T HAT is a truly breath-taking view,” I remarkedwith genuine enthusiasmas I stood with David andHelen Harrison in the peace
and quiet of Scrabo Room, the latestaddition to their amazingly popularrestaurant and farm diversifiedcomplex directly overlooking theshores of Strangford Lough.
It faces west across the lough, whichat that moment was bathed in a briefsplash of sunlight on a cold wintry day,with white-crested waves marching inchaotic jumble the length and breadthof the unsettled waters.
The restaurant building with itsseemingly endless row of large doubleglazed windows offers customers of‘Harrisons of Greyabbey’, who comefrom far and wide, the benefit of astunning elevated panorama as theytuck-in to the very best of locallyproduced, home-cooked and bakedfoods.
The Scrabo Room has just beenofficially opened for group bookingsand is linked to the main restaurant bya glass door where lots of customerswere already seated relaxing inanimated conversation with food oftheir choice and this was just half pastten in the morning, midweek!
“This room can seat up to 60 peopleIan and if you’d like to try a seat you’llfind its super comfortable,” saidHelen, with a smile of encouragementas David pulled out a chair for me tosit on.
Sure enough it was everythingHelen said and it was plain to see thatthey’d gone to considerable trouble tomake sure the standard of comfort,decor and space was just right toaccommodate groups. As I was soonto find out this room wasn’t just a spurof the moment idea.
“We listen to what our customers sayand years of listening and acting ontheir wishes has meant that we’re intune with their needs.
“We welcome up to 200 groups eachyear mainly travelling by coach.
“In our six day week we’ve had onone day, at the height of the season, asmany as 1,000 customers visiting ourgift shop, plant nursery and of coursemaking ample use of our restaurant,”she added.
“It was clear from what we were beingasked that there was a real demand fora special room designed for meetings,conferences, special events andcelebrations like anniversaries andbaby showers.
David added: “We applied forgrant assistance from the DAERAsupported EU RDP scheme, which weorganised through our local councilfacilitators, Ards and North DownRural Partnership.
“Already we’ve accepted a few localgroup test bookings.
“The local UFU group held theirAGM in the Scrabo Room and we’veaccommodated a group from the localWI, including church groups.
“As you can see there’s a projectorfacility discretely suspended fromthe ceiling and a back wall to projectimages.
“You’d be amazed at the diversity ofgroups wishing to book, cyclists beingone of just many.
“Cycling clubs are coming this wayin increasing numbers and this is anexcellent stopping point for them,especially as we offer bike racks justoutside.
“We’ve already had one club hereand we offer them a self service coffeeand tea machine and facilities for themto relax before they continue theirjourney.
“Will you join us in the restaurantnext door for a special tea Ian,” Helenoffered.
Well how could I refuse!As we sat down in a prepared corner
table with a window-view, completewith table cloth, it became obviousthat this was no simple cup of tea asHelen quickly explained.
“This is to give you first-handexperience of a special tea party idea
we researched on a fact-finding trip toseveral of the top hotels in London.
“It was an idea to offer our customersa very special top standard afternoontea but at an affordable price, bookedin advance and held in our ScraboRoom.
“We tried just about everypermutation of afternoon teas, all atthe top end of the price scale, but asyou’ll soon find out Ian, we’ve gone togreat lengths to emulate, we believe,the very best, which we reckoned tobe the Ritz Hotel in London.
“We’ve added our own specialtouches as a ‘themed tea’ as you’llsoon see.”
As I was being told the backgroundto this delightfully pampered teaidea, Sharon Brown, their restaurantsupervisor, came over to greet me andbegan to lay out the table for four withnapkins, cups, saucers, plates, knives
FEATUREFARM WEEK12 FEBRUARY 08 2018
ruralreality BUILDING A BETTER RURAL FUTURE
Did you know?
