Afternoon Tea with Katie and Kate

On the 6th of April I headed to Darlington to meet my friend Kate alongside our friend Katie. We had put this date in the diary way back in October after the last time we met up, which was in York. We weren't sure what we were going to do, but decided to go to Darlington for afternoon tea. I asked Katie to drive me and her from Wakefield as I was having a lot of pain and wasn't sure I could cope with driving all that way. She agreed - she's never driven me anywhere before so it was fun! She didn't learn until maybe eleven years ago or something like that, unlike me who passed my test twenty one years ago now! 

We arrived at Rockcliffe Hall at just before 1pm and met Kate and went inside. It's absolutely stunning inside. The afternoon tea is in the Orangery which was warm and lovely. The tea and coffee is unlimited so I went for a decaf cafetiere to start off with. 

We had ordered me a vegetarian afternoon tea, so my sandwiches were cucumber and cream cheese, smoked beetroot, cheese and chutney, and avocado. I also had roasted asparagus and red pesto tapenade. It was all really nice, I liked them a lot. 

The cakes were splendid - first of all there was a fruit scone and a plain scone. Then there was a rice pudding for me, but I didn't like it very much. Then a chocolate and rose sandwich which was nice. On top was a hazelnut praline Paris-Brest and a rhubarb and ginger fancy patisserie thing. We had another drink each and sat until just after 3.30 just chatting and catching up. 

I do love these girls! We have been friends since we were at uni at York St John from 2002 until 2005. We lived with each other! They were my bridesmaids! We've organised to get together in July too. 

I was wearing new tights from Snag. I had a gift voucher so I bought two pairs of the duo tights and a pair with shooting stars on. These duo ones are raspberry on one leg and bright blue on the other. They're so fun to wear and so eye catching. I paired them with my Simply Be dress with blue hearts. I haven't worn it in ages but I do love this dress a lot. 

We got back to Katie's about 5pm and we had a gin each and chatted for a bit longer before Lee arrived to pick me up. It was a lovely day! 

Duo tights before I set off in the morning, just as I was about to pull my boots on

I had done my nails - the bright pink is Essie Madison Ave-hue and the sparkle is OPI Gettin Miss Piggy With It. I thought the two looked cute together!

Coffee in a lovely silver pot

My sandwiches

The meat sandwiches

Look how lovely the cakes were

Katie and Kate got a passionfruit macaron instead of the rice pudding thing

Here's me and Kate

And Katie

Her lovely gin glasses when we got back to hers

My Simply Be dress

And finally the opals I was wearing. These belonged to my grandma - she said that the opal in the ring was brought from Australia for her, but I'm not sure when this was or by whom, if that's right. I inherited the lot after her recent death but I hadn't worn them until this day. They are beautiful though, aren't they? I won't wear them daily but I will on special occasions

Afternoon Tea at Wentworth Garden Centre

For Christmas 2019, you know, in the Before Times, my mum and stepdad bought us a voucher for afternoon tea at Wentworth Garden Centre. I don't know if you've ever been but it's a lovely place - there's a large gift shop, a huge plant nursery, a cafe with the nicest homemade cake, gardens, an aquarium/farm, children's play area, etc etc. I love it there and my mum had had an afternoon tea so she bought us the voucher. However, due to lockdown, we obviously haven't been able to use it, and we weren't sure if it had an expiry date or not.

But a few weeks ago Lee rang up and we could still use it, so we booked the tea for one Sunday afternoon. The only time they had was 3.30, which was a strange time really, but we had some early lunch and just chilled out for most of the day until we set off for Wentworth. 

We went into the cafe which was the emptiest I have literally ever seen it. It's usually heaving. But restrictions were still in place so I guess that is partly why. I was expecting to be seated in the cafe but instead we were led through to the Bothy, where there were a couple of other tables already eating afternoon tea.

As it was so hot we were offered the choice of cold drinks instead of tea and coffee,  so Lee went for lemonade and I ordered a Coke. I don't often drink full sugar Coke (we usually have caffeine free) but it's really nice when the pop is cold and the weather is hot. 

Our afternoon tea stands arrived just after the drinks. I had all vegetarian sandwiches and Lee didn't have any red meat, but I swapped one of my egg sandwiches for his cheese and chutney as he doesn't like cheese. There were tons of cakes on top - scones, a chocolate torte, lemon posset, coffee cake, and a raspberry meringue. I couldn't eat all the cake so brought some home.

It was a really lovely tea, it's just a shame it was so hot in the Bothy. I'm glad we finally got to use our gift! 

Afternoon Tea in Sheffield

After we got back from holiday we went out the next day for afternoon tea in Sheffield. We had been given a voucher as a present at our vow renewal by our friends Claire and Sandra, which was really lovely. It was for Jameson's tea room on Abbeydale, which we've never been to. We rang up to book a table and I was glad because it was quite busy when we arrived.

The day before there had been loads of rain and a lot of flooding across South Yorkshire. Lots of people got stuck in Meadowhall for hours because of the flooding around there. So we set off on the Friday in plenty of time, and decided to go down the Parkway as that is higher ground and is usually okay. It was, so we got there about ten to one.

