BETTY’s, the famous Harrogate teashop which provided a haven from the maelstrom of conference for most delegates, also has an interest in education. “Local children come in to our cookery school to learn how to bake all sorts of things,” said communications manager Katy Squire.
NUT spokeswoman Olive Forsythe said she had been too busy to go to the tea rooms whose top-selling speciality is the Yorkshire delicacy Fat Rascal, a large rock cake. She had no idea whether general secretary Doug McAvoy sneaked in a visit.
But surely even the most hardened delegates would warm to the principle of Betty’s founder Frederick Belmont: “If we want things just right, we have to do them ourselves”.
