Favourite tea shops

[horizon]

Horizon (the bike) found itself in Dorset this week and I thus came across this tea shop in the village of Moreton for the first time. I imagine though that it is very well known and frequented amongst cyclists in Dorset - it even has a large sign saying "CTC cycling centre". I asked a young member of staff what this exactly meant but they confessed that they didn't have a clue.

Tea shops to my mind should be like oases in the desert - in the middle of nowhere, a vast relief to have found it and capable of serving up large amounts of hot brown liquid. They should also be open in the winter. Talking of oases in the desert, this one has strong connections to Lawrence of Arabia who is buried in the nearby churchyard.

This tea shop is actually a converted schoolhouse and despite its humble appearance can accommodate a couple of coachloads of tourists. Personally I would convert all schools into "CTC cycling centres" as the children would learn more in a day on their bikes than they do in a day spent in a stuffy classroom.

My only other requirement is that tea shops should have a traditional element - anything from odd, patterned crockery to slightly fading chintz seat cushions would be fine.

I would like to hear of your own favourites but a picture I think is a must.

[thirdcrank]

http://www.act-bicycles.com/cgi-bin/ACT/ACTcgi.pl?pg=56

Strictly speaking, this link is in the wrong place because it is the Association of Cycle Traders find a member page, but I could not think of a right place, and if you are planning cycling in an unfamiliar area, you may want to find a bike shop.

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'Buffers' cafe at Back o' th' Hill Farm, Bolton Abbey (Yorkshire Dales.)
BD23 6HU Tel 01756 710253

OS Sheet 104 SE 081545 (Farm name is on map)

This is a working dairy farm where a part of the farmhouse has been converted to a cafe. Very popular with cyclists. Seemed to get a boost when the Cavendish Pavilion at Bolton Abbey was completely spoiled (IMO) when it was tarted up.

Access not too easy. It is on the narrow back road running parallel with B 6160. Access to one end of the road from A59 signed 'Storiths' other end at Cav Pav or further up dale towards Barden and beyond. This road has a lot of very steep hills and a ford at the bottom of the last one before you climb to the cafe, when approaching from Cav Pav. All well worth a visit.

The name 'Buffers' comes from owner being a model railway expert and there is a substantial display of model railway stuff for sale and several working layouts. Big boys toys.

Good grub, but can be packed out, especially on fine weekends.

## A recently disappointed visitor reports they are closed on Mondays ##

(The pic is a scan of their postcard so I hope they will forgive this breach of copyright in a good cause.)

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Barkhouse Lane, Shelley, Kirklees.
Landranger sheet 110 SE 210113

Easy to find, just down the road from Emley Moor TV mast, which is visible from all over W Yorks., it's high up so it's downhill nearly all the way home. Apart from that, it does what it says on the sign.

[Terry T]

The tea rooms at Stisted. The owner is a cyclist, and you get a discount if you arrive by bicycle.

[reohn2]

Here are some of my/our local tearooms in the North West not all what you would call "cyclists"tearooms but cyclist do go.i wouldn't take a big group to most of them but theres usually six to eight in our gatherings.
I've given the Landranger sheet number, map ref and a couple of words about them where needed,I will add to as others come to mind/light,some of the Chshire ones are particularly useful for LeJog ers:-

Sheet no117 Chester/Wrexham

Frodsham on the A56 in the centre of the town Ref516 779 quite good
Two Mills nr Chester Eureka cyclists cafe Ref357 381 very good
Windsurfing centre 1 mile east of Dunham on the Hill quite good Ref484723
on the Cheshire Cycleway
Delamere Station Cafe,Delamere, good Ref555703
Blakemere Craft Centre Nr Sandiway just off the A556 at the junction with A49, ref 597704, v good
Cheshire Farm Nr Tattenhall Very good, cyclists discount ref 498598
Rose Farm,Utkinton, Very good (veggie breakfast is great) ref548652
Summertrees cafe Nr Kelsall very good ref 539674.

Sheet No118 Stoke on Trent&Macclesfield

Booths supermarket,centre of Knutsford ref 752784 very good.
Spinney Caravans cafe on the A50 at Crannage ref747697
Holmes Chapel Deli (down the street opposite the church) on A50 (closed Sundays) ref762673 very good.
Hollands garden centre on A563 north of Congelton ref 873675 very good.
Blaze Farm on A54 ref975675.
AJ's on A537 at Henbury Nr Macclesfield 100yds from theCheshire Cycleway, OK ,ref878737.
Hopley House south of Middlewich on A530, ref 692630,very good,locally produced food and some organic.
Dones Green Transport cafe on A49,good and cheap ref 606777
Wheelock garden centre just off A534,very good ref 747585

Sheet no109 Manchester.

