Op 'n bewolkte middag soos vandag dink ek baie aan die teekamers van Engeland en spesifiek dan my ervaringe van middae by Bettys in beide York en Harrogate.
My "verhouding' met Bettys het reeds in Januarie 2002 begin toe my SA vriende Elbie en Danie Nel my een middag deur die poorte van die historiese teekamer naby St Helens Square in York gelei het. Dadelik was ek ongeveer 8 dekades in die verlede by aanskoue van die interieur en die kelnerinne in eg Engelse uniform.
Bettys is nie goedkoop nie en daardie middag het ons saam met koffie en tee net EEN tertjie bestel: 'n vrugtetertjie. Dit was in die tyd toe die rand baie swaar gekry het op die geldmark en ek die uitnodiging gerig het! Om ons het mense "high tea" geniet met serveertorings op hulle tafels.
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Die vugteterjie sigbaar links van die teekoppie (2002)
In 2006 en 2007 toe ek 'n "nanny" in Pickering was, kon ek 'n paar keer weer besoek afle by Bettys want daar was Engelse ponde in my beursie. Elke keer was dit 'n besonderse ervaring. In 2006 het ek my werkgewers se tweede motor tot my beskikking gehad. Ek het van die voorreg gebruik gemaak en Harrogate besoek, waar Bettys ook 'n tak het.
Elbie Nel se rooi karretjie het Bettys toe gery
Bettys in Parliament Street, Harrogate (2006)
Hier is die storie van Betttys soos vertel word op die webblad: bettys.co.uk The story of our
family business begins with a young orphan from Switzerland who travelled to
England to make his name...
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Where Switzerland Meets
Yorkshire
After losing his
parents at an early age, Frederick Belmont spent his teens in apprenticeships
for all manner of bakers and confectioners across Europe. By the time he
arrived in England his head was filled with knowledge of their craft – and
dreams of his future.
In London, Frederick
discovered he had lost the address he was travelling to. All he could remember
was that the town sounded like ‘Bratwurst’. Through sheer luck he found himself
on a train to Bradford.
Fortunately the
beautiful countryside and sweet clear air reminded him of his native
Switzerland – so much so, that he decided to stay. In 1919 he opened his first Bettys
Café Tea Rooms in the fashionable spa
town of Harrogate. The combination of mouth-watering Swiss confectionery and
Yorkshire warmth and hospitality in such an elegant setting proved
irresistible. Bettys was an instant success and was soon able to boast of
‘Royal and Distinguished Patronage’ on its letterhead. In the 1920s Frederick
opened a Craft Bakery in Harrogate, complete with its own orchard. Thanks to
the new Bakery, Frederick was able to open Bettys branches in other Yorkshire
towns including a flagship café in York, inspired by the magnificent Queen Mary
Cruise liner.
HisYork tea room became
particularly popular during the war years when the basement ‘Bettys Bar’ became
the favourite destination of the hundreds of American and Canadian ‘Bomber
Boys’ stationed around York. ‘Bettys Mirror’, on which many of them engraved
their signatures with a diamond pen, remains on display at the branch today.In the 1960s Bettys
joined forces with another Yorkshire business, family tea and coffee merchants, Taylors of Harrogate.
A Family Affair
The years passed, and
the business was handed down the family, who still run Bettys today. In the
early sixties we bought Taylors, a family-run tea and coffee merchant, also
based in Harrogate. It proved to be a winning combination.
With six Bettys Café Tea Rooms across Yorkshire, our own Cookery School and a home delivery service, the business has certainly grown.
But we remain true to Frederick’s founding principles.
We’re devoted to doing
things beautifully, from the cakes, breads and fancies made fresh each day at
our Craft Bakery, to the way we look after our customers. And this is matched by
the respectful manner in which we deal with the people who grow our speciality teas and gourmet coffees.
Who was Betty?
After 80 years the
identity of Betty still remains a family mystery – although over the years many
explanations have been offered.Frederick could have
named his Tea Rooms after the late Queen Mother, Elizabeth Bowes Lyon, who was
born at the turn of the century, or perhaps a former manageress of the
Harrogate Spa, Betty Lupton, ’Queen of the Harrogate Wells’.
There’s a sentimental
tale of young Betty, a doctor’s daughter, who died of tuberculosis and whose
father’s practice on Cambridge Crescent later became the first Bettys Café Tea
Rooms.Our favourite story,
however, is the one which tells of a small girl interrupting the very first
Board Meeting when the issue of what to call the Tea Rooms was being discussed.
The girl’s name, of course, was Betty.
