Engleski A - 2024. jesen, reading 2.

There are few things more quintessentially British than afternoon tea, where pride of place is taken by a pile of warm, fluffy scones smothered in clotted cream and topped with delicious strawberry jam. Doughy, crumbly and still warm from the oven, scones are a staple in TV shows like 'The Great British Bake Off' and 'Escape to the Country'. Is it possible to have too much of a good thing?
One British woman combined her passion for scones and the country's rich historical heritage in a unique and quirky project that has been described by fellow Brits in terms ranging from "odd" to "funny in the head" but has been recorded in a popular blog. Betty Masters aimed to eat one scone in every single UK Legacy property, and she completed her decade-long 'odyssey' last week as she tucked into - predictably - a scone and cuppa with milk and sugar at a stately home in Northern Ireland. "It's all been incredibly rewarding!" said the 45-year-old travel agent, sharing her culinary achievement with a clutch of reporters from across the world, "I'm never, ever sick of scones!"

UK Legacy is a conservation organisation founded in the late-19th century that safeguards sites like castles, stately homes, beaches and acres of rolling countryside across the land. For their annual subscription of £50 per year, its 7.5 million members have a free pass to the organisation's many sites - as well as credit for contributing to the upkeep of the country's rich and varied heritage. The organisation is synonymous with respectability, volunteering and middle-class people who are choosy about the kinds of places they patronise and for whom membership is a discreet, even hidden, badge of honour. It was founded several decades ago, at a time when the luxurious world depicted in programmes such as 'Downton Abbey' and 'Poirot' was reaching its end and mounting running costs making the maintenance of grand houses and estates increasingly difficult. Thanks to its efforts, millions have been able to access these and other national treasures.

UK Legacy’s popular tea shops are a valuable source of revenue, selling over 3 million scones a year. What makes the scone its best-selling item and, equally importantly, is there a correct way to pronounce it? There are two schools of thought regarding what is by now a classic question. “Scone rhymes with tone!” asserts Jessica Taylor, a 65-year-old retired physiotherapist, in the tea shop at Broome Abbey in Nottinghamshire. “Don’t be daft, it rhymes with gone!” counters her colleague Pam Smith, 59, a part-time factory worker (who claims volunteering “gets her out of the house”), “She just thinks she’s posh!” It is a common misapprehension. In fact, there is an even balance in pronunciations across the south of England, though Pam’s predominates in Northern England and Scotland.
The gift of scone-making, both attest, lies in “cold cream, cold eggs – and colder butter,” although their tried and tested hand-me-down family recipes have marked differences: Jessica swears by sultanas and a pinch of cinnamon, while Pam confides that “half a cup of grated cheddar” is what makes hers special. “Scones are everybody’s cup of tea,” says Betty Masters, stating that a good rise is also important. What were her standout moments from her decade of research? She mentions a Christmas pudding scone in North Wales meant for the gift-giving season that literally vanished from the shelves. And at Andrew Carnegie’s birthplace in Dunfermline, there were no scones, but the millionaire’s shortbread won at a contest. We end our interview in a neighbourhood café with – you’ve guessed it – tea and scones!