Hi, my name’s Henna and I’ll be guest writing on Sadia’s Tea Party blog about all things tea! Here’s an article about the recent tea parties in Barkingside…..
On Thursday 20th June 2013, local residents of Barkingside were invited to enjoy a wonderful world of Afternoon Tea at Fullwell Cross Library on Barkingside High Street as part of the ‘Better Barkingside’ project.
The incarnation of Afternoon Tea was aimed to highlight the ‘Better Barkingside’ project which plans to regenerate and make improvements to the high street, creating a sense of place and improving leisure and shopping opportunities; and what better way to engage local folk with the regeneration than hosting a fabulous tea party to help the local community to engage and interact with one another.
The day started off with a cup of tea (of course) and setting up decorations inside the library to transform it. The set up included lots of delightful bunting displayed, tables dressed with decorative patterned tablecloths and the most charming mish mash of tea crockery presented neatly with cutlery and napkins.
We hosted two tea parties throughout the day. Both events engaged local residents and particularly those involved in the organisation Barkingside 21; a local community and environmental group which represent the voices of local residents within Barkingside.
Guests were seated and served with all-you-can-eat scrumptious sandwiches, mouth-watering cake and of course our special afternoon tea blend, a lovely mix of Darjeeling and Assam tea. Guests played our bespoke parlour games throughout the duration of the tea parties, kicking off with the now infamous icebreaker the ‘Coin game’. The ‘Barkingside Question Round’ enabled guests to share their memories, stories and experiences of Barkingside and the relationship they had with the area, this made for wonderful conversations, memories and reminiscing. Along with the questions there was the ‘Barkingside Quiz’ with some surprising questions and answers that left some of our guests astonished; such as the revelation of finding out that King Solomon High School had been opened up by the one and only King Hussein of Jordan!
The overall atmosphere was really enjoyable with all discussing their thoughts and passionate opinions upon the new development whilst getting some clarification from members of the project management team who also attended the tea party. Additionally many fond memories of Barkingside were shared amongst each other and thus made for really engaging conversations for all those that were involved, making it a truly splendid afternoon.
We heart Barkingside!
Henna Babar
Here’s a selection of photos from the day:
© Photo credits: Connie Taylor Photography
