When did the trend change

maltrab

maltrab

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As I child where ever we traveled they was often a tea room or tea shop,nestled in villages all over the UK, now it's all coffee shops on the high streets or larger stores, now they all sell tea but don't really advertise it in the same way, and although the older tea rooms did sell coffee it was just basic coffee, and the tea was server up in lovely teapots and china cups,with a sugar bowl on the table and a spoon for each cups along with milk in a jug, these days it's a paper/plastic cup,wooden spoon,sugar in a paper bag,milk in a container which is sometimes difficult to open, tea bag which you have to find a way to dispose of before drinking the tea and this delight can cost up to a couple of pounds.
I know you clever folk will tell me the old fashion tea rooms can still be found, but they seem few and far apart these days
 
These tea rooms you describe were and are few and far between here in Ireland but there was one in a town near where I was raised. The whole family went to town every saturday and every so often we would visit the tea room, which was a real treat. Apart from that one I can't remember another proper tea room, not even in Dublin where I worked for fifteen years.
 
As a regular visitor of two towns in Northumberland Hexham and Corbridge I can confirm that the old fashioned Tea Room is still alive and well in these towns and indeed in other places I have visited in Northumberland . In Hexham there is a wonderful little Tea Room as you pass the old Gaol called Butters . It is run by a husband and wife , he hails from Madeira and everyone knows him as Madeira John.

He not only has a fine collection of Tea Pots but also lovely bone china and porcelain cups and saucers. He is such a nice guy and people love what he is doing that he regularly receives gifts of part tea sets where they my have lost a couple of cups and saucers or the tea pots . Those he doesn't use he displays . All the produce is freshly made but surprisingly he does not sell Pastéis de Nata or Portuguese Custard Tarts which I have suggested to him would be a winner and link to his Country of Birth . Sadly he has resisted so far but I live in hope.

I know what you mean though Terry , tea is definitely a poor relation in the chain shops but thankfully there are still outlets in the bigger cities who will serve tea in a pot albeit a lot are either faceless stainless steel or white china or these modern dual function pots which are clear glass with a mesh insert to take leaf tea or tea bag .

A refreshing change in Newcastle is a long standing company called Pumphrey's which was founded way back in the famous Bigg Market . They have two shops in the covered Grainger Market one for coffee and the other purely for tea with a huge variety of teas on offer all served in a proper pot with a nice cup and also a little electronic timer which they set to the optimum time for that variety of tea to brew so you know the best time to drink it.
 
captain clutterbuck said:
As a regular visitor of two towns in Northumberland Hexham and Corbridge I can confirm that the old fashioned Tea Room is still alive and well in these towns and indeed in other places I have visited in Northumberland . In Hexham there is a wonderful little Tea Room as you pass the old Gaol called Butters . It is run by a husband and wife , he hails from Madeira and everyone knows him as Madeira John.

He not only has a fine collection of Tea Pots but also lovely bone china and porcelain cups and saucers. He is such a nice guy and people love what he is doing that he regularly receives gifts of part tea sets where they my have lost a couple of cups and saucers or the tea pots . Those he doesn't use he displays . All the produce is freshly made but surprisingly he does not sell Pastéis de Nata or Portuguese Custard Tarts which I have suggested to him would be a winner and link to his Country of Birth . Sadly he has resisted so far but I live in hope.

I know what you mean though Terry , tea is definitely a poor relation in the chain shops but thankfully there are still outlets in the bigger cities who will serve tea in a pot albeit a lot are either faceless stainless steel or white china or these modern dual function pots which are clear glass with a mesh insert to take leaf tea or tea bag .

A refreshing change in Newcastle is a long standing company called Pumphrey's which was founded way back in the famous Bigg Market . They have two shops in the covered Grainger Market one for coffee and the other purely for tea with a huge variety of teas on offer all served in a proper pot with a nice cup and also a little electronic timer which they set to the optimum time for that variety of tea to brew so you know the best time to drink it.
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Captain I will have to Venture up to Newcastle on the train one of these days, just for a few hours out,maybe we can meet up
 
we took a holiday in Benidorm once , in Old town we came across this little cafe called Grannies Tea Rooms , we went in , english lady running it , had proper tea pots with hand knitted cosies on them , proper english style tea not tea bags, lovely cakes and sandwiches, gorgeous little cafe surrounded by lots of spanish tapas bars ,
 
Love to do that Terry, though its a modern city there are still great examples of old architecture and traditional places to go . I do partake in the Heritage Walks so know far more than embarrassingly I ever did about the City . We like other Cities have a huge Heritage that so few know anything of .

One of the walks took us to Robert Stephenson's Boiler Shop one of a few buildings that remain from the original construction . Whilst they have been reused for other purposes at least some of the original features have been retained at the insistence of the local council and Heritage groups . If you use your imagination and ignore the features the current company have added you can understand what a fantastic amount of historic work was actually undertaken in that particular place.

