The Tickled Teapot

5 Barn Close

Croft Park

Menston

LS29 6NL

01943 870015

Opening Times:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday Friday: 9.00am to 3.30pm

Wednesday: 9.00am to 3.00pm

Saturday: 9.00am to 2.00pm

Coffee £1.80

Sandwich £3.80

Scone £1.20

Pardon the pun but I’m tickled by the name of this new tea shop in Menston, so feel drawn to give it a visit. I drag Dizzy Goddaughter (DG) away from her morning sun worshipping to investigate with me, and we find it located in an enviable leafy corner with a wide pavement frontage, set out with inviting tables and chairs. The jolly smiling teapot logo above the door welcomes us as we venture inside.

We choose comfy seating beside the bow window, perfect for watching the birdlife in the trees. The layout is bright and roomy. Plenty of space for pushchairs, which will please young mums who have been disappointed at being squashed out of less spacious cafés. The décor is a contemporary soft grey and white with splashes of vibrant pink, and all the tables are round, with no sharp edges to surprise those inquisitive toddlers.

But then Maria knows about children. She has four of her own. I wonder how she manages to steer a family of six and run a business at the same time.

“Opening times have to fit around school, and Mum helps with the little one,” she tells me as our Fairtrade barista coffee is steaming into a fine generous cups. Displayed on the counter is an array of yummy looking cakes and bakes.

“Mum has a hand in the baking too,” Maria says, “the scones, chocolate brownies and ginger cake are all from her kitchen and are proving the most popular cakes we have on offer.”

The blackboard lists a good variety of sandwiches and paninis (which all come with coleslaw and salad) and there’s a special children’s menu for mini appetites. Hearty soups will be added to the list when chill breezes announce the oncoming winter months.

The place is filling up and I leave Maria to her customers. More folk gather in the dappled sunshine around the outside tables, sharing pots of select Brew Tea Co tea and indulging in crumbly muffins or flapjack, now that breakfast has worn off and lunch seems far away in the hazy distance.

But what’s that I spy in the window? Beautifully crafted millinery displayed elegantly on hat stands?

“Where could that possibly fit in here?” wonders DG. I pick up a leaflet which tells me that not only is Maria a mother of four and café proprietor, but in her spare time (does she ever have any?) as a qualified milliner, she makes eye-catching headgear and fascinators, individually designed to match a specific outfit. Now that’s a different side-line from the usual deli items and crafts one often finds offered in tea shops.

But enough of the side line, things are hotting up here, Maria and her young staff are serving up delicious looking lunches and snacks to hungry customers and the tables are filling nicely. We’ve enjoyed their hospitality and friendliness, as others surely will. We’ll certainly return, but now it’s time for a stroll round this pretty little village with its quaint and bustling centre, we might even make it to Ilkley Moor which beckons invitingly only a short stride away.