Naturally we had an early brunch at the wonderful Betty's Tea Room - followed by afternoon tea about four hours later! In this part of the world you find Betty's family of tea rooms, Ilkley, York, Harrogate and Northallerton have one. Silver tea pots, sumptuous cakes & pastries and waitresses in high necked blouses with white aprons is all part of the experience. It is not a performance and you find just as many locals in there as tourists but it is a very gentile way to have a cup of tea. If you get to this neck of the woods try one it is worth it. Ilkley is not a clone town, there are plenty of speciality shops to be found. The book shop is a favourite, as is a new discovery Covet that sells all kinds of vintage and bespoke finds. Parking is easy and the atmosphere is great for a gentle day in the Yorkshire Dales.
If you wait for a couple of weeks Ilkley's own Literature Festival is on for a fortnight from the 30th of September. It attracts such people as Carol Ann Duffy and Grumbling at Large with Margaret Drabble. There are workshops and poetry prizes with all kinds of interesting events, for more details check out the website at http://www.ilkleyliteraturefestival.org.uk. The children's book trail through the town sounds like great fun, it should be a packed few weeks. We fancy Mad Women in the Attic at St Margaret's Hall, part of the Beyond Jane Eyre Festival Strand - I always felt sorry for Mrs Rochester and then I read Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys and could never approach Jane Eyre the same way. I'm rambling but the festival sounds like it could be a lot of fun with extra cake!
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