Ambleside eatery serves up a slice of history (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Ambleside eatery serves up a slice of history

5:39pm Thursday 14th March 2013 in News By Stephanie Manley, Reporter

A SLICE of history will be served at an Ambleside restaurant this month as the owners celebrate a poetic bi-centenary.

Helen Abel and David Hallows, of Stampers Cellar Restaurant, will mark the 200th anniversary of William Wordworth’s arrival in the Lake District town.

The poet worked as a stamp distributor in the building which now houses the restaurant – something the owners discovered by chance.

Helen said: “When we bought the restaurant last year we just happened to notice the small plaque outside which showed the date Wordsworth arrived.

“To think he sat and produced his work in our little restaurant is amazing - it’s not very often something like that happens so we wanted to celebrate it.”

Leading up to the event, the partners have trawled through the journals of Dorothy Wordsworth – William’s sister – to find out what the man himself would have eaten.

The pair used the recipes to inspire their Wordsworth Celebration Menu, which will be served until the end of Easter.

It features delights such as William’s Hearty Broth, roasted chicken with a lemon cream sauce and cheesy apple pie.

Helen said she was surprised at how similar some of the meals were to what we eat today.

“When I first thought about doing this I thought people would not want to eat the food because it would be quite unusual. But some of the dishes you would look and think they were modern ones, although many were from the 1800s.”

And she added that it has been an interesting experience.

“We learnt quite a lot about Wordsworth – for instance pies were his favourite food. We also discovered things about the work he did here.

“To add to the experience our staff will be dressing up in period costumes.”

Stampers restaurant is on Church Street. For more information visit www.stampersrestaurant.co.uk or call 015394-32775.