Taste test the best cream teas in the Shropshire Hills this summer. Choose your favourite and help them win the Shropshire Hills 2019 Cream Tea Awards.
Travel the hills this summer on your quest for the finest cream tea in the land. The Great Shropshire Hills Cream Tea Trail will take you to some of the loveliest places to enjoy a treat worth putting your day on hold for.
Each participating venue will be competing for the prestigious Great Shropshire Hills Cream Tea Award. This willl be awarded at the Ludlow Food Festival on Friday 13th September, so keep a lookout here to find out who the selected finalists were and who managed to claim top spot.
But what makes a Shropshire Hills Cream Tea?
Well, it’s all down to the jam. You can have your strawberry or your raspberry (and there are some that do) – but we believe, to have a truly Shropshire-licious experience, it has to damson!
We know it’s controversial, but here’s why. The Shropshire Prune, is a rare, local damson variety introduced to the area by the Romans. This small damson packs a big flavour, sought after by top chefs and home preservers, it has an instant hit on the palette and arguably tops other soft fruit preserves in the jam department. You can get strawberry and raspberry jam on your scone anywhere, but you can only get Shropshire damson jam here. Oh, don’t worry, all the tea rooms, cafés and attractions in the trail serve other jams. But if you want to make it truly special – have your scone with damson jam. We are delighted to work with Slow Food Ludlow-Marches to promote this magnificent local fruit.
Visitors over the summer rated the competitors, and your scores helped us shortlist the top four cream teas (It should have only been 3 but it was so close!). The shortlisted venues are being visited by a team of highly skilled, mystery shoppers. But don’t just stop there
Why not explore the glorious Shropshire Hills and treat yourself to a cream tea every day of your holiday? Post your pictures on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, to make your friends green with envy by adding #ShropshireCreamTea to your posts.
Take one home with you
Our sponsors at Ludlow Farmshop can provide all the ingredients needed so you can take a taste of the Shropshire Hills home with you, lovingly crafted in their shop at Bromfield.
See all trail members on Google Maps
- Wildegoose Nursery and Garden, Millichope SY7 9HE
- Local to Ludlow HQ shop & cafe, Castle Sq, Ludlow SY8 1AY
- Ludlow Kitchen, Bromfield, Nr Ludlow SY8 2JR
- Stokesay Castle, Craven Arms, SY7 9AH
- Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre Cafe, Craven Arms,SY7 9RS
- Jemima’s Kitchen, Church Stretton, SY6 6BX
- Thyme, Bishops Castle, Sy9 5AD
- Kerry Vale Vineyard, Pentreheyling, SY15 6HU
- The Bog Visitor Centre, Stiperstones, SY5 0NG
- Willows Cafe, Ditton Priors, WV16 6SS
- The Maltings Cafe, Clun SY7 8JB
- Tea on the Square, Much Wenlock, TF13 6EN
- Note Dower House Garden, Morville, Nr Bridgnorth WV16 5NB is currently not serving scones, but hoping to restart in June. Gardens open as normal.
If you are a café or tea shop that serves a magnificent cream tea and want to get involved next year contact chair@visitshropshirehills.co.uk
*Prize Draw Terms & Conditions: Winner will be notified by email at the beginning of September. There is no alternative monetary prize. Competing establishments’ staff and organisers of the competition are excluded from entering the draw. One pair of tickets will be awarded at random from the voting, one pair from the pictures with the relevant hashtag.
** Competition rules: Finalists and winner will be selected by an independent judging panel. Each venue needs a minimum of 20 reviews to be eligible to be a finalist. The three finalist will be selected by the independent judging panel based on the quality of scores and comments.
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