Betty Blythe tearooms

We've been to Betty Blythe tearooms before and had such a fabulous time, we decided to go again. The tearooms are located inbetween Kensington Olympia and Shepard's Bush train stations, they can be slightly tricky to find, so make sure you bring a map.

More pictures under the cut:-

Time for Tea

Another good idea for a Christmas present is to treat a loved one to a spot of tea somewhere special. You could make an event of it, or do it as part of a day trip or shopping expedition.

Here are a couple of places I'd recommend in London and the south:-

Heybridge & Tiptree tea rooms

Heybridge is a pretty village, lovely old houses, waterways and a fantastic tearoom. Ideal for a weekend jaunt really. After our trip to Bradwell, we popped in for a cream tea.

Betty Blythe tea rooms.

For my mum's birthday we treated her to afternoon tea at Betty Blythe, in London.

It was so much fun. The tea party was held in the cosy basement of the tea rooms (upstairs is a drop in cafe), it was beautifully decorated, and private as there was only one other table of three guests. Depending how big your party is, you could hire out the whole room.

The best thing about Betty Blythe is the dressing up box- there is a collection of 1920's style clothes and accessories that are available for you to wear. My only criticism is that some of the them (especially the gloves)  could do with a bit of a wash. Still, we had the best time trying on turbans, feathers and fur stoles. We ended up with about 70 pictures of us preening like old fashioned movie stars and draped on the chaise lounge (we're all too camera shy to put them up on the internet-sorry!)

one of the costumes from the dressing up box. 

We spent a lot of time pretending to be various characters depending on our costumes- lady novelist committed to an asylum by her husband, scandalous lesbian lady-golfer, show-girl, débutante etc. My mum might now be in her 50s, but she's still proper daft. 

spelt scones

You can't beat a warm, home-made scone for leisurely brunch. 

If you are gluten or wheat intolerant, you might want to give spelt four a try. Although it does still contain wheat and gluten it is easier to digest than ordinary flour. Personally, it doesn't seem to give me any problems, plus it make tastier baked goods compared to specialised gluten-free flour.

 If you fancy whipping up your own spelt scones the recipe is after the cut:-

no one is so busy that they can't take time to make a decent cup of tea

“no one is so busy they can’t take time to make a decent cup of tea and if you are that busy you don’t deserve a decent cup of tea for what is it all about anyway? Are we put into this world to be busy or to chat over a nice cup of tea?”
- Frank McCort

Eltham Palace and Gardens

I recently jollied off to the wonderful Eltham Palace and Gardens. It's a fascinating mismatch of architecture, there is a medieval great hall and then some glamorous art deco additions.

The beautiful wooden celling in the great hall 

The great hall was really impressive Built in the 1470's by Edward IV, the great hall still stands despite been bombed during WWII, the scorch marks from the incendiary bombs can still be seen.  

  

Eltham Palace was the boyhood home of Henry VIII, but as he favoured his palace at Greenwich, Eltham was neglected and the palace did not remain a royal residence . Various additions where made by owners throughout the years. In 1930's the extremely wealthy Stephen and Virginia Courtauld built a modern art deco extension adjacent to the great hall.    

The circular entrance hall, I can just imagine flappers lounging on the sofas having a smoke