American History. (Lincoln's Tea and Coffee Shoppe)

Lincoln’s,

Hingham,

Opening times Tue-Sun 

Big George, today's cycling guest, was already 15 minutes late for the start of our ride when I got his text telling me he would be late as he had a puncture to mend. I thought this a little ironic as the cycling guest top cycling tip he had offered up last time we went out was to put on thicker winter tyres to avoid punctures at this time of year, which he had done. I was now looking forward to what useless tip he would be offering in today's cycling guest cycling top tip feature later in the post.

When he eventually arrived we set off for a ride out to Lincoln's Tea and Coffee Shoppe In Hingham. For History buffs I had done some pre ride research and apparently Abraham Lincoln, the famous American President, had ancestors who emigrated from Hingham to America in 1637. If they hadn't Abraham Lincoln would probably have become our British Prime Minister or King instead of their American President, and Hingham would be our capital city, makes you think. Sadly there is no evidence that Abraham Lincoln ever visited the Tea and Coffee Shoppe named after his family. Probably because it wasn't opened until 130 ish years after he was shot.

President Abraham Lincoln who despite the Family connections
has never been to Hingham and is unlikely ever to visit as he is now dead. 

On the way out I asked Big George for his useless cycling tip suggestion for the new feature so here it is.
Guest cyclist top cycling tip No 4. In summer, to make yourself visible when signalling to other road users, wear fluorescent yellow or orange cycling mitts. 

This seemed a very good idea although it transpired that Big George only purchased his hi-viz mits as they were on special offer and not for health and safety reasons.

Despite not wearing his safety mitts today (as it was not summer and therefore too cold), we still managed to arrive at our destination in one piece.

Outside Lincoln's Tea and Coffee Shoppe in the outdoor seating area

Lincoln's have cleverly called themselves a Tea and Coffee Shoppe (no its not a typo) to give it an olde worlde feel. This is just the sort of thing Big George hates so we were not off to a promising start. Outside there is an outside seating area overlooking the green and inside are some comfy chairs by the door or a more formal dining area. Big George refused to go into the dining area as it looked too twee for him so we sat by the door.

The cakes were behind the themed Victorian style internal window so were a bit hard to see (or photograph). There were some nice large scones (cheese and fruit), one slice of ginger cake or red velvet cake. Not a big choice so not a big effective cake selection (ECS) rating. Although I did still struggle to choose between cake and scone but in the end went cake while Big George went cheese scone.

Difficult to photograph cake selection

I think we discussed the finer points of 19th Century American History and its impact on the development of Western civilisation, or possibly football, until our cakes and drinks arrived. The best thing was the warmed cheese scone which was very large and tasty. The red velvet cake was pretty good as well but was a little icing rich. My hot chocolate and Big George's filter coffee were fairly standard but decent drinks.

Cakes and drinks on table by the door

Overall Lincoln's Tea and Coffee Shoppe proved to be a good solid cycle stop if not of a style that Big George particularly approved of. 

The way back was uneventful as we kept racing each other whilst pretending we weren't so I was rather tired when I got home and ready for my afternoon nap. 

Ratings based on two visits to Lincoln Tea and Coffee Shop

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.0	6.0	5.25	6.75	6.0	6.00

Route

Click link to down load 34 Mile Norwich Hingham loop gpx file for your GPS

Proper job (Mad Hatters Tea Shop, Wymondham)

Mad Hatters Tea Shop,

Wymondham,

Opening times Mon-Thur 09:30-16:30,

Fri -Sat 09:00-16:30

Recommended 

Yesterday saw the 4th of my 5 ride winter cycle feast as I set off with today's guest Chris (Mrs Crusader) on a trip to Wymondham via Hingham. The plan was to go to the Bridewell Museum tea room which (according to my I-spy book of cafes and tea rooms) was the final remaining cafe needed to complete my Wymondham cafe and tea room set.

As an added extra to my winter cycling feast I had entered my first ever cyclo cross race on Sunday at Hempton cross near Fakenham. It was very enjoyable but a bit more scary and faster than I had imagined. I exceeded all expectations finishing a very credible 23rd out of 25 in the 50+ category. At one point I was even challenging for 22nd but he got away on the final lap. But then after a restless night  I took the difficult to decision to call time on my cyclo cross career. I wanted to finish while I was still at the top of my game. So to the shock of the cyclo cross community I announced my retirement from the sport on my Facebook page.

Today we would be sticking to roads and except for Chris whinging about how far we had to go before a coffee stop, we successfully arrived at the Bridewell museum teashop. Unfortunately I had made a classic cafe cycle review school boy error. Although I had checked the website for opening times I had failed to notice it is shut all winter. I decided we didn't have time to hang around until it reopens in March so implemented plan B. 

