A Special Birthday Treat: Afternoon Tea at Bea’s Vintage Tea Rooms, Bath

For my Mum’s birthday this year (which was back in May), I wanted to treat her to afternoon tea in Bath. Incredibly, my mum has never had a traditional English afternoon tea before!

After waiting four months for her birthday treat, she finally made it to Bath this week. It was so lovely to spend some quality one-to-one time with her (something we rarely get these days). I wanted to treat her to a whole day of pampering, so we started the day with coffees, followed by a 2-hour session at the Thermae Bath Spa. By far the best part of the Spa is the rooftop pool, with its stunning views across Bath.

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Before my Mum arrived, I’d scoured the Internet looking for the best place to have afternoon tea. Many places only offered the tea between 3-5pm which, of course, makes sense as it’s afternoon tea. However, this limited time window isn’t so great if you’ve got to pick the kids up from school!

Fortunately, through the Visit Bath website, I came across Bea’s Vintage Tea Rooms, which offers teas throughout the day. From its description, the tea room sounded very appealing…

“Step back in time when you enter Bea’s charming Vintage Tea Rooms next to the Assembly Rooms and Fashion Museum on Saville Row in Bath.
Decorated in authentic 1930’s/1940’s style from the dainty china tea sets and embroidered tablecloths to the ceiling lampshades, bevelled mirrors and wartime posters. It offers a blissful retreat from the hustle and bustle of this popular historic city.
Retire to the comfortable sofa reminiscent of Gran while you browse wartime recipe leaflets and admire patriotic posters. Or sit at a table, to be served by smiling staff in period pinnies, bright red lipstick and landgirl bandanas, serenaded by the music of those momentous moments”.

After reading this, I couldn’t wait to check it out!

The tea room is only about a 5-10 minute walk from the city centre, but far enough out to feel that you are truly away from the ‘hustle and bustle’.  We walked from the Circus to Saville Row, but probably the quickest way to reach it from the city centre is to walk up Bartlett St, off George St (that’s the way we returned to the centre and it’s very direct).

The establishment did indeed live up to its description. It was a feast for all the senses. Before I’d even entered the tea room I was drawn to the staircase with its eye catching wall coverings.

The interior of the tea room is beautifully decorated with vintage mirrors, lights, ornaments and crockery.

Check out the beautiful 1940s tea dress in the display cabinet!

I loved the cute menus and hand-embroidered tea cloths. I remember my Nan having a cloth like this!

And check out the cake cabinet. Everything looks so scrumptious!

Shortly after we arrived, we were warmly greeted by one of the waitresses, followed by Bea herself.  My mum ordered her afternoon tea for 1 (sadly there were no vegan options), and I chose to have a rocket and roasted pepper toasted sandwich and a pot of tea. The teas arrived in vintage pots with a little egg timer to indicate when the tea was fully brewed (I loved all these little details!)

And check out my mum’s afternoon tea! There were finger sandwiches, a scone with clotted cream and jam, and 2 slices of cake!

The cake on the left was filled with lemon curd, with a meringue topping. Absolutely delicious, according to my mum! After eating the sandwiches, scone and a piece of cake, she didn’t have room for the other piece, so Bea gave her a little box to take it home in.

My mum’s afternoon tea cost £10 and, in my opinion, this was the best value afternoon tea I’ve experienced in Bath. Others I’ve seen (I’m not going to name & shame) have been similarly priced or more expensive, and totally underwhelming.

I’d like to say a big “thank you” to Bea for making my mum’s birthday treat so special.

Eek! Check out my swimming pool hair and no make up look. My mum carries it off so well… unlike me!

 

 

 

School’s Out! Planning Summer Activities on a Shoe-String Budget

The school summer holidays officially start for us today. I can’t believe that another school year has finished already. These years are flying by!

I’m really looking forward to spending some quality time with Lil’ L over the next six weeks. However, as I’m not working at the moment, I need to make sure that we keep spending to a minimum. 

We did lots of great free/ low cost activities last summer that we’re hoping to repeat or improve on this year. Here’s what we’ve come up with so far…

– Bike Rides
Inspired by the Tour de France, we’re going to devise our own ‘Tour de Bath’ where we explore different areas of the city by bike and record our ‘stages’ on a map, noting the distance and time.

– Hiking
There’s so much local countryside that we’ve yet to explore.  We’re going to pack some sandwiches, binoculars, a map, and waterproofs, and hike along footpaths and bridleways in the hills around Bath. Luckily my ‘smartphone’ has got GPS, just in case we get lost 😉

– Photography
Lil’ L loved the challenge I set him over the Jubilee weekend of photographing red, white and blue images. This summer I’m going to set him some more photographic challenges and show him how to edit photos and make online albums.

– Creating in the kitchen
Lil’ L has already devised a list of 15 new smoothies and milkshakes that he’d like to try making. During the holidays, we’ll work our way through his list, photograph the successes and blog about them.
I’m also really looking forward to teaching him how to make other treats, such as granola bars, chocolates, ice cream sundaes and so forth.