I took part in the tour part of which took you into what was Robert Stephenson's Office which has the original fireplace in-situ. Did he draw up plans for an engine which he was eventually unhappy with which he subsequently screwed up and burnt in that very fireplace . The Boiler Shop holds "musical" events and that space is used as dressing and green rooms for the "Artistes"
 
Shall I give you the boring answer? It changed when culture became all about immediate gratification - perhaps late 90’s onwards.
People don’t feel they have the time to spend to wait for the tea to brew hence the uptake in coffee for the immediate kick.
With this leads to less people going to the tea rooms and this decrease in business makes them not financially viable - put that also against the financial clout of Costa and Starbucks and the little guy loses all the time.

The exception to this is the likes of Betty’s which sell an experience as well of tea.
I’m all for the quaint little tea room, I love a cup of tea if only a breakfast/Black tea so I’m not adventurous in the slightest but like my tea to brew in a pot before pouring.

I could also say the same about the disappearance of the greasy spoon cafes and similar round my way
 
when i was young i worked as a tipper truck driver for a company that laid cables , all the navvies were southern irish and one of them would boil a metal bucket full of water then throw black tea in it and sugar , never milk , we used to dip our big pint pots in the bucket and honestly it was the best tasting tea ever,
 
I enjoy a proper cup of tea when I'm in Great Britain, at 4 PM, but without milk or sugar. The rest of the day, I'm a typical American coffee drinker, medium-roast Colombian beans, ground freshly for each cup and drip brewed. No milk/cream or sugar. From noon to the end of the day; when at home, I switch to decaf coffee or to very strong ginger tea.

I had a proper cup of tea a couple of years ago at the Lingholme Kitchen on Derwent Water, between the Nichol End and the Hawes End Keswick Launch landing stages. Apparently it's possible to get there by car, but I walked with a group from the HF Holidays Derwentbank house. Several years ago there was another proper pot of tea for two in Whitby, at Crumbs 'n Cobbles on Church Street. And yet another in Sedbergh at the Three Hares on Main Street, also several years ago.The latter two were also while staying at nearby HF Holidays country houses.
 
I've found it quite hard to get the "perfect" cup of tea when out and about - I like really hot tea and pots tend to cool down rather quickly unless absolutely freshly brewed. At home I like Tetley's Redbush (naturally decaffeinated) - been a fan of this ever since reading the No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series by Alexander McCall Smith, he certainly did a good advertising job for Redbush!
 
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Quite like the odd Earl Grey . I had one the other day locally by Joe's Tea Co it was lovely aside from the bergamot there was some rose petals in it I believe which gave it a lovely flavour . They have an online store so an order is hopefully winging it my way imminently.
 
manwinoname said:
when i was young i worked as a tipper truck driver for a company that laid cables , all the navvies were southern irish and one of them would boil a metal bucket full of water then throw black tea in it and sugar , never milk , we used to dip our big pint pots in the bucket and honestly it was the best tasting tea ever,
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Oh, did I say that we were coming to visit you on Sunday? I think I might be going to have a headache so can we change the date?:coffee::confused2::frown2::oops::13:
 
well you know that we dont need to wash the plates after a meal, the dog licks em that clean that we can put em straight back in the cupboard
 
manwinoname said:
well you know that we dont need to wash the plates after a meal, the dog licks em that clean that we can put em straight back in the cupboard
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Hey Manwi, You know I can't let you take credit for that idea. We taught you that the last time you came to dinner. Admitted we didn't let the dogs lick the plate clean, we did it. Does that moggy of yours help to lick them clean as well? By the way, you never did tell us what his Royal name is. Could it be tiddles? All the newborns do that for the first year or so. :21::29: Huh, I'm still doing it.:30:
 
oh yes our tomcat helps clean the plates, he prefers the strawberry n cream dishes , were very posh here eh , strawberries n cream no less , his name is ARCHIE, i understand one of the Royal family named there son after him ,
 
manwinoname said:
oh yes our tomcat helps clean the plates, he prefers the strawberry n cream dishes , were very posh here eh , strawberries n cream no less , his name is ARCHIE, i understand one of the Royal family named there son after him ,
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Strawberries and cream? I didn't know that you are so rich. We had a strawberry last week. Next week we might be able to afford some cream. So, the secret is out, ARCHIE is his name. I think that, after all this time, a photo of him would be great to see. Hang on, if my memory serves me right, Pearl suggested Archie might be his name yonks ago. What will her prize be? I know, let Archie go round and help clean her dishes. ...
 
Speaking of tea and crockery, I have a question about Compo's tea drinking habit. Has anyone ever seen anyone drinking tea out of a saucer? I never have, its a very strange thing to do, maybe it's just a Yorkshire thing.
 
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