Gillam's Tea Room

The Gillam family has been trading tea & coffee in Ulverston since 1892, as the original sepia photographs on the walls of this friendly tearoom testify. At the bottom of the quaint cobbled Market Street, their current home is an architecturally interesting 18th-century building with flagged floors, a big black range belting out heat on chilly days, mismatched furniture & stairs leading to a beautiful, high-ceilinged dining room with marvellous windows. On sunny days, squeeze through a narrow corridor to discover the stunning terraced garden dripping with colour. The food is organically vegetarian, locally sourced & simply cooked: breakfast is served all day, sandwiches might run to Sizergh Kendal creamy cheese with Middlewood plum chutney, while the gloriously chunky homemade cakes are hard to resist. Pasta or fragrantly stuffed peppers are more substantial lunch options, with afternoon tea brining finger sandwiches, dainty cakes & scones.