At the Rosemount Cottage Tea Room ...

Once inside the Rosemount Cottage Tea Room, we peeled off our glistening cagoules - I shook rain drops from my hair - 

The low ceilinged parlour was warm after the numbing rain - we'd just left St Michael's Church -

I remembered the pale flowers in a vase, the smell of the stone, the numbers of the hymns, 683, 258, 368 and 56 - 

In my notebook, I'd written I feel a sense of utter stillness and silence - 

Now I could smell lavender, lilies and beeswax polish - Northern tea brimmed in big black teapots - delicate plates were heaped with lemon drizzle cake - 

We gossiped and laughed - Julia showed us her sketches - Alyson said she's made me look like a grumbling shepherd with his Special Brew -

A glass case contained a Roman shoe - there was a bust of a young woman on the mantelpiece of a tiled fireplace - her eyes were closed, her expression serene and still -

Who was she, I wondered - why were her eyes closed? - I should have asked the courtly man who bought us tea and cake, but something stilled my tongue - 

14.25

14 July 2014

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Rosemount Cottage Tea Room

Burgh-By-Sands