Tea by the Sea

Let me begin with a big thank you to all of you who supported the Tea by the Sea event.

Afternoon tea, to my mind, is sweetly old fashioned, and yet remains a most sociable and agreeable way to drift away an afternoon.  Tea and cake equal contentment. It was so pleasing to see so many of you enjoying the conviviality a teapot brings.  Sadly, the weather was a bit grey and didn’t reflect what a wonderful location Porthpean is to while-a-way an afternoon.  Despite this, every table was occupied, and we even had some hardy souls eating outside.  Maybe next year we could do it earlier in the season and have tables outside with chintz tablecloths and attendants with lace hair bands and frilly pinnies; (applicants can approach me in confidence).

I was amazed at the incredible cakes that were donated; beautiful cakes that must have taken hours to produce, and such a variety.  We had a moist tea cake, made with tea, a chocolate fudge cake with fresh raspberries, granny’s crunch, blueberry cupcakes, saffron cake, Irish cake, orange cake, sticky lemon drizzle cake, short bread, Victoria sponge and fruit cake, macaroons, and the craziest looking magenta cupcakes.  And of course, Jenny P’s scones, of which she made fifty for the cream teas. Thank you, all of you, for making the event such a success.  Tony D mustn’t go without a mention, for the six hours he spent producing a fantastic range of sandwiches.  He really is the go to man for sandwiches, and always eager to oblige; although I would recommend you ask from a safe distance.

Another big thank you must go to Nicola Barnes for her dedication to the washing up bowl, and to Izzy who casually asked if we needed a hand, only to find she had signed up for an afternoon’s graft. Also, a big thank you to Jan, who has sailed with me for so many years, she recognises a flap before it gets hectic.

I am pleased to say, it was all worthwhile, and I am able to send exactly £500 to Parkinson’s Research UK.  It is amazing what a cup of tea and a cake can produce, and I suppose there is some wisdom in the notion that the pathway to heaven passes through a teapot.   

Pete Barnes