Jameson's is quite posh! It's got linen tablecloths and vintage china, which was lovely. We had a few choices in the afternoon tea - what kind of sandwiches, what flavour of scone, and then which cake. They had about fifteen cakes, including vegan and gluten free choices, so we were spoilt for choice! I choice all the vegetarian sandwiches - egg, cheese, and cream cheese and cucumber - a fruit scone, and a piece of chocolate Malteser cake. We both chose decaf coffee and got a cold drink too.

The sandwiches were lovely and fresh. The scone came with lots of clotted cream and strawberry jam, but the scone was a bit dry, I thought. The cake was absolutely delicious - really moist and with a delicious buttercream in the middle. We really enjoyed it, it was a lovely present and I will definitely go back!

We went home via Hillsborough and had to drive through a couple of really deep puddles, but it was fine!

Sandwiches!

Scones and cake - Lee had chocolate orange cake. We had a bit of each other's, but I preferred mine

Lovely Lee

And here's me!

And here's one of the very deep puddles!

Afternoon Tea in York

On Halloween I wasn't doing anything spooky or scary, I was headed to York to meet up with my two uni friends, Katie and Kate. Katie and I get together quite often, as Katie lives in Wakefield, but we don't often get to see Kate, who lives in Darlington. We all met at York St John university way back in 2002, so we decided to go to York this time. Katie mentioned that she'd seen they serve afternoon tea in the Principal Hotel, which is just next to the station. That's perfect for me, because it's not too far for me to go.

I said I would book it, and when I googled, a website called Yorkshire Food Guide popped up with a voucher. The Principal's champagne afternoon tea is £30.50, but the voucher offered it for £22 each. I had to buy the voucher through them, then book the tea with the hotel itself, but the voucher people did have an online chat so I could check availability, which I thought was good. I hope that all makes sense! I was happy to find the voucher though!

Lee works at home on Thursdays so he took me to the station in Barnsley, where I got on a train to Leeds. In Leeds, I had quite a long wait, so I got a coffee and sat in the waiting room, before getting on the train Katie happened to be on. We arrived in York at around 12.30 so we went into the station pub to wait for Kate.

We went into the Principal Hotel just before 1pm, and went through to the Garden Room where afternoon tea is served. We each got a coupe of champagne and ordered tea - peppermint for me as it's the only tea I like, and I don't even really like it that much.

We got our first course, which was a tiny cup of pumpkin soup, a tiny goats cheese and beetroot muffin, and for me, coriander hummus on a cracker (Katie and Kate had smoked mackarel on theirs). Then the tea arrived on trays. There were egg and cheese and chutney sandwiches for me and beef ones for Katie and Kate. Then there were three mini scones - one maple and pecan, one plain, and one sultana, served with tons of clotted cream and raspberry jam. Then there were the cakes - an apple tart which I didn't really like, a pumpkin spice macaron, a sour cherry and lemon battenburg, and a dark chocolate orange cake. It was nice food and we didn't feel like we were being rushed out of the place.

We got another drink a bit later. I went for something called Answers On A Postcard which was raspberry flavoured with chambord and disarrono, it was really nice!

We finally left at around 4.30 to go get on our trains home. We have already decided that we will look into going to a spa together next year, possibly February, so I'm really excited about that.

I used my Benefit eyeliner, some Urban Decay eyeshadow, and my Body Shop powder foundation

Gorgeous Kate

Me

Gorgeous Katie

The first course - I'm not sure I've ever had pumpkin soup but I really liked it

Cakes

Scones - I wasn't keen on the maple and pecan one but liked the others

Sandwiches

I was wearing this Simply Be dress, I love the mint skirt and the shoulders of the top

And here's my cocktail later!

Afternoon Tea at the Old Swan Hotel, Harrogate

As I said, we went for afternoon tea at the Old Swan Hotel at the end of June. We had been given the voucher as a vow renewal present from our friends Paul and Lianne, which was so lovely of them. We decided to go to North Yorkshire for the whole weekend, but we could have just gone for the afternoon tea.

We arrived at the hotel and were shown into the bar area. The room was really busy, being used by other people having tea and also by guests from a wedding in the hotel. It was an Indian wedding so there were lots of women in really beautiful saris. I was sitting in a lovely enclosed sofa which was nice. We ordered coffee and I treated myself to a glass of champagne. There was a choice of sandwiches so I went for cheese and chutney, and roasted vegetables with chipotle mayo. Lee went for chicken caesar and the roasted vegetable.

The coffee was refillable and really nice, so we both had lots. The champagne was extremely delicious, I was glad I'd got it. The cakes were okay - there was a rhubarb and custard tart, a blood orange and ginger cheesecake which was okay, a coconut cake that neither of us ate, and a lemon and rosewater posset which I really liked. The scones were delicious - slightly warm, full of fruit, and really nice. I had lots of cream and jam on them but Lee just ate his plain as he doesn't like jam or cream (weirdo).

I have had nicer afternoon teas, but I did like the surroundings and it did feel like a really special time!

Really lovely china on the table

Lanson champagne

Lee took this of me

The tea itself

I wish at least one of these cakes had been chocolate

This statue of Ganesh was outside the room where the wedding had been

Lee took this of me on the front steps. I was wearing this dress from Asos and a Simple Be cardigan