I read something recently which began by complaining about the current conditions at a tea-room in Edensor (near Chatsworth House in Derbyshire), which was apparently enforcing the Covid regulations in a draconian manner. I haven't been to this place so I don't know whether or not it's true. However, the comment then spiralled into what I can only say struck me as being a hysterical rant about how the government is planning on changing our DNA or something via mandatory flu vaccinations - I couldn't really follow the argument, as I was too busy staring open-mouthed at the computer screen unable to process the nonsense I was reading.
I bet every pandemic, war and other state of national emergency has made a proportion of every population give in to their paranoid delusions, borne of fear and anger, so I'm not blaming these people. However, it's a pity that the internet gives them such an opportunity to pass on their often ill-informed views, thereby infecting others.
Anyway, I'm not here to argue with such conspiracy theorists. There might be some truth in what they say - I've noticed that their rants do often tend to begin with some truthful observation, anyway. In this case, it was the fact that some places of business are taking their Covid precautions a bit too far and rendering what should be a pleasurable experience into quite the opposite. I noticed this soon after lockdown ended and tearooms and restaurants opened up again. There was certainly a perfectly understandable over-response by some places. And circumstances like we're currently experiencing tend to bring out the jobsworth in many people, sadly.
And it is sad, because tea rooms and restaurants which do make their customers feel unwelcome, which tell people off for not wearing masks or not queuing in a socially-distanced way, are going to lose custom and go out of business. Which would mean that jobs will be lost, and favourite places will vanish.
But this sort of behaviour hasn't been my experience, except perhaps right at the start of the new precautionary regulations. I have been in several teashops and restaurants since lockdown ended and I have found them generally to be handling things well, particularly since they got over the initial shock and calmed down:
The Station Tearoom in Hassop, Derbyshire - we visited here soon after lockdown ended and it was our first foray into a tea room since back in February. It was a bit weird, admittedly. Most people were sitting outside though you could go inside, which we did as it looked like rain. It was freezing inside however, much colder than outside. It was as if they had actually turned the temperature down in order to freeze the coronavirus out of us. We had to give our name and telephone number to the girl in the kiosk-type place, the first time we'd ever done this, and it did feel intrusive that first time (though it has become the new normal now), before we went inside, and we had to order our food there. The food, which was ironically the best we'd ever eaten there (it is a place we have visited a lot over the past few years), was delivered to our table by a waitress. Inside, there were only a couple of other tables being used and all the decorations had been removed - combined with the sub-arctic temperature, and the high prices, it was a rather bleak experience, I have to admit. But this was soon after lockdown ended and it might have improved by now. Hope so, as we used to love it here.
https://www.hassopstation.co.uk/
Wentworth Garden Centre, Wentworth, South Yorkshire - This is our local Garden Centre, and during lockdown they had built a new restaurant to add to their already massive and relatively new tearoom and their outdoor cafe. Did someone say that such businesses were on their knees? Well, this place isn't. I think it must be run by the Devil himself because I have known it all my life and it just gets better and bigger and more successful all the time. Yes, there have been very short queues on our visits since lockdown and you have to leave your name and telephone number at the door. Yes, there is a bottle of hand-sanitizer in the entrance to the lovely new Bothy restaurant, but no one forces people to use it. Yes, the staff on the door wear visors, but waiting staff inside don't wear masks or visors. Yes, there is one way in and another out, but this actually helps the flow of traffic. The food is exactly the same as it was, the prices possibly slightly higher than they were, the staff as pleasant as always, and though the tables are pushed further apart, there is a lot of space so it is unlikely you'll not get a table.
http://www.wentworthgardencentre.co.uk/
Rob Royd farm shop and restaurant, Worsborough, Barnsley - another of our pre-lockdown favourites. You have to wear face masks in the farm shop, though the staff don't, and I haven't worn one on either of our recent visits as I have just been walking through to the cafe. No one has challenged me. You don't have to wear a mask in the cafe and neither do the staff. Tables are set a good distance apart but don't look much different to previously. Food is the same (though they did seem to have run out of quite a lot on our last visit). It isn't cheap but it never has been. The staff are friendly and service not much slower than previously. The staff in the farm shop are even friendlier and the butcher's counter has some excellent meat.
https://www.robroydfarmshop.co.uk/
Waggon and Horses, Oxspring, Barnsley - This is a pub-restaurant where we have eaten for years. The tables are spaced out more than they were and each has its own bottle of hand-sanitiser. Staff don't wear masks, but clean the tables and chairs between each service. The place's usual warm atmosphere is still there - service was slow, but it often is, and they had a lot of new staff (something I've noticed everywhere). The food was the same as it always was, prices much the same.
http://thewaggon-oxspring.co.uk/
Beatson House restaurant, Cawthorne, Barnsley - Another of our favourites, this is our restaurant of choice for mine or my partner's birthday. The staff were extremely pleasant. They have a new system where you enter at the front and leave at the back. The menu is reduced and written on boards on the wall so you don't have to handle a physical menu (though they are available if you want them). Tables are set far apart. The food was still as great as ever, service a bit slower - the poor staff have a steep staircase up which to carry the ubiquitous massive heavy white plates that seem to be a feature of all restaurants these days (when they aren't serving food on slates, wooden boards, raffia place mats or bits of driftwood - one good outcome of the Covid crisis is the way restaurants have dropped this nonsense as it is unhygienic). We had a lovely evening here.
https://www.beatsonhouse.co.uk/
Cintra's Cafe, Hathersage, Derbyshire - garden seating, well-spaced tables with umbrellas, each table and its chairs sanitised between services. Staff wear masks or visors. Food average, but pleasant. Friendly. One-way system for entering and exiting, but no barking at customers or frog-marching them to their table. Don't know what they'll do now the cooler weather is here, however.
https://www.cintrastearooms.co.uk/
The Cheshire Cheese, Hope, near Castleton, Derbyshire - long wait at door to be shown a table though place was virtually empty. Very young staff who were jolly and cheerful and friendly but incredibly slow - I mean, slow like a glacier! They also got one of our orders wrong. Food was fine and well-priced, and pub is one of those picturesque country places that are difficult to dislike.
http://thecheshirecheeseinn.co.uk/
Eve Kitchen, Doughnut shop on Sharrow Vale Road, Sheffield - you can't go into the cafe any more (or you couldn't when we went) so you buy the doughnuts from a kiosk in the wall, but they taste as fantastic as ever. Quite literally the best doughnuts I've ever eaten. My partner doesn't like doughnuts much but even he loves the ones they make here. Definitely not for people on a diet. Since I learned my blood sugar was a tad high and I had to cut down on such things as doughnuts, I have dreams about the one filled with chocolate and peanut butter ganache.
http://www.evekitchen.co.uk/handmade-doughnuts/
The Hoof and Hide Cafe, Yummy Yorkshire Ice-cream, Denby Dale, Kirklees - despite the lockdown in Kirklees, the place has been heaving as always on our two recent visits. It is quite expensive but it always was. They have temporarily changed the ice-cream parlour so it now part of the cafe in order to space the tables out better. There was quite a long queue and we had to wait a while, but this place is always busy when we've been. They are using a separate outbuilding to sell their fab ice-creams, and serving their usual cafe menu in the main building. Staff wiped down tables and chairs between services. The food varies in quality, and isn't cheap, but at its best it is pretty damn good. Friendly staff and they are trying to keep it friendly and welcoming while also keeping people safe.
https://www.yummyyorkshire.co.uk/
