Last weekend, I enjoyed a Mother-Daughter cream tea at The George Hotel, Shipston-upon-Stour in Warwickshire. Pleasantly, it was more than we bargained for.
The George is not one’s usual choice for a cream tea in the Cotswolds, traditional choices would include Tilly’s in Moreton-in-the-Marsh or a lavish afternoon spread at Ettington Chase. The George Hotel is well-known for being a lively place on a Friday and Saturday night, so I hate to say it, we were a little dubious about our cream tea.
And now for the crunch. Why visit the George for a cream tea? The price-to-cake ratio!
For £17 and between two, you can enjoy 3 rounds of heartily-filled sandwiches…
…Two excellent (if not just slightly under-baked) slices of Lemon Drizzle and four large slices of chocolate brownie. We had to wrap them up and take them home.
Plus two generous plain scones – although they skimped a bit on the clotted cream… just a suggestion.
Plus lashings of hot tea!
The George was an 18th century coaching inn, one of many staging places for stagecoaches; having fallen into decline since the days when a young Princess Victoria deigned to stop by, in 2008 it was restored to 21st century standards – or the ‘Fabulous George Hotel’ as the website proudly claims!
Shipston-on-Stour was an important sheep market town, but as the demand for local wool declined, the economy was sustained by a branch of the 1836 horse-drawn Stratford and Moreton Tramway, which was later upgraded to steam trains. The line was eventually closed in 1960.
Get the knack
- Good place for a Mother’s Day present and you can get gift vouchers at buyagift.co.uk
- This is quite an extensive review of the George Hotel from Daily Telegraph.
