Wednesday 3 April 2013

Tea the Eighth

The sound of the gentle rattle of china cup on china saucer drives away all demons, a little known fact.
Terry Pratchett - Snuff

The Old Deanery, Ripon - Wednesday, 3rd April 2013


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Tea Takers


Sarah Ryan
Paul Ryan
Olivia Ryan
Jean Thacker
Kathryn Asbury
Jonah Asbury
George Asbury
Herbie Asbury
Iris Asbury
Connie Asbury
Martha Asbury
Helen Kiff
John Kiff
Nancy Kiff

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The inception of the whole afternoon tea project had been as a result of my wishing to celebrate my birthday by walking from Fountains Abbey to Ripon Cathedral, ending in tea at The Old Deanery.  This inspired the wider plan, and it was always going to be important that this tea happened early on.  So I enlisted some fine (and easily persuaded) old friends to join me. Fortunately, we chose a day that was fair, if somewhat cold.

Setting off from the church at Studley Royal deer park we walked the two miles down the impressive drive and across the fields to Ripon.  The walk took us from the small blue square in the bottom left hand corner of the map to the cathedral in the centre of the city.





The walkers were cheerful and entertaining company (if inclined to brandish sticks with a menacing joy).








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Studley Royal Deer Park


The ruins of Fountains Abbey, the water gardens of Studley Royal and adjoining deer park are a tremendously beautiful and inspiring sequence of landscapes, and in 1986 the whole site was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO,  fulfilling their criteria of being a masterpiece of human creative genius', and 'an outstanding example of a type of building or architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates significant stages in human history'.

It has always been one of my very favourite places and the view down the tree-lined avenue from St Mary's church, Studley Royal, where we began our walk, looking directly at the face of Ripon Cathedral and then beyond, over the end of the Vale of Mowbray to the Hambleton Hills and Kilburn's white horse, is perhaps the one that I most love.




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The Old Deanery


The Old Deanery was built in the early 17th Century, on the site of the medieval Bedern or College of the Vicars Choral.  It faces directly onto the North side of the Cathedral and was the residence of the Dean until 1941.




It has been beautifully restored and with its spacious hall and wide oak staircase, and its range of large light rooms, it is a most attractive setting.  We had two round tables in the end of large dining room, with a broad bay window looking out onto the garden at the rear.





It was an elegant and relaxing place to sit and provided space for seven children to expand themselves without us feeling cramped or affecting the other patrons.

Varied and artistically mismatched china, teapots, creamers and sugar bowls were very de nos jour, but in a good way that pleasingly complemented the eclectic architectural and decorative styles of the building.  An interesting twist on the cake stand was the use of large wooden boards for serving the sandwiches, cake and scones.




It was another excellent tea. The servings were very generous, with a substantial supply of sandwiches and large, and very pleasing, scones. Clotted cream was amply supplied, as was blackcurrant jam, although this did divide opinion, where one camp enjoyed its tart novelty and another (that is to say, I) felt that you shouldn't really mess with the traditional raspberry/strawberry axis, or that, at any rate, you should have options...  George felt the sticky toffee cake really was more of a pudding element (and didn't work so well un-warmed and lacking custard) although others disagreed, notably Martha, who gave everything rave reviews and ate with gusto whatever she could lay her hands on.  All in all, highly commended - The Old Deanery, you have done well.

Martha evaluates a scone.



George hones his pouring skills.


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People Doing Tea


Genteel ladies:


Refined gentlemen:


Serious critics:


Demonic scone devourers (and that is scone-devourers, rather than one who devours demonic-scones):


It can get a bit much:


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Eighth Tea - Eighth Year






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A delightful tea with splendid people, in very attractive and interesting surroundings - exactly what this whole enterprise is about.








Monday 1 April 2013

Tea the Seventh

Then all of a sudden an angel touched him and said, 'Get up and eat'. He looked round, and there at his head was a scone baked on hot stones, and a jar of water.  He ate and drank and then lay down again.
1 Kings,  Ch.19, verses 5 and 6 (New Jerusalem Bible)


Ampleforth Abbey Tea Room - Holy Saturday, 30th March 2013


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Tea Takers


Sarah Ryan
Paul Ryan
Olivia Ryan
Dom Henry Wansbrough OSB
Dom Hugh Lewis-Vivas OSB
Dom Luke Beckett OSB
Alex Farmer
Rachel Fisken
Sandra McNally
Lucy Matheson
Gail West
Tom West 

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Since 1995 I have spent almost every Easter at Ampleforth, attending the retreat at the Abbey. It is a very important place to us and to other friends who regularly make the journey here for the Triduum (not to mention some who live here).  It is also in one of my very favourite areas in the world and part of a landscape that is home. It seemed a rather good idea then that we should celebrate another tea here.

