Sad news for Marlborough, especially for the tourist industry, as the Polly Tea Room announced its closure today, after 114 years….
The iconic tea rooms popular with tourists and residents announced it was closed due to rising costs. Blaming the cost of living crisis, a note on its door said “it is impossible to run a High Street business in the UK in these circumstances.”
It is unfortunate, I see it slightly differently. Of course, we live in challenging times, but I paid a visit to the Polly Tea Rooms last month. It was disappointing and not the same exclusive experience it once was.
The building was once the Half Moon Inn, which closed in 1812. The Polly was established in 1912 by Miss Jean Leath Hay and Miss Janet McCloud, one of whom had been a suffragette.
When my family first moved to Wiltshire in the late eighties, we acted like tourists and did the tourist attractions; including the essential trip to the delightful and iconic Polly Tea Rooms. Pensioners poured off of buses, stopped there on the way to Stonehenge, and spilled into the Polly. It put Marlborough on the tourist map.
As an urban teenager, I felt like Dr Who and had gone back a hundred years in time; the green carpeted creaky floorboards, the Victorian decor, teas in vintage teapots and selection of “posh”cakes, and impeccably well-mannered waiting staff in period dress. It was worth the extra coinage in comparison to other tea rooms in the town.
After decades of living back in Essex, last month, I brought my mum back to Wiltshire for a visit, wanting her to re-experience the delights of our county. Marlborough was hot on her list and included the essential trip to The Polly Tea Rooms. I was shocked to see it stripped of the antique decor, with a contemporary run of the mill coffee stand, American diner styled seating added to grouped tables, a lack of interesting cakes, and the staff, dressed in modern coffee shop attire, had the customer service skills of late night petrol station cashiers. It immediately felt uninviting, like any typical and commercial coffee cafe chain; one step away from scanning that QR code to order!
They had a reasonable breakfast deal, which ended at midday. We were on time by ten minutes to take advantage of it, as I had not had breakfast, while my mum, being in a hotel, already had and was content with a cake. But by the time we were served, midday was two minutes past, and although they honoured the deal, the waiting staff scorned me for mentioning it.
I did not want eggs, so they kindly asked if I wanted to swap them out, and I said yes. The swap out really tips my judgement on a cooked breakfast, so I was glad they offered! But when the substandard plate came out, low and behold, the egg was staring up at me. Without apology, they whipped that plate away and took a further twenty-five minutes in which to remove the offending item and return it to me, with no sign of the swap-out item. By which time the teapot was empty and mum’s cake was as much history as the ethics of the once proud Polly Tea Rooms.
See, if it’s the policy of an establishment not to honour breakfast item swaps, then though it won’t bode well with me, it is what it is. But to enquire if a customer wants to swap, and to then not bother adjusting the order, is the worst; the worst cooked breakfast crime imaginable!
We left rather disappointed, but being it was a historic establishment, I didn’t want to kick it while it was down, so, though tempted, it wouldn’t be fair to mention it here. But now it has sadly ended, I feel I must, because it serves as an example that anyone in the hospitality industry should not forgo quality simply because it believes it is safe due to tradition and/or historic interest or location. You can not rely on decades of historic tradition because people talk, assess, and spread word faster and more effectively than ever before in this online world.
Tradition is key in Wiltshire. It is highly important; if you have it, don’t rely on it. You must maintain it to survive. You must make the experience of visiting your establishment something unique, something either different, or strengthened by the traditions it once upheld, if it had one.
Polly gone, but some weeks later, I paid a visit to Tea Inc, snuggled in the Ginnell, a tiny back lane in Devizes. I wish I could have come to terms with the fact that just because an eatery is concreted into tradition, times change. Tea Inc is new, particularly if compared to the 114 years of the Polly!
I wish I would’ve taken my mum here instead, I will next time, because she would love it! The owners have no idea I’m writing this, I don’t do advertorials, nor do I flatter anyone, but this quirky little tea room is the ultimate tea experience.
It does precisely what The Polly should have done if it had any intention of staying around to round up its reign off to 120 years. Tea Inc is cosy, welcoming, and quirky. It has the single most unbelievable menu of teas, and by comparison with grabbing a bulk standard cuppa in a cardboard cup from your average coffee chain, it’s actually cheaper, too.
I was taken aback at how many different teas there are, and there’s detailed information on them all. There’s no teabags here, all freshly served with a glass, an appropriate filtered dispenser for the tea type, be it an insulated pump or a mini modern urn, and even an egg timer to tell you when to pour, for the most perfect cup of tea you will ever experience. They truly are tea scientists!
In 1966, the Polly Tea Rooms survived a fire, destroying its upper floors and giving it its bungalow look, but it seems it could not survive these challenging times.
Tea Inc. is everything the Polly Tea Rooms should have been to sustain its rightful place on the High Street, rather than confined to Wiltshire history as a memory. So, if anyone plans to buy and renovate the relic of the Polly, take a tealeaf out of Tea Inc’ book!
