'Mummy, there's an owl next to my milkshake!'
A visit to Sheffield's most exciting cafe
Readers, hello! How are the summer holidays treating you so far? After a two week newsletter break I’m back. We have done SO much already and we still have four weeks to go, so I have lots of things to tell you about.
This week I wanted to share with you our visit to perhaps the most exciting cafe you’re likely to come across this year. It’s in Sheffield, so a good 90min drive from our house in Bolton, but worth it. Are you going? Have you been? Let me know in the comments.
This week’s adventure… The Steel Cauldron Flying Squadron Display
Full disclosure, I have a soft spot for Sheffield. I went to university there, met my husband on the student newspaper and several of our friends live there. So a trip over the Pennines is never a hardship.
As you may be aware, my 9yo daughter is a self-confessed Harry Potter nerd, and we have visted lots of places and attractions centred around the boy wizard. You can read more about that here:
So when my friend told me about The Steel Cauldron, a wizard-themed cafe in Sheffield that hosts regualr owl flyng displays, I knew it was somewhere she was likely to enjoy.
The Steel Cauldron is in Broomhill, a suburb handily right at the end of the Snake Pass, the road linking Manchester with Sheffield. Waaaay back in my student days the building was a frankly awful pub called Scream. Now it’s much more pleasant inside, and is decked out beautifully.
Teapots seem to float from the ceiling, skeletons peep round the corners and there are thoughtful touches for Potter fans everywhere, from the menu (featuring chocolate frogs) to the ladies loos (decorated with in sickly kitten plates, if you know you know).
You have to book in advance to attend the owl shows, and we were shown to our seats where we ordered food and drinks. Drinks come straight away, food comes after the owls to avoid any sandwich pinching incidents (or owl poo in your lunch, which my 5yo was most concerend about).
Then out comes the owl handler, a friendly and knowledgable lady going under the moniker of Professor Alba, and her menagerie of beautiful owls. Barn owls, tawny owls, a large Eurasian owl with beautiful, deep amber eyes.
Prof Alba intrduces us to each owl (Stephen, Zena and Twigs are some of our faves) and then sets them to fly around the cafe. Other birds of prey displays we’ve been to have been outside with the birds a fair distance away, but here they are swooping over the tables, their wings brushing our ears.
It’s thrilling to see these magnificent creatures at such close quarters, especially when Prof Alba puts a small speaker playing a chorus of tree frogs on our table next to the drinks. Her owl has been trained to hear the sound of tree frogs and associate it with food, so it swoops down for an owl snack placed next to my 9yo’s milkshake. Both the girls are enthralled, and further excited when the owl hops onto the back of their chairs, first one then another, getting ready for its next snack-finding mission.
There are plenty of opportunities to have a picture taken with the owls once the display has finished, and then the food comes out. The kids’ wizard teas, complete with miniature cauldrons filled with popcorn and chocolate wands were both adorable and delicious. Plus there are bacon butties for the grown-ups.
Finally, there is a a considerable selection of Potter and wizard-themed merchandise to browse. After spending the best part of half an hour gazing at keyrings, candles and posters I managed to drag my 9yo away. We then spent a lovely afternoon in a nearby park with our friends who live in Sheffield and their family, so it was an excellent excuse to catch up after a busy few months.
Overall we had a fabulous time at the Steel Cauldron. You need to book online if you plan to go and see the owls, but there are plenty of spots throughout the holidays. It’s an engaging and fun way to spend a morning, and one that kids will enjoy regardless of their Harry Potter affiliations.
That’s it for this week, I’ll be back in your inbox next week. Do you like receiving and reading this email (I presume so if you’ve got this far)? If so then please forward it on to a friend who might like it too. And if you’ve been sent this by someone else then you can subcribe by pressing this button:
See you next week,
Jenna