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Ampleforth Abbey




The Benedictine community at Ampleforth traces its history back to the monastic community of Westminster Abbey, refounded by Queen Mary, and which, after a time in exile in France, settled in Ampleforth in 1802. The community have run a school on the site since 1803, and continue to run schools, parishes and a Permanent Private Hall at Oxford.

The choir of the current Abbey Church was begun in 1924 and the building finished and consecrated in 1961. 





The Benedictine emphasis on hospitality is central to much of the Abbey's work, which includes a very full pastoral and retreat programme, and as a part of this they also welcome a wide range of visitors with very different approaches and expectations.  In such a context, a tea room is marvellous leveller....

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The tea was very generous - with fine sandwiches, scones and cakes - they have extremely high standards (and some of our more glamorous settings could learn much from the standard, range and presentation of the tea). The cake-stand count of four is the highest to date and most pleasing.




The clotted cream supply was bountiful, as Fr Hugh can testify.






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Arcadian Singers and Ampleforth


When I was at Oxford I sang in a chamber choir called the Arcadian Singers (and it was a very important part of my University experience, not only because it was an Arcadian performance of Britten's War Requiem that threw me frequently into the company of one Paul Ryan).  The tenor section of the choir included Dom Henry Wansbrough, then Master of St Benet's Hall, who provided the choir with hospitality on many occasions (and who regularly turned up to choir on his roller blades). Through his agency and the enthusiasm of the then president of the choir, Sanu de Lima, a Benet's student, it was organised that the choir would travel to Ampleforth to provide additional music for the liturgies of the Triduum in 1995 - and so a tradition was born.  It is still the case that the current Arcadian Singers provide the core of the choir, and, essentially, a conductor, but there is also a long standing group of 'old members' who have been returning frequently to enjoy the huge privilege and joy of singing the music we love, from Renaissance polyphony to contemporary choral works, in the context of the liturgies for which it was written.



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Other friends have also been an important part of the Easter experience, and fellow members of the Oxford and Cambridge Lourdes Pilgrimage regularly meet up here.  We have often had lovely times with Sandra here (Olivia, and in direct consequence the Abbey shop, have particularly benefitted from her great generosity...) and it was splendid to be joined by Alex for the first time this year.



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Biblical Scones


Alex started the discussion by stating that there were two references to scones in the New Jerusalem translation of the Bible, and she could only remember one. When one of the other people coming to tea was not only an extremely eminent Biblical scholar, but in fact the editor of that very translation, it seemed that it would be a simple matter to ascertain the other.  Unfortunately, Fr Henry didn't seem to remember either very clearly: fortunately, the Abbey shop, just across the main hall, provided the resources we required for a quick check. Both mentions are in the First Book of Kings, one is cited above, and this, from the story of Elijah and the widow, is the other:

But Elijah said to her, 'Do not be afraid, go and do as you have said; but first make a little scone of it for me and bring it to me, and then make some for yourself and for your son.'
(1 Kings, ch.17, v.13)



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Seventh Tea - Seventh Year






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The Mouseman of Kilburn


In the village of Kilburn, only a couple of miles from Ampleforth, sheltering under the escarpement of the Hambleton Hills, below the dramatic white horse carved into the hill face by a local schoolmaster and his pupils in 1857, the local carpenter Robert Thompson (1876-1955) established a thriving business making oak furniture, using traditional tools and based on English styles of the 17th century. The workshops maintain his commitment to craftsmanship and tradition, and still produce exceptionally beautiful furniture. All the pieces bear the symbol of the workshop, a small wooden mouse (and each carpenter has his own identifiable creature).  Ampleforth is full of this fabulous wood work.  I can remember looking for the mice here, on pews and kneelers, when I was a child, and the activity never pales, so it is very pleasing that the tea room has been furnished with Thompson tables and chairs that had been previously in the junior school.  The mice were very amenable tea companions.



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