Tea the Thirty-Eighth

There's something hypnotic about the word 'tea'
Dorothy L Sayers - Gaudy Night

St Ermin's Hotel, Caxton Street, Westminster - Saturday 28th June 2014

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Tea Takers

Paul Ryan

Sarah Ryan

Olivia Ryan

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I know it might seem that it has been a while since a 'tea' has been taken on the odyssey, but as we approach these final few occasions we have had to be much more discriminating - saving these events for special occasions and opportunities. The 28th June this year was always bound to be one of these, being, as it was, Paul's 40th birthday.  Very important, then, to have a celebratory tea.  It featured as part of an exciting London day of activity, starting with a trip up to the top of The Shard, to enjoy the extraordinary views over the city.

Then a quick call in to collect our theatre tickets before heading across St James's Park for tea. A slight delay in proceedings was caused by the fact that London's Gay Pride march was taking place at that very moment, and getting across Trafalgar Square and Pall Mall became a much more complicated and time consuming activity than usual.  That excitement over, we had a very pleasing stroll across the park to tea.

I found the St Ermin's on the internet looking for somewhere nice to take tea in the Westminster area as this had been an important place to Paul, having had his schooling first at Westminster Cathedral Choir School and then at Westminster School.  It looked very pleasing and very much lived up to this appearance.  It also turned out that Paul had been there before, taken by one of his teachers - he recognised the entrance - and so it turned out serendiptiously to have established links, which we like to find on the odyssey.

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Adjacent to St James's Park tube station, the elegant red brick Victorian buildings of St Ermin's are typical of the grandeur and style of this area of London.  It began its life in 1889 as St Ermin's Mansions (named thus as it was built on the site of a 15th century chapel dedicated to St Ermin) and was converted into a hotel in 1899.

The conversion into a hotel was overseen by theatrical designer J.P. Briggs which helps to explain the lavish and dramatic styling of many of its rooms.

During the Second World War it was the headquarters of MI6 and, in 1940, the place where Churchill established the Special Operations Executive which ran from one floor of the hotel for the rest of the war.  Less salubriously, it was later a place where Burgess, Philby and MacLean liaised with Russian agents.

Who would not like such a site of intrigue and adventure as a place for tea?

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To reach the 'tea lounge' on the lobby mezzanine you have to climb the elaborate twisting white staircase which adds a great deal to the drama of the event.  We found at the top a interesting combination of traditional decor suited to the Queen Anne revival styling of the building, with more modern furnishings, which, as a deliberately eclectic statement, works very well.

They have gone for the deliberately quirky, simultaneously vintage and modern, pastel theme in both the presentation and the tea itself, but this is done confidently and without going completely over the top, and so it works.

Alongside the striking pink and blue Victorian/Cath Kidston-esque fusion crockery, tea is served in a intriguing range of ways from the traditional wire basket and napkin for the scones to a very striking square shelved cake stand - it cannot be quite adequately described so see next illustration... We had rather more sombre white and dark brown stands but on a neighbouring table was a striking yellow version of the same, and a similarly striking colouring to some of the cakes, did give a rather psychedelic feel to the proceedings (together with the quirky mix of styles it was all rather Alice in Wonderland-ish)

This was a very highly performing tea.  A nice range of fresh sandwiches, attractive cakes and some most pleasing scones.  Alongside the traditional plain (applauded for both quality and quantity by Olivia and myself) there were also Earl Grey and raisin (which Paul enjoyed) and an unusual addition the orange scone.  Now, I was dubious about this when I saw it on the menu but actually it was delightful - just a hint of orange zest - very fine with heaps of clotted cream.

Refined scone enjoyment:

I would particularly recommend the lemon macaron, but there were also glossy chocolate truffles, elaborate meringue pies and pleasingly compact walnut cakes. A very enjoyable spread indeed and the birthday boy seemed not displeased.

Olivia and I were both a little disappointed that the jam that came with the tea was blackcurrant (and those avid followers of this blog will already know of my feelings on this matter), so we asked the very obliging waitress if they might have any other jam available. A look of discomfort darkened her face 'We do have strawberry' [pause, voice drops significantly in volume] 'but it is not...... homemade'. We reassured her that this would not be any impediment to our enjoyment nor to our judgement of the establishment and enjoyed our shop-bought jam very much when a generous potful was brought to the table.

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Thirty-Eighth Tea - Thirty-Eighth Year

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Happy Birthday, Paul!