 

– Summer Reading Challenge
Last weekend, the children’s summer reading challenge was launched in Bath by Olympic Gold Medallist Amy Williams. It was such a pleasure to meet her! I didn’t get to hold the Olympic torch (like my mum did!) but I have now held an Olympic Gold Medal. It was beautiful… and way bigger and heavier than I imagined it would be!

The library reading challenge has really fired up Lil’ L. The first thing he wanted to do when he broke up from school today was to go to the library and borrow some more books!

– Maths Challenge
To keep our ‘maths brains’ ticking over, we’re going to take part in Carol Vorderman’s Online Maths Factor Summer School (I need this as much as Lil’ L 😉 ). The school costs £15 but is so worth it. Carol Vorderman has got to be the ultimate Maths teacher. Not only is she fantastic at explaining maths, but she actually makes maths fun. Her online schools are perfect for kids like Lil’ L who are yet to develop a passion for numbers.

– Summer Diary Writing
Lil’ L has recently started to get interested in writing and his stories are way more creative than anything I’ve ever written! I’d love to encourage him to keep writing over the holidays, maybe in the form of a summer diary or scrap book. As well as writing, he could add photos, ticket stubs, drawings and so forth.

– Family Activities at Local Museums and Galleries
There are lots of drop-in activities on offer at the museums and galleries in Bath which are free for residents, and I’m planning to make the most of them!  Does anyone fancy investigating Roman gods and goddesses and making Minerva’s wise owl? Or how about learning some Roman language and make a Roman book mark? I know I do! 🙂 
If you’re planning to be in the Bath area over the school holidays, you must check out the family activity programme. Here’s the link.     

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– Play Dates
It’s really important that I arrange some play dates for Lil’ L so he gets to spend time with his friends during the summer. I need to do this ASAP as I know diaries get filled really quick.

– Quality time with grandparents
Lil’ L rarely gets to have one-to-one time with his grandparents and this is something that he mentioned he would really like this summer. Next week, he’s going to spend a couple of nights with his nan and her two dogs in Dorset and he’s really excited about it! Hopefully, at some point during the summer, he’ll be able to have some one-to-one time with his other grandparents too.

– Family quality time
The three of us (me, M and Lil’ L) are really looking forward to spending a couple of weeks’ of quality time together during the school hols, which means switching all the gadgets off (phones, computers, etc) and giving each other our full attention. We really value our quality family time. For me, it’s priceless 🙂

– Buddhist Festivals and Daily Meditation
There’s lots of Buddhist festivals in the UK this summer, and I’m hoping that we’ll be able to attend at least a couple. As well as inspiring teachings and meditation sessions, there’s always lots of fun activities arranged for the kids. Lil’ L made some great friends at the festivals last year and hopefully they’ll meet up again this summer.


I’m also hoping that we’ll get into the habit of daily meditation, even if it’s just for 10 minutes. With Lil’ L’s help, I’ll set up a dedicated ‘meditation space’ upstairs. We’ll make it cosy with cushions and blankets, and light incense and candles. It’ll be great 🙂

 So that’s just a few ideas of what we’ll be able to do this summer on my shoe-string budget.  I can’t wait to get started!

I wish you all a wonderful summer. 🙂 xx

p.s. If anyone’s got a bit of sunshine to spare, we would really appreciate it if you could send it over here. Thank you 🙂

Jubilee Weekend Highlights

Hi everyone! 

Wow, that has got to be the longest weekend I’ve ever had… it lasted from Friday (when Lil’ L had a TD/INSET day off school) through to Tuesday (our bonus Bank Holiday for the Jubilee).  We had such a good time, and managed to fit in lots of fun activitites.  Here are some of the highlights…

On Friday, we planned a surprise trip to Legoland.  It was only when we turned up at the car park that Lil’ L realised where he was going.  He was overwhelmed by the whole experience and it was a joy to see him getting so much pleasure from it 🙂 

Fortunately, I’d managed to use Tesco vouchers to pay for the entry, so it only cost us £23 in tokens rather than £120 in real money!

After Legoland, we popped to Surrey to visit Nicky, Sophie and Amelie.  It was so good to see them!

Unfortunately, Jubilee Sunday was a very rainy day for our local street party.  Nevertheless, we joined in the celebrations, before heading to the Bathampton Mill.  Here we took up residence on a comfy sofa and watched the Jubilee River Pageant streaming live on their TV, whilst drinking coffee and eating chilli nuts 🙂 

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On Monday, we visited Southmoor, near Oxford, where Lil’ L took part in a Falconry Experience (a Christmas present from his aunt & uncle).  He’s really interested in birds of prey at the moment, so this was a great present for him.  He really enjoyed the day!

In the afternoon, we visited Oxford city. I loved walking round the old university buildings.  M & I could actually smell old books as we walked past one of the libraries!

I wish I had a lawn like that! 😉 

On Monday night, we watched the Solsbury Hill Jubilee Balloon Glow.  We had the perfect viewpoint from The George car park in Bathampton.  It was a truly magical experience!

