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DANA HUNTLEY
The Oasis of Bloomsbury
“Affordable Quality Afternoon Tea”
THIS IS THE PLACE. We couldn’t call it quite a British Heritage secret. Still, credit our London diarist Sandra Lawrence with having discovered Tea and Tattle for us. Regular readers, however, know Sandra has an instinct for seeking out the unusual and of her unabashed fondness for the great institution of afternoon tea.
Located directly opposite the British Museum on Great Russell Street, Tea and Tattle must be one of the easiest places in London to find. What makes it quiet and feel “hidden away” is its entry through the shop of Arthur Probsthain Oriental & African Bookseller and down the stairs below street level.
For serious tea aficionados, the menu highlight is fresh leaf tea in a pot served with proper bone china—choose from a dozen varieties including Lapsang and Oolong, Darjeeling or Kenyan Fannings. And, yes, Earl Grey and English Breakfast tea as well.
Of course, what would be an afternoon cuppa without an accompanying fresh scone, with buttery clotted cream and, say, Bramble and Bramley or Raspberry and Vanilla jam.
That might be enough of an afternoon pick-me-up for many, but the complete afternoon tea experience fortifies with a sandwich as well. Tea and Tattle has lovely versions of classic combinations such as crab and avocado, Parma ham with red onion marmalade or Cheddar and chutney. Try one on their succulent rosemary breads. Then, the traditional assault concludes with cake, and once again, T&T offers such classics as Coffee and Walnut, Victoria sponge and Lemon drizzle.
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DANA HUNTLEY
The Tea and Tattle fare really does deliver the archetypal tea experience, and at a fraction of what it would cost in one of the classic hotel lounge venues. Best of all, however, the menu is all offered a la carte, and the scone and pot, or coffee and a sandwich are a great option for lunch or an afternoon respite.
If you do happen to pop in next time you’re in town, be sure to mention British Heritage.
Tea and Tattle – 41 Great Russell Street www.apandtea.co.uk
DVD
David Starkey’s Music & Monarchy, starring David Starkey, 2-disc set, Athena, Silver Spring, Md., 4 episodes, approx. 234 minutes, $49.99
Tracing the Crown’s Impact on British Music
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FROM HENRY V through Elizabeth II, Britain’s monarchs have molded the story of British music as patrons, tastemakers and even composers. More pointedly, much of the greatest British music of the last 600 years was inspired by, paid for or devoted to the monarch and the Royal family. Hosted by the ever-lucid and engaging David Starkey (Monarchy), this four-part documentary explores the intertwined story of the monarchy and the renowned composers of British music throughout the centuries.
From King Henry VIII’s celebrated Chapel Royal and the grand tradition of English sacred choral music it fostered to the sumptuous Coronation Ode of Edward Elgar, English music has reflected the priorities, aesthetic taste and the self-image of the king or queen. The great British composers such as William Byrd, Thomas Tallis, Henry Purcell, George Frideric Handel, Edward Elgar and Hubert Parry all composed at the king’s behest, and to celebrate the monarchy.
As Starkey leads us through the centuries of monarch and music, each episode is rich with famous melodies and forgotten treasures performed by cathedral and college choirs and a host of orchestras. More than 40 live recordings were performed where the monarchs first heard them: Buckingham Palace, Eton College, King’s College Chapel and Hampton Court.
This is a wonderfully sumptuous documentary filmed for the BBC, but available in the States for the first time. For music lovers, the performances themselves make this set a jewel. Beyond the music, however, Starkey offers valuable insight into how English music developed, and how it has both reflected and showcased the British monarchy.
BOOK
Not for Turning: The Life of Margaret Thatcher by Robin Harris, Thomas Dunne Books, New York, 440 pages, hardcover, $35
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OF THE MAKING of books there is no end. Any major political figure is bound to spawn a flurry of revealing books, analytical, political and biographical. Certainly this last year’s passing of Margaret Thatcher brought a new round of interest in the Iron Lady of 20th-century politics.
Robin Harris has an unusual perspective, a fine writing style and a genuine desire to present a fully rounded portrait of Margaret Thatcher. As Thatcher’s speechwriter, adviser and friend for much of her administration and in the years after, Harris had the kind of personal relationship with the Prime Minister that often spawns personal memoirs in print. Generally, however, these narratives are largely ghost-written. Not for Turning is an exceptional political biography, not only because it is well-researched and honest, but largely because Harris actually wrote it himself.
It’s a long way from the grocery shop in Grantham to 10 Downing Street. Much has been made of how Thatcher’s political philosophy and worldview were shaped by the devout, even pious, Methodism of her parents. Harris insightfully unpacks the ways in which nature and nurture combined to create the woman and the politician.
From her rise to prominence in the opposition Conservative party and her election as its leader through the events that led to her election and the paradigm-shift in government that she represented, Harris peels back the wrapping to a good understanding of the leader and her times.
There is a trajectory to any political career, and ultimately Margaret Thatcher’s star sank as it rose—largely on the force of her own strengths and weaknesses. A monetarist among a generation of Keynesians, a Churchillian will in an era of foundering politicians, Thatcher was finally successful because she was repeatedly willing to risk her political career over principals. As Harris reports with a warm heart, she was both crafty and lucky.
By the time Thatcher’s political force was spent and she was replaced in 1990, the Iron Lady rested on a dizzying array of accomplishments and personal memories. British Heritage recounted her legacy in our September 2013 issue. For the bigger picture of Britain’s Iron Lady, Not for Turning is a hard history to beat.
DVD
The Pallisers: 40th Anniversary Edition, starring Susan Hampshire and Philip Latham, 8-disc set, Athena, Silver Spring, Md., 26 episodes, approx. 22 hours, $99.99
Trollope’s Lavish Saga of Victorian Wealth and Power Comes to Life
IF CHARLES DICKENS portrayed for all time the sordid underbelly of Victorian life, no writer so captured the élan of mid-Victorian society as Anthony Trollope (1815-22). The six novels of Trollope’s Chronicles of Barsetshire unpacked the personalities, priorities and parties of the Church in the fictional county of Barsetshire (with Salisbury Cathedral as its inspiration). In the six Palliser novels, Trollope paints on the canvas of politics, Victorian wealth and the heady corridors of Parliament.
In one of the most ambitious filmmaking undertakings ever of a major Victorian novel sequence, the BBC created The Pallisers in the 1970s with 26 captivating episodes chronicling 20 years of the power and passion of an aristocratic dynasty at the height of Queen Victoria’s reign. The lavish production was a huge PBS favorite of the time. Now, it returns with this new 40th anniversary edition release from Acorn Media.
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Philip Latham stars as the rising politician Plantagenet Palliser with Susan Hampshire as his vivacious wife Lady Glencora. For British media fans, however, the cast is a gathering of old friends, including Anthony Andrews, Derek Jacobi, Penelope Keith, Peter Vaughan and Jeremy Irons. Whether you vaguely remember having seen the Palliser saga 40 years ago or not, The Pallisers would be a splendid pleasure with which to wile away the dark evenings of the winter months.
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