Using this blog to pay tribute to a range of very important people in my life has been one of its most enjoyable features for me and I think it has been fairly clear already from quite a lot of occasions how essential a part of my life Paul is. He won't thank me for being soppy but I am going to say this much: thoughtful, loving, funny, intelligent, dedicated, a person of enormous decency and integrity, he is, without question, the love of my life, my best friend and a part of everything that I am, and I am so grateful to him for everything he is and does.  There, I've broadcast that to the world now, Mr Ryan - so ner.

We finished our celebratory day with Mass at Westminster Cathedral - one of Paul's most important places - and then a trip to the theatre to see the utterly hilarious 'Jeeves and Wooster - Perfect Nonsense' - laughing, in my case, until I wept, on several occasions. A very lovely family day celebrating our favourite chap.

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Tea the Thirty-Seventh

I smile, of course,
And go on drinking tea
T.S. Eliot - Portrait of a Lady

Monk Fryston Hall Hotel, North Yorkshire - Friday 11th April 2014

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Tea Takers

Sarah Ryan

Paul Ryan

Jill Fairley

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Serendipity led to tea in Monk Fryston - Paul was alerted to some dining offer at Monk Fryston Hall via some internet scheme and it immediately struck me as a very suitable location.

The village is situated South East of Selby in the Vale of York, and at one stage my father used to drive me through here each day as he took me to and from school. In some far distant year, I think around 1884, my paternal grandmother was born in Monk Fryston, and my Dad often pointed out to me the inn where this great event took place, her father having been an ostler there. So tea with the shades of the ancestors seemed only fitting.

The birthplace of Jane Shan, later Thacker:

Monk Fryston Hall, just across the road from The Crown is a very attractive stone mullioned manor house, in attractive and stately gardens. The oldest parts of the building date back to the Twelfth Century when a Benedictine monastery stood on the site.

Augmented and refashioned over the centuries, as is typical of so many country seats, by the Eighteenth Century the grounds also featured a zoo, an aviary and a boating lake. The entertainments offered today are not on quite so exotic or lavish a scale, but it has the requisite gentility of a country house setting and a more than suitable site for the next installment of the odyssey.

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We took tea in the dining room which runs the length of the front of the house, and was light and smartly appointed.

The service was friendly and helpful (if not of the greatest finesse) and when they realised that the message requesting provision of plain scones had been missed they were most apologetic and tried several times to ply us with extra sandwiches and cakes.

An interesting twist to the presentation of the tea was the inclusion on the cake stand of chutneys to accompany the sandwiches.  These were not to my taste (and I do query the wisdom of putting them on the stand itself and next to the jam and cream) but it was nice to offer these as optional and did mean the sandwiches were largely unadulterated and well suited to my fussy palate.


The scones were pleasant, although not as light as they might have been, and the clotted cream and jam were plentiful which is always a sign of generosity of spirit in such establishments. The sweets included a very pleasing vanilla cream dessert, a light cream sponge swirl and little biscuits sandwiching cream and fruit. As a spread it fulfilled its brief very well.

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Tea with Jill

This was another particularly delightful reunion - Jill was my A-level English teacher, and has been a hugely important influence in my life, both as someone who helped shape the way I read and learn myself and as greatly significant model for me of what good teaching is.  I still stand at the front in my own lessons and think 'how would Jill deal with this?' Perceptive, thoughtful and quietly passionate about her subject she inspired and challenged me and I know I wouldn't have been able to make as much of my university education or the opportunities that have come up since if it hadn't been for her academic grounding and encouragement to engage critically and reflectively.

It was lovely to see her and to catch up for the first time in a couple of years. She is excellent company and we had a lovely time talking about what has been happening in our lives, but also about history, ideas and books.

Spring sunshine, an interesting historic and personally linked location and a very important guest - an excellent tea indeed.

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Thirty-Seventh Tea - Thirty-Seventh Year

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I am particularly proud of my improvement, over the course of this project, in being able to pour tea and talk at the same time.

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Tea the Thirty-Sixth

Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the 

world revolves, slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future.

Thich Nat Hahn

Pilgrims Coffee House, Front Street, Lindisfarne - Tuesday, 8th April, 2014

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Tea Takers

Sarah Ryan

Paul Ryan

Olivia Ryan

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Paul and I first came to Lindisfarne together on 9th July 2000, it was the first day of our honeymoon and we had a glorious week staying in a cottage on the island.  We have since returned numerous times, with friends and on family holidays where our small infant frolicked on the wide breezy sands and clambered on rocks. It is a very special place that we love very much and it has been a sadly long time since we last came.  It was always on the tea location wish list, but in a rather wistful, probably-not-going-to-happen kind of way. So when Paul suggested that a day trip from York might be rather nice it seemed too good an opportunity to miss.

