Tag Archives: Emily Davison

Pleased To Meet You

Today we are super pleased to be in Pleased To Meet You. No idea why it has that name but it’s a cafe/restaurant in Morpeth, Northumberland. It’s our first visit to the town though we’ve actually been here many times before but that was just passing through on the train going to London. We’ve never got off the train here. The Sunday Times says it is one of the best places to live in the UK so we thought we should investigate. Morpeth was our destination for today.

Department stores

Turns out the Sunday Times may well be right. We were very pleasantly surprised. The town dates back to the 12th century and has managed to retain its traditional market-town charm combined with some classy streets. It even boasts a couple of department stores, a thing of the past in our home town. The Sanderson Arcade even has an M&S store … Pat was impressed and maybe a little jealous.

Aberdeen Angus bull sculpture, Morpeth
This magnificent actual size beast is an Aberdeen Angus bull. It commorates times when they would be brought from Scotland to be sold in Morpeth.
Negotiating with Westminster

In the local park there is a statue to suffragette, Emily Davison. She was quite a lady: arrested nine times; force fed when she went on hunger strike; locked herself in a prison cell only to be flooded out by a hosepipe wielding magistrate; attacked a church minister she mistook for Lloyd George. She died after throwing herself in front of the King’s horse in the 1913 Derby. All this just to get a vote. She won eventually but her story does indicate what it still takes to negotiate with the turgid Westminster governments to this day.  

Internal view of Pleased To Meet You, MorpethAnyway after some delightful sunny hours wandering the sights of Morpeth it was scone time. There were numerous options but we had had a recommendation for Pleased To Meet You.  It’s in a historic 17th century building which used to be the Queens Head Hotel. Pleased To Meet You, or PTMY, has adapted it and stripped it back to its original structure. It is vast.  Take a ball of string if you want to find your way back from the toilets.

Galloping girls

We managed to get a little table at a window so we could see what was happening outside on the street. It’s great to people watch when you are in a new place. At one point, through all the traffic, a young girl galloped past at high speed on a horse smoking a cigarette. Wow, no elegant trotting in this neck of the woods, it’s a full blown gallop or nothing! Nobody batted an eyelid so presumably it’s  an everyday occurrence. By the way, it was the girl smoking the cigarette, not the horse!

A scone at Pleased To Meet You, MorpethEventually we were distracted by the arrival of our fruit scone. We could have opted for one of their fully loaded scones which actually looked quite good but we decided to be purists and do it for ourselves.  

A scone at Pleased To Meet You, MorpethIt was wonderfully warm and had a super crunchy exterior and a soft interior with lots of lovely fruit. Plentiful jam and cream as well as delicious coffee and friendly service. What was not to like? Nothing! An easy topscone. We liked everything about PTMY, it seemed to have everything. The staff must walk miles each day but they were unstintingly helpful and friendly.Internal view of Pleased To Meet You, Morpeth

Blow me down

When we left we walked a short way down the street and came on the Morpeth Chantry Bagpipe Museum … what?

Painting of French bagpipes
President of the Provence Parliament playing the musette … bit overdressed but looks like a lovely chap

What’s that doing here in the North of England? Although normally associated with Scotland there are lots of different kinds af bagpipe and Northumberland has it’s very own pipes. Totally different from the Scottish variety which at one time were outlawed by the English as a weapon of war. Just being found in possession of bagpipes was a penal offence. The Northumberland pipes, like the Irish pipes have a much softer sound and as far as we know have never been outlawed. The museum was very well set up and definitely worth a visit even if you have no particular interest in bagpipes.

Self raising

Most readers will have heard of Be-Ro self raising flour. But did you know that the inventor, Thomas Bell, lived and worked in Morpeth. He called his invention Bell’s Royal flour, or Be-Ro for short. The things you learn on allaboutthescones.com!              

Competitions

When we travelled down to Morpeth we met a chap who joined us at Berwick-on-Tweed. He was super excited to be going to Leeds to support his team playing against Liverpool. The score line ended up Leeds 1 Liverpool 6. Oh dear, hope he is okay! It can’t be any worse than the coverage we are being subjected to of all things Monarchy. First we have to watch Charles and his floozie being fitted with new hats followed, a few days later, by the Eurovision Song Contest. Impossible to decide which is the most surreal and ridiculous.

Black Bull Pub, Morpeth
For a moment in Morpeth we weren’t sure where we were … then we were! It was the Black Bull!

Morpeth gave us a great day out and it looked like there were plenty more scones to be explored so, who knows, we might be back!

NE61 1NB       tel: 01670 333970          PTMY

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