Have a cup of tea, but don't forget to stand up at 3pm... ........................................................... AN ardent royalist has barred three middle-aged women from her jubilee-themed tea room after they refused to stand for the National Anthem. Monarchist Anita Atkinson opened Royal Teas in Stanhope, County Durham, last month with friend Christine Dodd. Every day at 3pm, Mrs Atkinson, who owns the countryâs largest collection of royal memorabilia, asks her customers to stand while she encourages a young customer to tap a helium balloon, which plays the tune of the National Anthem. However, on Saturday, three women refused and so Mrs Atkinson asked them to leave. âIt just meant as a bit of fun and British eccentricity,â she said. âWe had a room full of people, including four teenagers, and I announced âLadies and gentlemen, please be upstanding for Her Majesty the Queenâ. âEveryone stood up apart from these three ladies. âThey were vociferous in their refusal to stand up, so I asked âAre you not going to stand up?â âOne said âIâm not standingâ, so I said âwill you just please leave thenâ. I was nice about it. âOne of them told me the coffee was rubbish and they talked deliberately through the National Anthem. They were grumbling all the way out. âThe teenagers in the tearooms were absolutely shocked and one of them said âthat was a complete lack of respect by those ladiesâ. âIf the women had been leather-clad bikers or youths, you would expect to call the police." Mrs Atkinson, 55, admitted the gimmick does make some people self-conscious â âand I understand that, but it is only meant to be a bit of quirky funâ. She added: âIf you donât want to stand for the National Anthem, donât spoil the fun and donât come into a tearoom dedicated to the British monarchy.ââ Mrs Atkinson held the Guinness World Record for the largest collection of royal memorabilia until December 2010, when a woman in Australia took her crown. She runs the tearoom with Ms Dodd as a community asset to draw tourists to Weardale and to thank the Queen. She said: âI didnât think anything of it at the time, but I have had the last laugh. âI canât believe it, but the story has gone worldwide.â Visitors from Germany, Spain and Australia have already visited and the tearooms will remain open until the end of August from 10am to 4.30pm, Wednesday to Sunday. http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/ne...of_cafe_for_not_standing_for_national_anthem/
Diverging slightly from the OP, I was born and bred in Sunderland Co Durham, and since the metropolitan district of Tyne and Wear was disbanded a number of years ago, I have reverted to using Co Durham as part of my postal address, which is perfectly OK with the postal services as long as you use your post code..
I wasn't aware that the district of Tyne and Wear had been disbanded but then again I'm out of the country most of the time. Ever since T and W came about ( forget the actual date) I've always used Co Durham in my address, why not, I am also Sunderland born and bred and I have nothing whatsoever to do with tyneside apart from using Ponteland airport on a regular basis.
Once they had bled the all the money they could from all the towns and cities in the area to finance the Newcastle infrastructure, there was no more need to keep it, so it was split up and seperaated into North Tynesyde, South Tynesyde, Newcastle, Gateshead and Sunderland..
I never changed my county. was born in County Durham, not Tyne and Wear. still address letters to my kids, Sunderland Co Durham, the letters always get there.
Born in Shields, Land of the Prince Bishops, Durham. Not some poxy excuse to give all the money to Newcastle.