The weather forecast was for sun and so armed with clothing for every weather/temperature, a picnic, and a predisposition to have an amazing time, we drove the 150 miles North and arrived about midday just half an hour after the causeway had cleared.

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Tea at My House.

It must be conceded that despite the very many virtues of the place, Lindisfarne is not overly endowed with 'proper' tea-taking opportunities. Afternoon tea as a concept has not really taken off in the catering establishments of the village.

A bright Easter holiday day had drawn many visitors and the number of small cafes about the place were busy. One cafe promised freshly made scones but what it offered in terms of bakage it lacked in charm.  However, we were immediately taken with this place: an attractive stone house, with quirky and pleasing interior, and the promise of home made cakes and (for those who like to substitute such things for tea) their home blended and roasted coffee.

Additionally, and of particular satisfaction to me, is the fact the a few years ago I really wanted to buy this house. It was on the market at the time when we were looking to buy our house in York, and it was both beyond our budget and an exceedingly impractical location, but that didn't stop me looking longingly at the estate agents' particulars online and imagining my alternative life there. So I may not have been able to live here, but now I have taken tea, which is the essence of good living after all.

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Getting past the anomalous idea of tea in a 'coffee house' (and in doing so tipping a nod to the delights of coffee which I would by no means deny - do note the excellent name for the day's roast) and accepting that this is very much a cafe geared to the practical and swift service of large numbers of tourists, Pilgrims made a very pleasing tea location.

Yes, it was paper cups only, (and sadly we hadn't thought to bring mugs with us - if only we'd known...) but the drinks were good and didn't seem to suffer from the lack of china.

The bedrooms are attractive little seating areas now, with eclectic 'vintage' furniture and quirky accessories (cushions made from coffee sacks etc). We had a room to ourselves for most of the time and reclined in armchairs and on the windowseat.

It was a tea of varied drinks and cakes, and, for all its more utilitarian chic, was very enjoyable, sitting in these comfortable surroundings out of the wild wind (which was a hallmark of much of the rest of the day).

Olivia had a beautifully squidgy brownie and I enjoyed a very commendable lemon drizzle, but certainly the most interesting cake of the day was Paul's:

This is Cuthbert cake - advertised as a mix of oats, honey, fruit and nuts, and named for one of the islands more pre-eminent saints (of whom more in a moment). It was acclaimed as very fine and was a pleasing topical addition to the occasion.

Most of us remembered our table manners and dainty habits

Others however...

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Thirty-Sixth Tea - Thirty-Sixth Year

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The Holy Island of Lindisfarne

Holy Island, or Lindisfarne, is a tidal island off the coast of North East England, just south of Berwick upon Tweed. St Aidan came to Lindisfarne from Iona in the the early Seventh Century and founded the monastery here, and the place became the base for Christian evangelisation in the north of England. A second Saint who became inextricably linked with the place is Cuthbert, becoming bishop of Lindisfarne. He was ascetic and heremitical by temperament and would retreat to a small island itself only linked at low tide to the main island, and then ultimately removed to Inner Farne, a much more isolated place, to live as a hermit.

It was here that the magnificent Lindisfarne Gospels were illuminated in the Eighth Century, and on a more grizzly note a violent attack by vikings at the end of that century is now frequently noted as the start of the viking era in this country. The Priory ruins that are left now are from a later house, mostly built in the Twelfth Century and in use until the dissolution of the monasteries, are beautiful red sandstone, with ornate carvings and patterned columns, much like those of Durham Cathedral.

We brought Olivia here first ten years ago and she was fascinated by the information boards (this became a regular delaying tactic of hers in many sites of historic interest in her toddler-hood). Little changes:

The other most striking landmark of Lindisfarne is its castle.

A fortress was initially built on this dramatic crag in the Sixteenth Century, and then in 1901 the ruins were bought by publishing magnate Edward Hudson, who had discovered it when touring Northumberland with his friend Edwin Lutyens. Hudson had Lutyens refurbish the place in the arts and crafts style and for good measure Lutyens' friend and collaborator Gertrude Jekyll transformed an old vegetable plot into a walled garden.  The castle remains a beautiful combination of castle and country house, on a very attractive domestic scale.  It is set out as it would be for an Edwardian holiday retreat and it is very easy to imagine making yourself very at home there. It combines so many desirable traits in one place, it is certainly one of my most ideal residences.

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We had an utterly fabulous day and a three hundred mile round trip for tea was most definitely worth it.

A quick jump across the stones to St Cuthbert's island (and even quicker jump back because it looked like the tide was coming in);

Ending the day with a stop off at the North Shore for a game of boules and some sustaining sandwiches before returning southwards;

Taking with us, naturally, an appropriate souvenir:

Glorious.

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