Photo Archive: “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”,Blackwells Bookshop, Park Street, Bristol, 27/04/15.

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Alice, Alice in Wonderland, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Book shops, Brillustration, Bristol, English Literature, flemingo, illustration, Lewis Carroll, Mad Hatter, Mad Hatter's tea party, Park Street Bristol, Pink, Queen of Hearts, tea party, tea., window, window shopping.

“It’s always time for tea“.

This depiction of the Hat Hatter’s tea party is by a Bristol based illustrator’s social group called Brillustration and I hope they are still cheering up the shop windows along Park Street, despite Blackwell’s Bookshop relocating since my last visit to Bristol [if this article in the Bristol Post is to be believed].

The Queen of Hearts – “OFF with their heads!”

I have never read “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” by Lewis Carroll, but of course I’m aware of most of the key features of the plot and I have occasionally found myself, coincidently, following in the author’s footsteps [Lewis Carroll and I have the dodo from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in common for example].

I suppose that is what makes something iconic – when you get recognition with the bare minimum of effort!

Souvenirs: Leaflet, “The Horse With The Red Umbrella” Tea Rooms and Coffee House, 10 High West Street, Dorchester, 29/04/15.

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Dorchester, Dorset, Food and Drink, High West Street Dorchester, leaflet, Loyalty Theatre, Souvenirs, tea., Ted, The Horse With The Red Umbrella

https://www.facebook.com/TheHorseWithTheRedUmbrella. 

I only know three facts about “The Horse With The Red Umbrella” Tea Rooms and Coffee House and only one of them is mentioned in this souvenir.

Firstly: This spot on the High Street was once occupied by the Loyalty Theatre, between 1828 and 1843, before becoming a glass and china shop and then “The Horse With The Red Umbrella” in 1970 [named after the last play to be performed at the Loyalty Theatre, allegedly].

Secondly: I was made so welcome on my first visit “The Horse With The Red Umbrella” when I went in there for my elevenses I went back there for tea [or dinner as some people prefer to call it] on the same day!

Thirdly: My travelling companion, Mrs. W, never gets the name of the restaurant correct! It is usually the Umbrella that slips her mind and it is often replaced by another wet weather item, like wellies or galoshes! Not that that is problem, because we always remember The Horse.

Moreton Tea Rooms, Hurst Road, Moreton, 09/07/15.

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Clouds Hill, Dorset, Lawrence of Arabia, Moreton, Moreton Tea Rooms, motorcycle, motorcycling, River Frome, St Nicholas and St Magnus Church Moreton, T E Lawrence, tea., Wall Garden Moreton

The village of Moreton is a very interesting place. You can stand on the pedestrian bridge over the River Frome and watch the world go by. You can walk across the ford through the River Frome if you like, but I don’t recommend that from my personal experience, unless you’re wearing something on your feet! The windows, engraved by Sir Laurence Whistler, at St. Nicholas and St. Magnus Church are breathtaking. There is a walled garden, with a cafe and a farm shop [where we had our first pot of tea], which is opposite the Moreton Tea Room [where we had our second pot of tea].

Moreton is also the final resting place of T. E Lawrence, more popularly known as Lawrence of Arabia, although he was motorcycling around this particular corner of Dorset at a time in his life when he wanted to escape his celebrity status. We visited the grave, which is very well kept, but it was the motorcycle parked outside the Moreton Tea Rooms that got me thinking. Lawrence was a keen motorcyclist and it didn’t take a great leap of the imagination to picture him motorcycling through Moreton, down Hurst Road, passed the Old School House on his way back to his cottage at Clouds Hill.

If you want to see a photograph of Clouds Hill, which is quite a remarkable building, follow this link to a previous Photo Archive post here: Photo Archive: Clouds Hill, Dorset, June 2011.

Mermaid in a Tea Cup, Mermaid House Tea Gardens, Wakeham, Isle of Portland, 06/07/15.

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cup and saucer, Dorset, Isle of Portland, mermaid, Mermaid House Tea Garden, mythical creatures, tea cup, tea., Wakeham Portland

Souvenirs: Flyer and Receipt from Bea’s Vintage Tea Rooms, Bath, 28/04/15.

