miss b loves .......a stylish afternoon tea at Thornton Hall and a 'model village.'

Last Sunday was yet another birthday treat! The Red Letter Day Experience was one of my very special gifts which I received in June but I decided to enjoy it at the end of the summer...

The range of activities includes aerobic stunt flying, white water rafting and bungee jumping .......... but my experience was most certainly the perfect one for me! Did you really think for a moment that I'd been brave enough to bungee jump?

I finally selected the venue, Thornton Hall Hotel and Spa on The Wirral Peninsula, a beautiful area between Liverpool and North Wales ..........and what a great choice!

A glass of Prosecco was the perfect apéritif to sip whilst we perused the menu .....imagine how long it took to choose from the extensive list of loose teas, coffees and seventeen different jams and curds ..........

Just as well we didn't have to choose from the list of sandwiches and cakes (or we would still be there).......apparently we were going to be served all of them!!

Our tiered stand arrived with a quirky teapot each ......Organic Darjeeling Estate in the cupcake teapot for me ......

 .... and White Orchard in the toaster teapot for mr b......

To start...dainty finger sandwiches with such tasty fillings including my favourite, Loch Duart smoked salmon with dill crème fraîche and pickled cucumber ........

.........followed by the lightest scones, clotted cream and our choice of jams and curds..... apricot and amaretto, rhubarb and ginger, orange curd and lime curd!

The jams and curds are made in Llanasa, North Wales by Brian and Carol Horwich and many of the fruits used are grown in their garden. Their own hens provide eggs for the curds too!

Is your mouth watering yet? ...... Onto the cakes ........this was certainly a very stylish afternoon tea ......  raspberry macarons with a hint of rosewater, chocolate éclairs with lavender, millionaire's shortbread with gold leaf and tangy lemon tarts as good as any we have enjoyed in France!

Finally a 'strawberry split' ... a melt-in-the mouth fluffy mousse topped with stawberry purée......

...and after all that we were even offered more sandwiches!! I should mention the staff who are so attentive and friendly too. It's quite obvious why many guests are regulars here. 

It was just a little too cool to sit on the terrace but we could still enjoy the view from our table indoors........

Thornton Hall, built in the 1800s, was once the home of wealthy shipping merchants and it still retains some of its original features including oak panelling and beautiful ceilings ...... 

There are more contemporary areas too......

With gardens like these, no wonder it's a popular wedding venue.

There was a wonderfully colourful Asian wedding taking place while we were there but it seemed a little inappropriate to take photos even though I was tempted when I saw the spectacular dresses........I did however sneak just one from a distance ....

We needed to walk off all those cakes and where better than the village green, the heart of picturesque Thornton Hough.......

The village was mentioned in the Doomsday Book as Torontone but it gained its current name when the daughter of the local landowner Roger de Thorneton married Richard de Hoghe during the reign of Edward II.

It was developed in the late 1860s firstly by Joseph Hirst, a Yorkshire textile manufacturer and then by philanthropist William Lever, who created housing for employees at his nearby soap factory (Lever Brothers, now part of Unilever) in a similar way to his other 'model village' Port Sunlight.

PS A 'red letter day' is a special day. The term originates from Medieval times when days of significance such as holy days or saints' days were highlighted on the church calendar in red. Click here to read more about red days.