Devon vs. Cornwall scones method: Little Bramingham Farm residents answer all important scone-taneous question

At Little Bramingham Farm, the Luton-based residential care home run by charity, Friends of the Elderly, which is celebrating its 120th Anniversary this year, the residents have had a wonderful time celebrating this year’s Afternoon Tea Week and answering some very important, age old, tea related questions.

“There's nothing quite as lovely as a traditional Afternoon Tea,”said Karen Charity, the Activities Coordinator at Little Bramingham Farm.“It’s a lovely custom that the residents thoroughly enjoy as it combines all their favourite things – delicious, tasty treats, a good cup of tea and the opportunity to have a good catch-up with each other.

“The residents adore afternoon teas, so to celebrate this year’s Afternoon Tea Week what else could we do than host an extra special afternoon for them all to enjoy? To add to the fun of the event, I arranged a special tea-orientated arts and crafts session and thought it would be a good idea to do an entertaining poll to find out, once and for all, their favourite brew, tea likes and dislikes - and to answer some important questions such should you dunk or not dunk and is it cream before jam on scones?”

Whilst crafting and enjoying a good cuppa, Karen asked the residents a series of afternoon tea-orientated questions. “I put together 14 questions for the residents to answer and we had a lively voting session whilst indulging in a fantastic afternoon tea with all the traditional accompaniments,”added Karen. “The results were quite interesting, fun and some, quite hilarious.”

The Little Bramingham Farm residents voted English Breakfast Tea as their number one favourite brew, with Earl Grey taking second place and loose leaf tea with a proper strainer taking the top spot over tea bags. “We had quite a debate over whether or not the tea should be poured into the cup before the milk, and whether dunking was appropriate. In the end, the answer tothe all-important question of whether it should be milk first or tea first in a cup, the residents unanimously voted that the tea should be poured first and then the milk added so you can make sure the perfect cuppa is the correct colour and strength. Funnily, dunking biscuits was voted as totally acceptable,”continued Karen.

Other answers to the ‘Tea-zing’ quiz included ‘When having Afternoon Tea, should the tea be served in a China cup and saucer or mug?’. “As the residents do enjoy afternoon teas served in the correct and time-honoured way, it was no surprise that 100% voted for having their tea in a China cup and saucer, and that a tea pot should be used instead of just a tea bag popped into a cup,”added Karen. “However,what did surprise me was that all of the residents who took part in the ‘Pot Poll’ said they only take one sugar in their tea as they are all sweet enough, which is true.

“We also had a great conversation about scones,”continued Karen. “The Devon vs. Cornwall ways were highly debated. In Devon, you put clotted cream on first and cover that with jam, but in Cornwall the jam goes on first, then the cream. This time it was a tight decision as 75% of the residents said the Cornish way was best, but 25% said that the Devonshire method was their favourite. However, the majority of residents did not break with tradition on the variety of jam to be used on scones, with 90% voting for strawberry, with raspberry and marmalade taking the silver and bronze positions, respectively.”

The ’Tea-riffic’ questions then moved on to the perfect afternoon tea sandwiches. “The residents all have their favourite sandwich filling and it was a close run race for the top three,”continued Karen.

“In first place was the traditional cheese and pickle sandwich. Coronation Chicken took second place and ham and mustard came in third. Interestingly, the least favourite afternoon tea sandwich filling was beef and horseradish as the residents felt that if you had too much horseradish, a sandwich becomes hot and bitter.”

“The residents never cease to amaze me, I’m always learning something new,”added Karen.“One resident told me that the idea for afternoon tea was invented by Anna Maria, the 7th Duchess of Bedford. At that time, it was customary for people to have only two main meals a day - breakfast and dinner - so to combat the ‘sinking feeling’ she used to get at the later part of the afternoon, the Duchess indulged in a pot of tea and a light snack, which is how it all started.

“The residents are often found enjoying themselves in Susie’s Tea Room, our lovely tea room which is located in our stunning grounds. I must admit, it’s hard not to be tempted by the wonderful array of handmade cakes and tasty refreshments.

“The residents had a wonderful afternoon and a great time talking ‘Afternoon Tea Shop’; they all agreed that a delicious afternoon tea is enjoyable any day, as long as it’s with friends, which is what they like to do all the time,” concluded Karen.