Happy New Year! 2012

2012 has been great year for me.   In July I went on holiday to Gloucester and visited Lacock, Lacock Abbey, Highclere Castle, Bath, Castle Combe, Weston Super Mare and Gloucester Cathedral. In August I went to a family wedding in Dorset, it was lovely and I also visited Stonehenge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder what 2013 will bring... Happy New Year everyone!!

 

 

Betty's Cafe Tea Rooms

 

Betty's Cafe, Ilkley



Ilkley is one of four towns in Yorkshire that has a 'Bettys Café Tea Rooms'. (The others are in York, Harrogate and Northallerton.) Betty's is a family business dating back to 1919, when a young Swiss confectioner called Frederick Belmont came to England, intending to open a café on the south coast. The story goes that he took the wrong train and ended up in Yorkshire but, liking it, he decided to stay. There is a mystery over who Betty was, with several possible explanations.

 

Betty's prides itself on its traditional menu and attention to detail. The waitresses all wear uniform with white lace-trimmed aprons. It is THE best place for Afternoon Tea, with a selection of small sandwiches and cakes served on pretty china, and a wide range of unusual and specialist teas to choose from. You can also buy their delicious breads and cakes to take home with you. The Tea Rooms in Ilkley has a very attractive dining room, with the largest marquetry picture ever made - a medieval hunting scene called La Chasse, made in Alsace entirely of unstained wood veneers.

 

 

 

I first went to Betty's Cafe when I was nine years old and I loved it! I've been visiting ever since! I spent my 21st birthday at Betty's Cafe in York with my family in January 2010 where we had sandwiches, tea, champagne. The staff gave me a pink fondant fancy with a candle in it! It was a lovely day!
 Betty's Cafe is one of my favourite places to visit for a cake and a warm drink. I find Betty's very comforting! :)





 

 

 

The only time I drink hot chocolate is when I go to Betty's because it tastes so nice!!

 

 

 

 

 

I really recommend  Betty's Cafe to everyone! It is a cosy and warm place!  :) xx

 

 



 





 

 

 



 



Update

Hi everybody,

I'm sorry I haven't written a post for a while. I haven't had access to the Internet for ages.  In July I went on holiday to Gloucester and visited Lacock, Lacock Abbey, Highclere Castle, Bath, Weston Super Mare and Gloucester Cathedral.   In August I went to a family wedding in Dorset, it was lovely!   Now September is here I am looking forward to watching some good TV shows - Strictly Come Dancing and long anticipated third series of Downton Abbey!!  Although I love Downton Abbey I thought Series Two was a little weak at times so I hope the new series is really good.  I can't wait to see my favourite characters, Matthew and Mary get married!  I think Edith gets married too.  I also think Violet is going to die as Maggie Smith has said she would like to leave the show and do some more serious acting.  I saw the trailer for the third series of Downton Abbey on TV and became very giddy! I can't wait to watch it.  All the drama and romance! :) xx

My visit to Highclere Castle (Downton Abbey!)

On the 10th July 2012, my family and I went to Highclere Castle aka Downton Abbey. I was so excited! I went round the library, the music room, the ladies sitting room, the drawing room, the dining room, the saloon and the hallway. I was unable to go upstairs but my mum and brother did, they saw Lady Edith's room, Lady Sybil's room, Lady Grantham's room (used in series one) and Mr. Pamuk's room. My Dad and I looked through a photo album of the upstairs rooms. We also went around the grounds and gardens which were wonderful!

I can't wait to see Series 3! :)

Gloucestershire and Highclere Castle

On the 6th July 2012, I am going on holiday with my family to Gloucestershire. I have never been here so I am looking forward to it. 

But guess where I am going on the 10th July...

                                 HIGHCLERE CASTLE!!! (Downton Abbey!!!)

I am really excited and can't wait to look around the Castle and gardens! I wonder if I'll bump into Dan Stevens while I'm there? Hmmm.. ;)

 

 I will tell you all about my visit! :) xx

   

Duvet Days

A duvet day, is a day of relaxing and watching your favourite DVDs. I love to have a duvet day when I am unwell, the weather is bad or if I have had a rubbish day and need cheering up.

My Duvet Day

I get very comfy and choose some of my favourite DVD's to watch.

I have a lovely warm drink.

I sometimes have some chocotate or sweets

Do you like having Duvet Days too? :) xx

Haddon Hall Bakewell, Derbyshire (2010)

Haddon Hall is an English country house on the River Wye at Bakewell, Derbyshire, one of the seats of the Duke of Rutland, occupied by Lord Edward Manners and his family. In form a medieval manor house, it has been described as "the most complete and most interesting house of its period."

Franco Zeffirelli chose Haddon Hall as the location for his 1996 film of Jane Eyre. Since then, it has appeared on television in 2006 as Thornfield Hall in Diederick Santer's 2006 BBC version of Jane Eyre and in Cary Fukunaga's 2011 film of Jane Eyre.

On Friday 27th August 2010, my parents took me to Haddon Hall which is a beautiful place! As I am disabled and in a wheelchair I thought I would not get to see very much of the inside of the Hall but Liz, one of the women who works there asked me which Jane Eyre version was my favourite and I told her it was the 2006 one and that I was a massive fan of Jane Eyre.  She said 'The 2006 version is my favourite too.' She then introduced me to her boss who was there when the 2006 Jane Eyre was being filmed so she told me some wonderful Jane Eyre facts! They also showed me the kitchens, Rochester's study, where Jane plays the piano, the staircase where Jane walks down in her wedding dress, the doorway where Jane Eyre and Edward Rochester kiss in the rain, the chapel and Bertha's tower. Polly, the lady who was Liz's boss told me all about how the fire was filmed and how it took the crew two hours to get the owl to fly past the hall! She showed us a big picture of the fire scene.  I saw Jane's bedroom window too and Polly told me that I had entered the way where Edward Rochester rides off followed by Pilot, his dog.  I loved every minute of it, my Mum did too and my Dad took lots of photos.  Mum and I got very excited!

I had a lovely day and got to see more than I thought I would thanks to the kindness and generosity of the staff at Haddon Hall.  My Mum walked through the Long Gallery (which unfortunately I was unable to see) and took a photo of it for me, she saw the stairs where Edward Rochester walks down after Jane after the money scene. I also went outside and saw the path where Jane Eyre looks around Thornfield and walks down the steps opposite Bertha's Tower. I asked Polly where the library was and she told me it was upstairs.

The only thing that was missing was Toby Stephens striding out of the Hall towards me to hug and kiss me! Oh well... I can dream can't I?!   Whenever I watch Jane Eyre 2006 in the future I will remember this wonderful day which has added to the magic of Jane Eyre 2006 and I love Jane Eyre even more!  I highly recommend everyone visiting this wonderful place!
:) xx