Useful contactsq Rural Development Council028 8676 6980q Rural Community Network028 8676 6670q Rural Support Line0845 606 7607q DARD Grants and SubsidiesDivision 028 7131 9900q Post Office CustomerHelpline 08457 223344q Health Action Zone028 8772 9017q Farming Families Bureau028 7930 1003
THIS week I return toextracts from WilliamHugh Patterson’sdetailed updatedresearch into words andexpressions in commonrural use in the twomost north easterlycounties of Ireland inthe late nineteenthcentury. He wascommissioned by theEnglish Dialect Societyto produce the resultsof his works which hepublished in 1880 titled‘A Glossary of Wordsin use in The Countiesof Antrim and Down’.Continuing this weekwith words beginningwith the letter ‘T’; some,but not by any meansall of these words seemhave a correlation tothe English equivalentperhaps with a tweakor two by the mainlyScots settlers who usedthem every day. Thefirst example doesn’tbear this out which ismore of a totally pureEnglish-spoken warningin rhyme.“Turnips. ‘You may takeone,And you may take two,But if you take three,I’ll take you’.Supposed to be saidby farmers concerningpersons who take aturnip out of a field toeat it.Turn out the, sb. a termfor the Irish rebellion of1798 (which involvedPresbyterians allied withRoman Catholics).Turn spit Jack, sb. agame at country ballsetc, in which young mencompete by singing fortheir partners in thenext dance.Turn the word, tocontradict, or disputethe correctness of astatement. ‘I wouldn’tbegin to turn the wordwith you’.Twa, nu. adj. two.Twa hand boy, sb. asmart fellow.Twall, nu. adj. twelve.”
Over many years the title ‘Harrisons ofGreyabbey’ has become a watchwordfor good, wholesome, home-cooked andbaked food, so further development ofthis award-winning diversified family farmenterprise seems almost inevitable. Itcame as no surprise to Ian Harvey whenhe paid a visit to this extraordinary ruralbusiness that a new additional roomwith stunning views can now offer groupbookings for a very special afternoon tea,including events and celebrations!
■ AFTERNOON TEA: Just launched byHarrisons, this top of the range afternoontea to be served as a speciality in thenewly opened Scrabo Room is claimedto be comparable to top priced afternoonteas in the very best hotels in London.FW-1B.
■ CUSTOMER CARE:Clark Barnes, Harrisonsrestaurant manager, andSharon Brown, supervisor,ensure the smooth runningof one of the country’stop rural restaurants, withup to 1,000 people a dayoften visiting the on farmcomplex. FW-1J.
■ CHEF’STOUCH: ChefJim Merceradds the finaltouches to acouple of lunchdishes aboutto be servedto customersin Harrisonsrestaurant.FW-1Q.
■ COLOUR: Red cyclamenadd a touch of colour tothe shelves of Harrisonsgarden and plant nursery,just part of their award-winning and popular on-farm diverse business onthe Portaferry Road nearGreyabbey, on the ArdsPeninsula. FW-1T.
■ WELCOME: Described as the welcomingface of Harrisons, Amanda Gilmore strikesup a friendly conversation with a customerwho has just bought an item in the giftshop at the entrance to Harrisons. FW-1K.
An award-winning diversified fa“
and tea and coffee pots.They were print decorated, even the
table cloth, with scenes from LewisCarroll’s famous children’s novel,‘Alice in Wonderland’, depicting theMad Hatter’s Tea Party, a story mostpeople would know.
“The theme was our idea to makeour very own stamp on this specialafternoon tea produced by us.
Withthat, twoteacakeandsandwichstands were set in the middle of thetable, adorned with a tempting arrayof beautifully presented sandwichesmade from freshly baked soft whitebread with cucumber and creamcheese, smoked salmon and coldmeat fillings.
The second stand offeredmacaroons, mini Pavlova bases withwhipped cream and fresh fruit, heart-shaped shortbreads with cream andfresh fruit fillings, mouth-watering
chocolate covered buns with icinglettering saying ‘take me’, to namebut a few of the edible delights!
I didn’t need a second bidding whenencouraged to make a start, runningout of superlatives in-betweenmumbled mouthfuls and appreciativesmiles from the Harrisons.
“We’ve high hopes for this themedtea idea and already it’s creating a lotof interest from those who’ve heardabout it and the same goes for theentire Scrabo Room facility.”
At that moment we were joined byone of their sons, Andrew, and littleFreya, Andrew and his wife Victoria’sone week old daughter, fast asleep ina mobile baby seat.
Andrew is now fully involved inthe plant production side of theHarrisons nursery business with anincreasing interest in the staffing sideof their enterprise.
It wasn’t long before Andrew andFreya left us and I began to get anupdate of the entire business andjust how it’s moved forward, witha promised tour of the complex tofinish.
David, who is still heavily involvedin the nursery which had been goingas a plant rearing business since2000, explained that it was and still isa big cog in their entire system.
