Previous
Walker Hall Tearoom: the story of a stately manor with a rich, vibrant history.
Added: (Wed Jul 19 2006)
Walker Hall Tearoom: the story of a stately manor with a rich, vibrant history.
If the walls of the Walker Hall Tearoom could talk, what an amazing story they might tell. If the spirits housed within the Walker Hall Tearoom could speak, what tales of their own might they conjure up? This is a building with such a rich, 150-year-old history that only a thoroughly engrossing book could do it justice.
And that is precisely what author Patricia Boyle has done. She has taken the past and the present of this historical treasure in Beamsville, Ontario and made it the subject of her latest work, Walker Hall Tearoom: Hints, Haunts and Secrets.
This is a fascinating work of love from a Canadian writer with her own unique sense of style. The Walker Hall dwelling itself is something of a Southern Ontario landmark and it was the home, for nearly two decades, of Boyle’s sister Dale and her husband Rick Torch.
They bought the house in the mid-1980s — Rick simply had to have it — and, over the years, they transformed the historical residence into a home that also doubled as a popular antique-styled shop and eating place. As author Boyle coyly notes, the Walker Hall Tearoom enjoyed a life as both a derelict and a debutante.
There is much to enjoy in the pages of Walker Hall Tearoom. The story of how Rick and Dana bought the home on the southern shores of Lake Ontario. The courage of the United Empire Loyalists who moved north into Canada and who ultimately wrote the first chapter of the home’s life. The home itself, which was, at times, used lovingly — and at other times abused and abandoned before being finally saved from the wrecker’s ball.
And the people, the guests of Walker Hall Tearoom, who have warm memories of their own. And, last — but most assuredly not least — the delicious recipes from the Tearoom itself.
This is a truly delightful book. There is something here for the lover of history, for the lover of fine food, and for the lover of a story well and charmingly told. Author Boyle has done the stately old manor proud.
Walker Hall Tearoom: Hints, Haunts and Secrets
by Patricia Boyle
ISBN 097387651-4
$24.95 Cdn $22.95 US
For more information visit:
www.patriciaboyle.com