News & Features

SUMMER begins this week at a Yorkshire Dales tearoom and guesthouse with two initiatives that draw on the mood of the times. West Winds Yorkshire Tearooms at Buckden in Wharfedale fully reopen for the summer season on Wednesday 31 March 2010 with special offers for overnight guests who want to
feast on locally sourced food, or limit their carbon emissions and
contribute to tree planting in the Dales.

The Best of Yorkshire Special Break includes a Luxury Yorkshire Afternoon Tea in the tearooms at West Winds � featuring the very best of Yorkshire produce and recipes � plus bedroom pillow chocolates made in a town nearby and a bedroom 'mini-bar' of delicious fruit juices from a Yorkshire orchard.

The West Winds Luxury Yorkshire Afternoon Tea is truly a Yorkshire feast with a three-tier china cakestand almost overflowing with sandwiches filled with farm ham and beef from Bolton Abbey in Wharfedale, Wensleydale cheese from Hawes, and local farm eggs, plus home-made scones served with fresh whipped double cream from Grassington, home-made and local jams and Yorkshire honey, plus a range of traditional Yorkshire cakes, with pride of place going to Yorkshire curd tart. There is even a presentation box of chocolate truffles made in Skipton to finish off with. The Luxury Yorkshire Afternoon Tea is available to tearoom customers as well as overnight guests.

West Winds aims to carve out a reputation for providing traditional Yorkshire food in an authentic old fashioned atmosphere while using local, organic, in season and Fairtrade produce wherever feasible. The Luxury Yorkshire Afternoon Tea introduces an additional note of gentle indulgence.

Stephen Hounsham, who helps his partner Lynn Thornborrow run West Winds, said: �Yorkshire cuisine doesn�t stop at Yorkshire puddings. We use tasty local produce and old, half-forgotten recipes to provide an authentic taste of the area. The Luxury Yorkshire Afternoon Tea has to be the ultimate teatime experience and is a feast for two to share, savour and linger over.�

Meanwhile, overnight guests keen to keep their carbon footprint to a minimum can opt for a Green Reward Special Break, which offers a substantial discount on the normal room rate, plus a tree planted in the Dales in their name through the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust. In return, all guests need to do is travel all the way to Buckden from their home town by public transport or pedal cycle.

Stephen Hounsham said: �West Winds is committed to playing a part in cutting carbon emissions, reducing traffic in National Parks and helping to improve the countryside for wildlife.�

It is actually very easy to get to Buckden using public transport and if rail tickets are booked in advance, the journey will probably end up cheaper than going by car. The nearest rail station is Skipton, from where regular buses depart for Buckden, stopping right in the centre of the village.

The Green Reward Special Break is available for two people travelling together and booking into a double or twin room for two nights, or a person travelling alone and booking into a single room for two nights. It costs just £84 for two people or £44 for one person for two nights. For each booking, West Winds makes a donation to the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust to cover the cost of planting a tree in the Dales. When guests arrive, they receive a certificate marking the tree dedication. Guests must travel all the way to Buckden from their home town by rail, bus and/or pedal cycle.
Full details are given at www.westwindsinyorkshire.co.uk/specialoffers.asp

The total price for a Best of Yorkshire Special Break at West Winds is £112 for two people staying for two nights sharing a double room, staying any time between Wednesday and Sunday, 31 March to 31 October 2010. Full details are given at www.westwindsinyorkshire.co.uk/specialoffers.asp