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On Monday night and Tuesday morning, from the comfort of our sofa, we watched the Diamond Jubilee Concert, which took place just outside Buckingham Palace.  Gary Barlow & team sure did an amazing job at putting this spectacle together.  

I asked Lil’ L to name his top three favourite performances and he picked a great selection..

– Tom Jones singing Delilah (that guy just seems to get better with age!)

 

 – The Commonwealth Band, brought together by Gary Barlow.

 

– and Madness… performing ‘Our House’ on the roof of Buckingham Palace.  Amazing!

 

 And finally, on Tuesday, we went to see the Jubilee Bath Illuminations. 

They should illuminate the Weir all year round.  It’s looks magical!

It was a fantastic weekend.  One we’ll remember for a very long time to come!

Lil’ L has got the rest of the week off, so the fun will continue for us 🙂  I hope you all have a great week too xx

 

Bath City Goes Red, White & Blue. It’s Jubilee Time!

Bath is all set for the Jubilee celebrations.  There’s bunting everywhere and the shop fronts are filled with red, white and blue merchandise.  It really is an incredible sight!

Last Sunday, I thought I’d liven up a shopping trip for Lil’ L by setting him a challenge.  I brought along his digital camera and sent him on a mission to capture the Jubilee spirit by taking red, white and blue shots of Bath. 

As usual, his photos were way better than anything I could have taken!  It was a fluke that he managed to capture the reflection of Bath’s Georgian buildings in the shop windows, but I thought it was a great effect!

Here are a few of my favourites…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 I don’t think Lil’ L has ever had so much fun during a shopping trip.  And it kept him occupied the whole time we were out 😉

Have a great weekend everyone!  I hope you have lots of fun 🙂 xx

‘Waterscapes’ Weekend Photo Journal

Hi everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend! 

The glorious weather continues here in the UK 🙂

We went for some beautiful walks by the River Avon and Kennet & Avon Canal on Saturday and Sunday.  Here are a few of my favourite sights from the weekend.

 

 

  

  

What was the highlight of your weekend?  I’d love to hear about it!  

Have a great week everyone! 

I hope the sun is shining wherever you are 🙂 xx

Weekend Photo Journal – Beautiful Walks, Bike Rides & the Bath Half!

Hello everyone!  I hope you had a great weekend! 🙂

We had a pretty active weekend, kicking off on Friday night with Lil’ L’s first experience of scuba diving at his friend’s ‘Bubblemaker’ birthday party.  What an incredible treat!  We didn’t get back home till gone 10pm but Lil’ L was still buzzing from the experience and not tired in the slightest!

 On Saturday, the weather was glorious, so we decided to walk along the Kennet & Avon Canal into Bath, hop on the train, and spend the day in Bristol.  The canal was a hive of activity, with lots of people out walking, running, cycling, boating and kayaking.

I love the way that a spell of good weather brings people outside 🙂

We did a lot of walking on Saturday.  We did six miles to and from the train station, and walked for about 2 hours round Bristol.  By the end of our canal walk back home, our feet were feeling a bit tingly and worn out, so we stopped at Bathampton Mill for a drink.  The weather was still so good that we sat outside on the decking next to the beautiful Bathampton Weir.

Back home, we decided that we definitely had earnt a movie and pizza night 😉  I made a portobello mushroom pesto pizza (drizzled with truffle oil).  Totally delish (and healthy!)  I promise I’ll write up the recipe soon!

Sunday was the Bath Half Marathon.  While I wasn’t competing myself, I wanted to go along and cheer on all those brave people that were running, and to soak up the atmosphere.  We decided to give our feet a rest and hopped on the bikes 🙂

We found a good location to chain up our bikes and watch the race, just outside the Holburne Museum.

 We watched the race on the final bend before the finish line. 

I felt really emotional watching the guys running past as I could sense their feelings of agony, relief and triumph as they entered the home strait on Pulteney Street. 

Well done to everyone that took part.  What an incredible achievement!

After the race, Bath was totally buzzing. Such a great atmosphere!  We decided to buy some food and sit in the beautiful Pulteney Gardens. Lots of people were in the gardens, making the most of the good weather 🙂

 

Here’s Lil’ L busy sketching in his new note book.  He’s really into drawing funny little cartoon characters at the moment.  Those filthy, muddy boots to his right are M’s.  He’d already been out on a 2 hour mountain bike ride before we went into Bath, and was covered head to foot in mud! 

Every time I point the camera at Lil’ L, he pulls a face.  You really have to catch him off guard if you want to get a decent picture.  I eventually managed to get one of him laughing  in between the face pulling!

 See what I mean?

By the time we’d finished lunch and headed back to Pulteney Street to find our bikes, the Bath Half was completely finished.  The streets were being cleaned, and the finish line banner was coming down, ready to be packed away for another year.

Time to head back home!

It has been a wonderful weekend in Bath, thanks in part to the beautiful weather.  Long may it continue! 🙂

What was the highlight of your weekend?