You may remember that when I was away on my search for Cake Crusader European cafe of the year 2014 back in August, that Chris had arranged a ride and review to the Mad Hatters Tea Room (see Rebel tour). I had not been convinced that the cafe cycle reviewing that had occurred that day had been performed with the necessary rigour and care. I had noted that each category had been awarded 7.5 suggesting a rather slap dash approach. This was now my opportunity to do a proper job.

Outside the Mad Hatters Tea shop in my still faulty gilet (arms missing)

On arrival we locked our bikes, using Alarmio, by the tea shop. There was one table in use on the pavement but it was occupied and as we were freezing we went inside. It is one of the smaller and cosier tea rooms but we found a space near the counter and opposite a wall full of tea pots.

I immediately checked out the cake selection which was very good and I felt a higher effective cake selection (ECS) score could be awarded than had be done by the rebel tour.

Excellent cake selection

I ordered bread pudding cake and Chris coffee cake to accompany her semi skinny mocha. Again I thought the cakes were excellent and deserved a higher mark than the amateurs had awarded. The only slight disappointment was my hot chocolate, which had a lot more hot than chocolate about it so I had to mark this down a bit on it's previous score.

Cakes and drinks, well presented

Chris, on the other hand insists on a hot drink being scolding hot and was very happy with the nuclear thermal temperature that her mocha had reached. Later I tried to fake sympathy when during the ride home she announced she had burnt her mouth on her drink, but I think she may have spotted my sniggers.

Overall the Mad Hatter Tea Shop lived up to it's previous review by my B' team of reviewers and maintained its place at the top end of my cafe ratings table.

Tomorrow is the final day of my week long cycling feast with a short ride out to Ranworth Broad. Barry and Helen and their Tandem are making a return for the first time since August.

Scores based on two visits (albeit one was by the reviewing reserves)

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
6.5	7.25	7.75	7.75	7.25	7.30

Route

Click link to down load 34 Mile Norwich Hingham loop gpx file for your GPS

Final Practice (Chalfonts tea room and coffee shop, Hingham)

Chalfonts,

Hingham,

Opening times Mon-Wed 09:00-17:00,

Thur-Fri 09:00-19:00,

Sat 09:00-17:00, Sun 09:00-16:00

Today was my last chance to have a practice ride with Big George before our bike trip to Paris. When I last saw Big George I had just left him on the side of the road moaning about a poorly knee and cramp (see Pilgrims Progress). However I thought I needed to make sure he was going to be alright for our trip so I arranged for him to be my guest as I went to check out Chalfonts, which is both a coffee shop and tea room, in Hingham. 

Big George told me he had been thinking about why he had performed so badly on our last ride and had prepared a list of 6 reasons. He went through his list, brakes rubbing, seat too low, yada yada yada. He didn't seem to have included on the list that he hadn't done enough training or the fact he needed to man up but despite this I still appreciated the work that had gone into putting his excuses list together.

We arrived at Chalfonts, which is both a tea room and coffee shop although it looks more like a cafe. It doesn't have an outside seating area so we went inside. I have been here once before but on that occasion we had a bad drinks experience so were hoping for better on this visit.

Outside Chalfonts Tea room and Coffee shop

Things got off to a good start as the cake selection was excellent and too large to fit in a single photo so I awarded a high effective cake selection (ECS) score.

Part of the cake selection that went either side of the till

Unfortunately the cakes looked better than they tasted. My chocolate cake was nice but a little dry. Big George didn't like his cherry cake but then said he wasn't keen on cakes with white icing so a rather strange choice considering the number of non white icing choices available. 

Drinks and cakes. Cakes once again served on the napkins rendering them useless

The drinks were certainly better than last time I came but still a bit on the weak side. Although not the best cafe I have been to, Chalfonts, which is both a tea room and coffee shop, was still a nice little stop and the staff were very friendly. I noticed the fry up inspector has also been here so you can also see his view here.

The ride back to Norwich was spent discussing the fine details of what we were taking on the Paris trip. Hopefully by the end of which Big George won't have an even longer list of excuses to why he rode so badly.

Scores for Chalfonts after two visits

Hot Choc Quality	Guest Hot Drink Quality	Effective Cake Selection	Cake Quality	Ambiance and Atmosphere	Café Rating
4.25	4.5	7.75	6.5	5.75	5.75

Route

Click link to down load 34 Mile Norwich Hingham loop gpx file for your GPS