High Legh garden centre on A50,very good ref701834
Tatton Park nr Knutsfoerd,cafe in the Tatton hall very good but alittle more expensive than most ref745815
Lavender House farm at Dunham, good,ref741878
Culcheth,cafe in the shopping centre upstairs, very good,ref655953.
Rivington Great Barn,WHAT a building.Eat cheaply in an 11th century cruck barn,great by name and great by nature. 11/2mls north of Horwich, ref628139

Sheet no103 Blackburn Burnley

Chipping cafe,Chipping,very good ref622434.
Dunsop Bridge,Post Office cafe,very good, ref661503

Sheet No108,Liverpool,Southport&Wigan

Adlington Marina cafe ,Adlington,just off A6 ref599131
Dave Barrons Caravans cafe ,Coppull, very good,ref567138
Fettlers Wharf Marina Cafe at Rufford,just off A59,very good (good service)ref465155.
Martin Mere Bird sanctuary(wetlands trust) 2miles north of Burscough.There would normally be a charge to go in but no charge just to go into the cafe but you have to ask.very good ref428144.
Parbold,coffee shop by the canal.quite good.ref492105.
Farm Cafe Craft centre on B5246,ref481138.
Croston, Cafe in centre of village on A581,very good,ref488196.
Croston, Wyevale garden centre on A581,verygood, ref507188
Lace tearooms,just off A581,very good,ref513187.
Southport,centre of town,Morrisons supermarket cafe,very cheap ,quite good.ref33i172.
Tartan Tearooms,Rainford,on B5203,very good,ref473016

[Mick F]

My goodness, R2!

Someone on these pages said that I had "an Encyclopedic Knowledge", but you've out-done it!

Wow!

Mick F. (Married to someone from Burscough!)(My mother came from Coppull)

[reohn2]

My goodness, R2!

Someone on these pages said that I had "an Encyclopedic Knowledge", but you've out-done it!

Wow!

Mick F. (Married to someone from Burscough!)(My mother came from Coppull)

Mick,
We find the cycling gets in the way of the tearooms

[reohn2]

If everyone posted lists of the tearooms in their neck of the woods they could be quite useful to cycle tourists in that particular area,especially the LeJoG corridor,

[ChrisLS]

The tea rooms at Stisted. The owner is a cyclist, and you get a discount if you arrive by bicycle.

...know it well. We passed it on our recent club 50 in 4. The result was we were over the time when we got back! Who cares it's too good a cafe to pass...

[dgibby]

If everyone posted lists of the tearooms in their neck of the woods they could be quite useful to cycle tourists in that particular area,especially the LeJoG corridor,

Was thinking this the other day...... I'm doing CTC YHA route for my LEJOG next month. Can anyone recommend teashops for me along this route? Thanks

[horizon]

Mrs H and I took our newly acquired (second hand) tandem on its maiden voyage over the weekend to West Sussex via Somerset, Hampshire and First Great Western. Horizon (the bike) stayed in the shed and looked positively disgruntled. This tea shop in Cocking near Midhurst doubles as a bed and breakfast and was as far as we got. There is strong competition from another B&B/tea shop combo in Midhurst and you may know it - it has a big white tea pot in the window and a prominent CTC sticker on the door. Moonlight Cottage Tea Rooms scores on folksy, idiosyncratic charm and pale blue painted furniture. But its winning feature in my view is its location right on the roadside. This is where a good tea shop belongs, not tucked away in a side street. It seems to say "Welcome thirsty traveller!" all over it and isn't bothered by the fact that it is no longer the occasional Bullnose Morris that passes but an endless stream of Germany's and Japan's finest. Mind you, Easter Sunday also brought out a fair selection of open top English sports cars to give the road and the tea rooms a touch of appropriate nostalgia.

[reohn2]

Horizon
Tell us about the tandem,and are you two new to tandeming?

[horizon]

This one is a Galaxy Twin with a steel frame. I originally bought a Dawes Discovery tandem for my daughter when she was ten for YHA trips - it was great. I hadn't noticed the difference between mine and Mrs H's rate of cycling as mostly we did day trips with the children or just short trips from camp sites - I did the mega camping trips abroad by myself. But now the children are grown up and when we did a couple of longer trips together I realised that, as for most couples, a tandem is the only way to go cycling together, particularly on more challenging rides. We used the Discovery on a few day trips and Mrs H. was converted. I wanted a drag brake, better gears, drops etc so a Galaxy Twin fitted the bill. Ideally I would go for a Thorn Adventure but I am going to watch the wheels on this one and see how it goes. So far it has been brilliant and took the hills by storm. I'm not really a tandem fanatic but it is not only a thrill to ride but the perfect solution to cycling with children, partners, less able people etc. I honestly don't know why more people don't give one a try.

[reohn2]

Thanks for the info.We had a DGT when we started tandeming yours looks a much later model than ours was.The later models have a much stiffer frame by all accounts than the older ones.
Tandeming is very addictive, we love ours.And like you I don't why they aren't more popular but then its a big initial outlay if your not sure,I also think people worry about the 'unusual' factor of tandems,transporting by car etc.
But it has to be said they great fun and fantastic for riders with unequal abilities.
very very

[Andrew Mills]

Heres a bunch of us from Norfolk CTC enjoying a visit to one of our favorite tea rooms . In Norfolk we understand the importance of the cafe list and have two which are available on our website one for Norfolk and the other for Suffolk.

[Si]

I'd recomend the Blackroot Bistro in Sutton Park, West Midlands.
Excellent porridge

http://www.blackrootbistro.co.uk/index.htm