01273 302170 www.staubynsschoolbrighton.co.uk - Viva Lewes

I haven’t been to The Shelleys for a while; not
since it changed owners in fact. However, as my
brief was to choose somewhere nice to take one’s
mother it seemed an obvious choice, particularly
if one has a refined mother. Then it occurred to
me that I am a mother, and terribly refined to
boot, so I informed the kids they were taking me
for afternoon tea. We all wiped our noses on our
sleeves and set off, collecting Grange Girl and
Library Boy en route. The hotel wasn’t too busy
and we had a choice of rooms: the comfy lounge
or the more clubby bar. The children flung themselves
onto a sofa in the lounge, scattering coats,
shoes and comics everywhere, yet the waiting
staff still smiled benignly at them. I was relieved
to see that the fragile tall vases my children used
to toddle precariously towards had been removed.
Or broken.
I’d been thinking fondly of finger sandwiches –
they used to do lovely egg ones – but alas the full
afternoon tea menu now consisted of a choice of
one large sandwich alongside scones and cake
(£12.95 including tea or coffee). They might
think it odd if I whipped out a bread knife and
started hacking up my sarnie so I opted instead
www.vivaLewes.CoM
afternoon tea
at the ShelleyS
“I’ll be Mother”
Food
for scones and Darjeeling (£6.25 for tea and two
scones – vanilla or fruit - with jam and cream).
Grangey and Library Boy also chose scones and
the kids ordered chocolate cake (£1.50), which
was so good we ordered an extra piece and
squabbled over it. And the homemade biscuits
(£2.95 for two with tea) were delicious. In fact
there was no trace of food left when it came to
taking a photograph, hence the sparse arrangement
of crockery pictured below. Library Boy
was impressed that his decaffeinated tea came
with a hand-written label tied to the pot. And
I was impressed by the waiting staff, who were
friendly, polite and helpful. One of the children
– no names, no pack-drill – knocked over their
glass of milk, and within seconds the waiter was
mopping the floor. Unasked, he then brought us
a replacement glass which we weren’t charged for.
Later, when I inquired about the cupboard in the
lounge, having been alerted by Viva’s editor that
it housed something interesting, the young man
sprang up to show us. All the children who’d lived
in the house over the years – and adults too – had
had their heights measured against the back of the
door. The waiter pointed out some of the oldest
ones from the 1850s, a piece of living history that
fascinated my children; they stood against the
door to match themselves against their long-ago
counterparts. We stayed lolling on the sofas after
the last crumb had disappeared, feeling under no
pressure to clear out. It was good to find that the
slightly dreamy hanging-about vibe at The Shelleys
was still there. Indeed, it seemed little had
changed, apart from, dare I say, that the staff
seemed less surprised to be running a hotel
than previously. Beth Miller
The Shelleys, afternoon tea 3-6pm every day.
Morning coffee, lunch and dinner also available
to non-residents. Tel. 472361. the-shelleys.co.uk
Photo by Chris Winterflood
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