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Assembly Rooms, Assembly Rooms Bath, bath, Bea's Vintage Tea Rooms, cream tea, dippy eggs, flyer, Food and Drink, Saville Row Bath, soft boiled eggs, Souvenirs, tea., Vintage

My sister and I sat at the very table featured on this leaflet for Bea’s Vintage Rea Rooms; my sister was the cream tea and I was the boiled egg on the receipt [we had a difference of opinion regarding the time of day, as we arrived between breakfast and elevenses]. I sat where the lady on the left of the photograph is sitting and from there I could see the end of Saville Row, a glimpse of Bennett Street and the corner of the famous Georgian Assembly Rooms; you can see all the fashionable comings and goings.

I can’t say I’ve seen soft boiled eggs on the menu anywhere else I have called in at for tea and I really enjoyed it, so if you have walked up Saville Row and you feel like you are in desperate need of a dippy egg and tea in a vintage china cup call in at Bea’s.  

Tea Time on The Sea Shore.

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Beach, black and white, dechchairs, Ephemera, hats, old photographs, pebbles, Photography, Seaside., seaweed, stones, tea., teapot, vintage fashion

I don’t know where this photograph was taken, I can’t even remember where I bought it, but I love of the idea of taking the teapot and the best teacups down to the seashore for a brew in the fresh air!

The lady on the left seems to be enjoying her tea the most or is she smiling at the sea view or the gentleman wearing the peaked cap? She is certainly not looking at the camera, unlike the lady in the stripy hat on the left, next to the young lady pouring the tea. The lady in the middle appears to be being annoyed by some sort of flying inspect.

The beach doesn’t look that exciting, with its stones and seaweed, but that could be because I’m use to the sandy beaches of the East coast. Can you make out the three chaps walking along what must be a promenade or seawall in the background? I wonder where they’re going? So many questions!

Does anybody have any answers?

Souvenirs: Label, Moroccan Mint Tisane, Betty’s Cafe Tea Rooms, Harrogate, 2010.

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Agatha Christie, Betty's Tea Rooms, Betty's Tea Rooms Harrogate, Betty's Tea Rooms York, Davygate York, Harrogate, Hercule Poirot, mint, Moroccan Mint Tisane, Souvenirs, tea., Ted, tisane

There haven’t been many occasions in my life that I’ve thought, “What would Hercule Poirot do in this situation?” Faced with an impressive list of caffeinated and decaffeinated beverages, I was inspired by Agatha Christie’s famous Belgian detective and ordered the tisane, having never tried one before. It was very refreshing and I felt very sophisticated! I can’t remember what this circle of paper was attached to, but I obviously managed to remove it and get it home without it getting crumpled or creased. Betty’s on York’s St. Helen’s Square is certainly iconic [queues of people waiting for tables, formed up along Davygate, are a regular sight on my walks around York] and I assume Betty’s in Harrogate has a similar reputation.

Photo Archive: Teapot, Fortnum and Masons, Picadilly, London, 2013.

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Food and Drink, Fortnum and Masons, London, Picadilly, tea., teapot

A Pot of Yorkshire Tea and Crumpets, “Just Grand! Vintage Tearooms”, The Grand Arcade, Leeds, 03/01/15.

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crumpets, Food and Drink, Just Grand! Vintage Tearoom, Leeds, tea., teacup, teapot, The Grand Arcade Leeds, Vintage

Grand.

If you’re in the habit, as I am, of turning up at the box office of The Grand Theatre and Opera House in Leeds to collect your ticket far too early, why not pass the time in The Grand Arcade, at the “Just Grand! Vintage Tearoom“. I’ve been there for tea twice now, before the Saturday matinee and it seems very popular; so much so I’ve had to sit outside in Arcade on both occasions!

Souvenir: A Reminder from Lee Rosy’s Tea Shop, Nottingham, 07/06/14.

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BrewDog Nottingham, Lee Rosy's Tea Shop, Nottingham, reminders, Souvenirs, tea.

Yes, very patient lady from Lee Rosy’s Tea Shop, Alan and I not only survived the night out in Nottingham we were on, but I also made it home with this reminder. Lee Rosy’s Tea Shop is directly opposite BrewDog Nottingham, which proved something of a novelty for Alan and I as we stepped out of the pub and gazed upon tea shop heaven. I think I had the almond cream tea, but I could do with returning to Nottingham and having a cup of tea first and then go across the road to the pub or cut out the pub all together.