The Shankly Hotel in Liverpool is the home of new BBC series A Very Northern Hotel. But what's afternoon tea like in the football themed venue?
Have you heard of Bill Shankly OBE? Honestly? We hadn't, although we're reliably informed he's the "greatest football manager of all time" by staff working at The Shankly.
We headed down to the hotel that's named after him to try out their afternoon tea.
Would it be a goal? Or a foul? OK, we'll stop pretending we know anything about the beautiful game and get on with it.
Afternoon tea at the Shankly Hotel, Liverpool
First things first. Afternoon tea at the Shankly is not for the faint hearted. Portions are HUGE, and this is high praise.
We were presented with an interesting selection of four different sandwiches and four types of cake - not including a scone with cream and jam a-piece, served with seriously good coffee.
The attentive, friendly staff were not phased at all but our last minute dietary requests and even made a separate plate of sandwiches for our two year old, a seriously nice touch.
See that Bakewell tart nestling behind the teeny jam pot and chocolate tart? That is the best Bakewell tart we've ever tried and we're still thinking about it now. Wonder how long it would take Uber Eats to get some along the M25 to us...
OK, there's no two ways about it: the dining room is football themed (see above). But this is worlds away from a sports bar. The lighting is low, the setting opulent and the atmosphere far jollier than one would expect in a fancy hotel. In short, we loved it.
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1 of 12Amanda Harrington
Amanda was already a little bit famous before the show started having won Miss Liverpool aged 16 and appeared in gentlemen's' interest calendars.
2 of 12Amanda Harrington 2020
Amanda's now the owner of a weight loss and wellness company called ZeroFat. She also seems to spend a lot of time drinking Champagne which we're quite envious of.
3 of 12Jodie Lundstram
In many ways the beating heart of the series, Jodie was a beautician and the creator of the Scouse brow.
4 of 12Jodie Lundstram 2020
Jodie is still a make-up artist and still working a powerful brow. She now has two little girls, Viva and Stella. She also owns a lash company and an aesthetic surgery named after her daughter, Viva Aesthetics.
5 of 12Debbie O'Toole
Debbie was another Miss Liverpool and the younger sister of fellow cast member Gill O'Toole.
6 of 12Debbie O'Toole 2020
Debbie is now an aesthetic practitioner (that's lip fillers etc to us) and living in Marbella. Lovely.
7 of 12Gill O'Toole
Gill was the older sister of Debbie. That's where her show role began and ended.
8 of 12Gill O'Toole 2020
Gill is now a proud torchbearer for the greatest of Liverpool traditions: curlers as daytime attire.
9 of 12Chloe Cummings
Chloe was the youngest of the Scousewives at a tender 20 when she started the show. She's the cousin of Abbey Clancy.
11 of 12Layla Flaherty
Layla wasn't Scouse or a wife, but sure.
12 of 12Layla Flaherty 2020
Layla now owns a dog modelling agency which is frankly our ideal job. She also made a brief appearance in The Real Housewives Of Cheshire.
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What is A Very Northern Hotel?
A Very Northern Hotel is a new BBC TV series about life behind the scenes in The Shankly, a hotel in Liverpool. It looks to be a right hoot.
Is A Very Northern Hotel anything to do with The Hotel?
Absolutely not. The Shankly is a far classier affair than Mark Jenkins' Torquay establishment.
When is A Very Northern Hotel on TV?
It's set to hit BBC screens soon. Watch this space...
Can I book afternoon tea at The Shankly?
Knock yourself out: www.shanklyhotel.com