The banner from this morning's edition of the Daily Mail explains all. My request to exchange $100AUD for Pounds Stirling was denied at the branch of HSBC. Barclays obliged.
Weather conditions, especially for tourists, were appalling. We returned to Hathaway Tea Rooms for shelter, two comfy armchairs, a newspaper & tea for two. There we stayed hoping the weather would improve. It didn't! We extended our stay to include lunch.
Hathaway Tea Rooms has occupied #19 High Street since 1931. Constructed in 1610, it is now recognized as a Grade II listed building. During the past 400 years it has been an inn, a bookshop, an apothecary, a surgery & home to a cobbler.
While there, I learnt that Anna Maria, the 7th Duchess of Bedford, is credited with the introduction of afternoon tea. It is claimed that in 1840 she took tea & a light refreshment to ease the mid afternoon hunger pangs she was experiencing. She continued the ritual & began inviting her friends for tea & scandalous gossip. The idea caught on & afternoon tea became popular among the upper crust & the rest of us!
Today I found a variation of Sudoku. It has now been expanded to 3D. In one word - Trudoku. In two words - frustratingly challenging!
This evening I shall transcend social markers for appropriate dress worn to The Royal Shakespeare Theatre - jeans, top, scarf, a raincoat & a pair of flat skechers. Not having packed evening clothes, tonight I shall dare to be different!
Tomorrow we travel to Manchester.
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