A recent storm had damaged oneof the tunnels and that had beenthe catalyst for a complete revampof the plant and garden section oftheir business, which is soon due toswing into action and hopes to becompleted by St Patricks Day.
Helen, who had formerly worked forthe National Trust, left it six years agoto come home to the farm to managea growing and successful diversifiedbusiness.
At the time Andrew started to lookafter what was then a butchery andfarm shop but two years later thebutchery ceased operations in favourof a giftware shop, which is now one ofthe main attractions since customerscome in from the extensive car andcoach parking, where manning thecounter they meet Amada Gilmore,the welcoming face of Harrisons.
Helen explained the next changes:“I was needed at the time out frontand by 2014 our eldest son Williamhad given up his banking job andcome home to take on the overallmanagement.
He’s introduced some really goodideas, for example, that buzzer yousee on the side of the condiments isfor attracting service attention andhis experience of IT and business isessential for our growth.
“His eldest, five year old Alanis,helps her Uncle Andrew in thenursery and he and his wife Susannahalso have baby Sophie.
David added: “Our middle sonRobert is married to Helen with a twoyear old daughter, Chloe, and he nowruns the farm growing 100 acres ofwinter and spring barley.
“His wife Helen helps in our bakery,which was established in the oldmilking parlour, the produce wesell through the gift shop and ourrestaurant
“Between bakers and chefs weemploy a full time staff of nine, withClark Barnes as manager of therestaurant.
Helen remarked: “During thesummer we have 50+ staff, all localand our entire team works hard andwell together, our student extrasreally seem to enjoy the experienceand we enjoy employing them
“We’ve introduced new menu ideasand this past year our Gourmet
Salads are going down really well andthe very latest addition is William’sidea – Harrisons Gourmet Home-Made Burger Meals.
“There are actually 32 variations tochoose from proving to be a big hitalready.
“All of this is aimed at passing on tothe next generation which as you cansee is already in progress. We aretaking more and more of a back seatalthough shortly we’ll be attendingthe big giftware event in the NECBirmingham where we seem toincrease supplies for our expandingrange of giftware year on year.
“Would you believe it, but peoplecome for miles around for our cardrange.”
I could believe it and a morecharming family one couldn’t hopeto meet who thoroughly deservedtheir accolade three years ago asrunners up in the Farmers Weekly,‘Farm Diversification of the YearAward’.
FEATUREFARM WEEK 13FEBRUARY 08 2018
ruralrealityLeading agricultural journalist and broadcaster IAN HARVEY looks behindthe scenes at rural community issues and how farmers are meeting thechallenge of developing the farm business and supporting the farm family
For more informationTelephone: 028 4278 8088 Mob: 07745 109456e-mail: [email protected]: www.harrisonsofgreyabbey.co.uk
■ POPULAR:Typical of alunchtimecrowd at thehighly popularHarrisonsrestaurant nearGreyabbey,which offers thebest of goodwholesome localproduce cookedand servedas one wouldexpect fromhome-cooking.FW-1Z.
■ SCRABO ROOM:The Scrabo Room,just officially openedfor functions atHarrisons popularon farm restaurantnear Greyabbey, seatsup to 60 for groupbookings to includespecial afternoon tea,meetings, conferencesand events. FW-1F.
■ HOME BAKED: Thebakery at Harrisonshas developed a widevariety of freshly-bakedproduce from breadsto cakes, macaroonsto tray bakes andmany popular treats inbetween. FW-1X.
■ FAMILY: Helen and David Harrison withone of their three sons, Andrew, and hisone week old daughter, Freya, invite meto join them for their speciality afternoon‘themed tea’ just being introduced intheir brand new Scrabo Room. FW-1A.
■ ON FARM: The Harrison family ofGreyabbey has created an award-winningdiversified business with a nursery,restaurant and gift shop on the familyfarm, employing locally and offering onlythe very best home produced foods.FW-1D.
■ BROWSING: A customer at Harrisonsof Greyabbey browses shelves locatedin a wide walkway linking the gift shop,restaurant and garden nursery, whichoffers a large and popular range of cards,not to mention candles, lights and manyother gift ideas. FW-1M.
■ CHOICE: Thevery well attendedplant nursery andgarden centreat Harrisons,described as ‘abig cog’ in thewhole on-farmdiverse businesscomplex, is dueto be completelyrevamped followingrecent stormdamage to a planttunnel. FW-1S.
d family farm moves up a gear
