These lovely tea rooms first opened their doors in 1913 and have remained virtually unchanged since the days when Sir Edward Elgar used to come here with his friend Troyte Griffith.

Troyte Griffith was an architect and designed the Toposcope at the summit of the Worcestershire Beacon, as well as All Saints Church in Malvern Wells. His offices were over the Abbey Gateway at the other end of Belle Vue Terrace (where Malvern museum is today) and he used to come to the Blue Bird every day, often accompanied by the famous composer. Elgar immortalized his friend in the Enigma Variations; the energy of the music apparently reflects the character of the architect, who was known as “the Giddy Ninepin”!

Most of the furniture in the Blue Bird has been here since the day Miss Hunt opened the tea rooms, so you may well be sitting in Sir Edward Elgar’s favourite chair. Clearly, the furniture was already old when Miss Hunt acquired it, as some of the tables date from the late 1700s.

The Blue Bird’s telephone number – 166 – has remained the same since its first appearance in the Malvern directory in 1914 (although over the intervening years a few digits have been added to the original three). However, the loveliest original feature of the tea rooms is undoubtedly the painting of the lady with the blue bird, which hangs at the top of the stairs. This was the original advertising poster for the Blue Bird Tea Rooms and we still use it on our menus and advertising today.