had their good points, and both had their less good points. Nor am I sure if either is worth repeating.

I suppose I’ll just have to keep eating until I find a better place.

 

(Sorry about the quality of the photography – low lighting).

Tearoom Tour – Number 1 – Thoresby Park

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I’ve been meaning to start a Tearoom Tour of Britain, with a target of 100 in the year. Julia has indicated disbelief in my ability to do this (citing logistical difficulties rather than my lack of capacity for cream teas).

Rather than put a number to it, I’m going to start and see where we end up.

Today we went to Thoresby in Sherwood Forest. It’s not the best of the grand houses in the forest but it’s free and the service is a lot better in the cafe than the off-hand, rude, inefficient and useless service encountered at Clumber. Clumber is a better attraction in general, though expensive if you aren’t a member of the National Trust. But the cafe at Thoresby is a lot better. You may have formed that idea after reading my comments on the disgracefully bad, lamentable, terrible, rotten service at the Clumber cafe.

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That’s why we won’t be rejoining the National Trust this year. We aren’t saying we won’t rejoin in the future, but for the next year or two their surly waiting staff will have cost them money.

Anyway, back to Thoresby. We didn’t have much time so we had a quick snack – I had the cream tea, Julia had the toasted teacake and we both had plenty of tea. Very palatable, served efficiently by pleasant staff and in nice bright surroundings, There was no time to look round the courtyard, which is partially closed for the winter, but we have done before, and it is worth a visit.

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The downside – the scones seem a bit regular and industrial, rather than home made, but they were still good.

I’m happy to recommend Thoresby to anyone. £8.90, in case you are interested.

To be fair, I’m happy to recommend Clumber to anyone who wants grudging, slow, inefficient service in a dingy room, but it’s a niche market. It’s also slightly more expensive, as I recall, but you do get a free snarl and a long wait thrown in as extras.

Cream Tea with plastic
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Southwold Pier (Part 1)

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In which our heroic duo actually manage to visit a pier, see a very rude woman, eat a cream tea and have a jolly good time. Despite a sunburned head.

Built in 1900, Southwold Pier was originally 270 yards long. During the years of its existence it has, due to several storms and a drifting sea mine, varied from 20 yards to its current 208 yards. Compared to some other piers this is considered a relatively trouble-free history.

It is, to be honest, 208 yards of excellence. It starts well, and is good right to the end. When you get to the end it is also good when you view it in the reverse direction.

I took this one as a reminder that some people just love to get in photographs
Built in 1937, and looks the part
Attention to detail – Southwold Pier

One striking aspect of the pier, apart from the signs to tell you where you are, is the bright, clean appearance of the place. The plaques are also a very noticeable feature – they commemorate all sorts of things, and the prices start at £195. It’s not cheap, but it would make a very unusual present. I mentioned this to Julia, but she seems unimpressed by the idea.

This is a selection of plaques – I’ve deliberately chosen some that are related to piers and the pier construction. There are others, including, those to public figures from the town, school pupils, teachers, the town crier and many happy holidaymakers. It adds up to the idea of the pier as a community facility, and makes it a happy place to be.

Plaques on the hand rail – Southwold
Plaque on Southwold Pier
Plaque on Southwold Pier
Plaque on Southwold Pier

I’m sorry about all this unseemly positivity, but it’s that sort of place.

The first stop was in the cafe for a cream tea. It wasn’t planned, but we fancied a cup of tea and the rest of it just happened. It was clean and bright with excellent scones but appalling company.

There were three generations behind me, a baby, a mother and a grandmother. It started off slowly with a discussion on breastfeeding and weaning. The baby, to be fair, didn’t contribute much to the discussion.

The mother didn’t get much chance to contribute either.

However, the grandmother made up for this. The woman could talk. She didn’t however, always talk sense, and she kept stressing that she would be willing to donate some of her “organic cooking apples” for the child’s food. I think that’s what we mere mortals call “cooking apples”. We don’t use chemicals so our fruit is organic, we just don’t refer to it as “organic”. I can’t help feeling you should have it certified by the Soil Association before you start calling your fruit “organic”.

