Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate
Encyclopedia
Anglo
Anglo is a prefix indicating a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the terms Anglo-Saxon, Anglo-American, Anglo-Celtic, Anglo-African and Anglo-Indian. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to people of British Isles descent in The Americas, Australia and...
-Swiss family company located in North
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...
and West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county within the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England with a population of 2.2 million. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972....
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Bettys Café Tea Rooms are traditional tea rooms serving traditional meals with influences both from Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
and Yorkshire. Taylors is a family tea and coffee merchant company which blends Yorkshire Tea
Yorkshire Tea
Yorkshire Tea is a black tea blend produced by Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate, one of the few remaining family tea and coffee merchants in the United Kingdom.The company was founded in 1886 by Yorkshire tea merchant Charles Taylor...
and Taylors of Harrogate Coffee. Bettys products are handmade and use high quality ingredients, usually sourced locally. The current chairman of the company is Lesley Wild, solicitor, designer, author and wife of Jonathan Wild, the great-nephew of the founder Frederick Belmont.
History
The first Bettys tea room was opened on Cambridge Crescent in HarrogateHarrogate
Harrogate is a spa town in North Yorkshire, England. The town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters, RHS Harlow Carr gardens, and Betty's Tea Rooms. From the town one can explore the nearby Yorkshire Dales national park. Harrogate originated in the 17th...
, West Riding of Yorkshire
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...
, by Frederick Belmont, a Swiss confectioner, in July 1919. The Harrogate tea rooms later moved to their current position on Parliament Street.
Belmont arrived in England at King's Cross railway station able to speak little English and losing his document with the address of his destination. After confronting many passers by, an old gentleman who spoke a small amount of French managed to tell him where he was going, Bradford. Belmont returned to King's Cross shouting "Bradfat" at any train station official he could find; eventually he managed to board the correct train to Bradford. In the 1920s, Belmont opened a craft bakery in Harrogate, which meant it was possible to open more tea rooms, including a York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
branch. The merger with Taylors of Harrogate came about in 1962.
The origin of the name is unknown. The company's website suggests four possibilities: Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
, mother of Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
(which seems unlikely as she did not come to public prominence until marrying the Duke of York in 1923); Betty Lupton, former manager of the Harrogate Spa
Spa town
A spa town is a town situated around a mineral spa . Patrons resorted to spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits. The word comes from the Belgian town Spa. In continental Europe a spa was known as a ville d'eau...
; the daughter of a previous occupant of the Harrogate premises who died of tuberculosis
Tuberculosis
Tuberculosis, MTB, or TB is a common, and in many cases lethal, infectious disease caused by various strains of mycobacteria, usually Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Tuberculosis usually attacks the lungs but can also affect other parts of the body...
; or a small child who interrupted a meeting at which the choice of name was being discussed.
In 2001 Bettys opened a cookery school on the same site as their craft bakery, at Plumpton Park near Harrogate.
Bettys marked their 90th anniversary in July 2009 with afternoon tea of patisseries, fancies and cakes from the past served by waitresses dressed in period costumes.
Tea rooms
There are currently six Bettys tea rooms, which all comprise a shop as well as a café. The locations of the tea rooms are:- Bettys Harrogate - Parliament Street, HarrogateHarrogateHarrogate is a spa town in North Yorkshire, England. The town is a tourist destination and its visitor attractions include its spa waters, RHS Harlow Carr gardens, and Betty's Tea Rooms. From the town one can explore the nearby Yorkshire Dales national park. Harrogate originated in the 17th...
- Bettys York - St Helen's Square, YorkYorkYork is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
- Bettys Stonegate (formerly Little Bettys) - Stonegate, York
- Bettys Northallerton - High Street, NorthallertonNorthallertonNorthallerton is an affluent market town and civil parish in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies in the Vale of Mowbray and at the northern end of the Vale of York. It has a population of 15,741 according to the 2001 census...
- Bettys Ilkley - The Grove, IlkleyIlkleyIlkley is a spa town and civil parish in West Yorkshire, in the north of England. Ilkley civil parish includes the adjacent village of Ben Rhydding and is a ward within the metropolitan borough of Bradford. Approximately north of Bradford, the town lies mainly on the south bank of the River Wharfe...
- Bettys Harlow Carr - RHSRoyal Horticultural SocietyThe Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
Harlow Carr, Harrogate
The St Helen's Square café in York became Bettys' York flagship. It was inspired by the magnificent RMS Queen Mary
RMS Queen Mary
RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line...
cruise liner and became particularly popular during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
when the basement ‘Bettys Bar’ became a favourite with hundreds of American and Canadian ‘Bomber Boys’ who were stationed around York. ‘Bettys Mirror’, on which many of them engraved their signatures with a diamond pen, remains on display at the branch today.
In the 1960s Bettys joined forces with another Yorkshire business, family tea and coffee merchants, Taylors of Harrogate, who still manufacture Yorkshire Tea
Yorkshire Tea
Yorkshire Tea is a black tea blend produced by Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate, one of the few remaining family tea and coffee merchants in the United Kingdom.The company was founded in 1886 by Yorkshire tea merchant Charles Taylor...
.
Until 1976 there was a Bettys tea room in Commercial Street, Leeds
Commercial Street, Leeds
Commercial Street is a pedestrianised shopping street in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Most retail on this street is mainly to retailers which use smaller premises such as jewellery, shoe and mobile phone stores however there are some parts of Commercial Street where larger stores are based. The...
in premises now (as at February 2008) used as a mobile phone shop.
Bettys have refused many times to open a branch outside Yorkshire, claiming that keeping Bettys small means a watchful eye can be kept on every detail.
Working for Bettys and Taylors
In 2007 Bettys and Taylors was 72nd in a list of "the 100 best companies to work for" compiled by The Sunday TimesThe Sunday Times (UK)
The Sunday Times is a Sunday broadsheet newspaper, distributed in the United Kingdom. The Sunday Times is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News International, which is in turn owned by News Corporation. Times Newspapers also owns The Times, but the two papers were founded...
.