THERE has been a walled garden beside Helmsley Castle, on the edge of the North York Moors, since 1758, and basking in the sunshine at its adjoining Vinehouse Cafe, with the scent of sweet summer flowers on the breeze, it isn't hard to let the imagination drift back through the centuries.
The garden was built to provide fruit and vegetables for the Feversham family at Duncombe Park, and would surely have needed many-a-serf to keep its acres well stocked.
By the mid-1800s the walls contained glasshouses and structures for growing exotic fruits, and at that time there were about 20 full-time gardeners working within its walls. It was abandoned in the 1920s after the First World War brought devastation to the estate and its staff.
There were some later attempts to use it as a market garden, but it became derelict and may well have remained so but for the vision of local nurse Alison Ticehurst, who was looking for a place that could not only be a beautiful garden, but could also provide healing and therapeutic horticulture.
In July 1994, she found the garden an overgrown wilderness, and together with a band of friends and helpers began the process of bringing order to the jungle. She died in 1999, but her legacy lives on in the garden, which, as well as offering visitors the chance to escape from the stresses of the outside world, is now a charitable venture with strong community links.
The garden is well worth a visit, but is the cafe just as good? Oh yes.
The Vinehouse is an independent, family-run venture, and my sister I called on Saturday lunchtime in need of refreshment after a frankly underwhelming walk along the River Rye that involved a lot of stingy-undergrowth, and plenty of insect bites.
The spectacular, glass-built cafe was already busy with diners, so we grabbed a menu and chose a sunny table in the plentiful outdoor seating area.
Jubilee bunting was still up inside the Vinehouse Cafe
The menu changes with the seasons, and includes breakfast options, open hot and cold sandwich plates, and interesting hummus and 'Buddha' bowls with various fillings.
I was seriously hungry, and, inspired by the recent admission from England and Yorkshire cricketer Jonny Bairstow that he had a ham and cheese toastie for his tea during his astonishing innings at Trent Bridge against New Zealand, I chose the hot sandwich plate with Yorkshire ham and mature cheddar (£10).
The Yorkshire ham and mature cheddar hot sandwich plate - a proper doorstep of bread
It came with a good portion of onion marmalade and two side salads which featured a combination of cous cous, chick peas and cucumber, among other ingredients. It was a cut above the usual few cursory leaves which often accompany a cafe dish, while the sandwich itself was a thing of beauty. Doorsteps of white bread, perfectly toasted, with melted cheese oozing over thick slices of proper ham. Sadly it didn't quite have the Bairstow effect, as rather than elevating me to sporting greatness, I went home for an afternoon nap. Never mind, I live in hope.
Claire chose a hummus bowl with chicken shawarma topping. It came with cucumber, tomatoes, feta, Greek yoghurt and fresh herbs, with a flatbread on the side (£12). It was a good sized portion, clearly all freshly made, and chicken spices were flavoursome, without being overwhelming. The flatbread was light to the point of crumbly and mopped up the spare hummus perfectly.
A hummus bowl topped with chicken shawarma and flatbread
The whole experience – surroundings, food and excellent service – was a complete treat. Even though back in the day, we'd have probably been among the serfs working the land, we felt like the ladies of the manor, sipping our tea amongst the flowerbeds.
The bill, which included a marvellous millionaire shortbread for later, a risky purchase on a hot day, came to a smidge over £30 – very reasonable indeed.
Helmsley is not short of high quality dining venues, and the Vinehouse Cafe is certainly one of them, offering good, quirky food, in a setting which nourishes the soul as well as the appetite.
Ratings (out of ten): Food quality 9 Surroundings 10 Value 9 Service 9
The Vinehouse Cafe
Cleveland Way, Helmsley, YO62 5AH
01439 771194
vinehousecafehelmsley.co.uk/
Open Tuesdays, 10am-4pm (smaller menu as garden is closed). Wednesday to Sunday 10am-4pm, with lunches served 11am-3pm.
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