A fine cup of tea
The view from my cream tea
Nice light scones – Southwold Pier
Suffolk Cream Tea – Southwold Pier
A very attractive dining companion

That just makes her irritating. What made her appalling was the hand gesture.

A young waiter approached them and asked if he could take their order. The grandmother dismissed him brusquely, telling him they had ordered outside but moved inside out of the wind.  That was bad enough, but as she did it, I saw Julia stiffen.

She told me afterwards that the grandmother had made a dismissive flicking hand gesture to send the young man on his way.

I suppose it’s appropriate that a fine old pier in a traditional old resort should be the last bastion of epic rudeness and disdain for the lower classes.

I hope she gets earwigs in her organic cooking apples.

 

The Cream Tea Diaries

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We had an excellent cream tea at Clumber Park on Monday – our second visit of the year. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

National Trust cream tea
Rodda’s – what else?
National Trust jam
Clumber Park cream tea

 

There are many things I could say about the National Trust, and they wouldn’t all be compliments, but they do know how to put on a good cream tea. At Clumber they may have staffing issues, as we’ve found on both visits, but the teas, when you eventually get them, are excellent.

To be fair, if you take scones, jam and cream it should be hard to get it wrong. On both visits the food has been excellent but the service has stuttered a bit.

Pomegranate wallpaper
Tea room decor at Clumber Park, Nottinghamshire
The traditional wasp

 

There is actually a Cream Tea event coming up –

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More Cream teas at Clumber

A Booming Bittern, a Glossy Ibis and a Cream Tea

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We went to Old Moor today, an RSPB reserve about fifty miles from home. We went there last year and took so many photographs it took not one, but two posts to publish them all.

Today wasn’t quite so prolific in the photography line.

The day started early when I nipped down to the laundrette to do the washing I’ve been avoiding for the last two weeks, then we had bacon sandwiches and set off.

The lady who checked our cards told us that one of the paths was blocked off to protect the nesting Bitterns. That was the path we had wanted to check out as we hadn’t done it last time. However, as compensation she did tell us there was a Glossy Ibis on the wader scrape.

On the way round we heard the Bittern booming, which is how it always seems to be. I’ve heard Bitterns booming many times, but never actually seen one. They are very good at remaining hidden.

This is symbolic of my life.

However, I did see the Ibis. We walked into the hide, looked out and immediately saw a dark bird prodding at a mud bank. After about twenty minutes it annoyed a nesting Coot, which chased it off. It then lurked in a reed bed. According to one of the other watchers it had spent most of the morning lurking in the reeds and had only showed itself for about half an hour so we were very lucky.

On a dull day a Glossy Ibis is not an impressive bird, looking a bit like a dark curlew. On the other hand it’s better to see a dull Ibis than no Ibis at all.

You can probably guess how we finished the visit by studying the title.

There will be photographs later…

And a description of two prize-winning Senior Moments…

 

Waiting for the Rainbow

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It rained this afternoon, as you can tell from the top picture. That yellow blur in the middle of the picture is Julia’s jumper as she traverses the car park at TESCO.

However, as both Dolly Parton and G K Chesterton tell us: Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.

There was no rainbow today, which would have rounded off things nicely, but we did have a cream tea, so it was worth getting wet.

That was my part of the mission – whilst Julia shopped I waited until the rain slackened off, bought lottery tickets and selected two cream teas. Then I waited in the cafe… and waited…

It’s difficult to judge the best time to buy a cream tea when you’re waiting for someone who is shopping. It’s made more difficult when they have a habit of haphazard browsing. And, let’s face it, when you’re looking at a cream tea and salivating it can be a testing twenty minutes.

Eventually Julia’s random retail activities ended and we were able to start the cream tea. The scones weren’t too bad, the company was good (well, I thought it was, Julia may have another view) and despite a nagging feeling of guilt about the calorie intake, I enjoyed getting out.

I suppose it’s possible for a rainbow to be metaphorical.

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Eventually the rain eased up.

Whilst checking for rainbow quotes I found this quote from G K Chesterton.This one isn’t about rainbows, it’s about grandmothers, but it is quite interesting.

The word ‘good’ has many meanings. For example, if a man were to shoot his grandmother at a range of five hundred yards, I should call him a good shot, but not necessarily a good man.