Off to the Tower ! - Afternoon Tea at Hoghton Tower

It's not often you get invited to Afternoon Tea at a castle (well a Tower actually but what passes for a castle around these parts and very castle like too), reputed to be the location of where King James knighted his "Sir" loin of beef, the ancestral home to the De Hoghton family in situated on a rise in rolling Lancashire countryside just outside Preston, Chorley and Blackburn. Hoghton Tower and its grounds have magnificent views of the surrounding area and the venue plays host to many and varied events throughout the year including a very popular "Merchants of Hoghton Tower" farmers market.

We were recently invited to the relaunch of their Vaio tearoom (vaio due to the decoration on the walls of the tea room), the new Manager has carefully sourced lots of local producers for the tea room and the emphasis is definitely on a traditional English afternoon tea and tea time favourites.

We dined in splendour, sipping bubbles and being entertained by a string quartet, the canapes delicious and appetizing.

I particularly loved the abundant floral displays featuring garden and wild flowers, perfectly in keeping with the country castle ambiance of the venue.

The tea room also serves a selection of platters, the Tower platter being for the meat eater and featuring pies, meats and homemade chutneys. The Seafood platter celebrating some great local seafood all sourced carefully from local producers, many of which attend the Merchants event on a regular basis.

The tea room also have a "picnic menu" if you wish to organise a special celebration and will happily quote for outside and event catering as well.

Featuring cakes from Lathams of Broughton, homemade scones and cake of the week, there is a sweet treat to delight all.

Local bakers "All you knead" are supplying bread and baked goods, ice cream is being sourced from Mrs Dowsons just down the road. Cheese from Leagrams cheese.

Hoghton Tower is a great place for a visit and is bursting with history, I have enjoyed many visits over the years and you can even hold your wedding here.

We were  also featured in an Article in LEP , our local County paper in connection with the event.

Callooh! Callay! - Funky tea shop Clitheroe

Callooh Callay is funky little tea shop in the lovely Lancashire market town of Clitheroe, for those in the know its smack bang in the centre of all things foodie, the area is well blessed with fabulous growers, farmers, producers and talented chefs and cooks who make use of all this great grub to produce some of the best food in the country.

Callooh Callay sits on the charming traditional high street, so is very handy to bob into for a drink or a light meal whilst you are enjoying the delights of Clitheroe. Based on the theme of the mad hatters tea party, this quirky little tea shop draws you in. the decor is great, all chintzy retro, with lots of recycled and reused crockery, fabrics and furniture. The flooring however is amazing and its worth paying a visit for this alone, its an old map blown up of  Clitheroe and then made in vinyl, amazing !

The menu is relatively short, but thats not necessarily a bad thing in my opinion and is a range of soup, sandwiches, toasties and  homemade cakes. The tea menu however is longer after all this is an ode to all things "Jabberwocky" after all, lots of custom blends specially made for the tea shop. They also serve "Hot Vimto", a classic winter warmer. 

Service was attentive and our food arrived in a reasonably time, so it was freshly prepared, both the sandwich and toastie that we ordered were well flavoured and accompanied by vegetable crips and homemade coleslaw and some dressed salad. So all in all a great little tea room.