This month the ladies of the Market Harborough WI were visited by the well known authority on Victorian Tea Ettiquette Baroness Bolsover – aka The Tea Lady – who proceded to demonstrate the ins and outs of this quintessential English tradition made popular by the Duchess of Bedford in the 1860s.

In her inimitable style Her Ladyship provided life changing answers to burning questions: What goes into the cup first – tea or milk? (Milk always second unless you are from below stairs!), what NEVER to do if your napkin slips off your lap (Pick it up – that is the butler’s job!) and how to hold your tea cup (NO – well brought up ladies do NOT have little fingers sticking out).

There was much fascinating detail in the talk – from posture and dress codes (one of the incentives to host the party was that the hostess did not have to put on a corsett in her own home, while her visitors had to wear the full street apparel including hat and gloves) to the art of tea mixing, the food usually provided (in tiny portions, so no cutlery was required) and the most efficient way to dissolved a lump of sugar.

Thanks to the super human effort of the catering team for the evening we got to put all that training into practice with a scrumptious afternoon tea. 

It was a most entertaining evening with much laughter and fun! If you are interested, you can read more about the Victorian Tea Ceremony and the times of Baroness Bolsover on Her Ladyship’s website: www.baronessbolsover.com

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