Tea party time
In country houses the table was religiously laid for tea every afternoon at 4.30, white linen or perhaps a cut lace tablecloth, silver tea pot, delicate china cups, and a little jug of cream as well as milk.
For children in particular, afternoon tea was a serious business, I remember many such outings and the strict protocol. My brothers and sisters and I were dressed up in our finest clothes. I got to wear a smocked dress and one of my angora boleros - I had two which Mummy had painstakingly knit for me from a pattern in Women’s Weekly - one was pale green, the other a soft shade of baby pink. I adored wearing my bolero and my black patent shoes. I felt like a princess.
