Scone Spy: Traditional baking at Betty's Tea Room

SCONES – trust me, if I was on Mastermind they’d be my specialist subject – come in all shapes and sizes.

Big, wee, chunky, uniformly ordered and madly misshapen.

They also come at all sorts of prices. But your trusty Spy has never seen one costing £4.10.

It’s sheer madness. Somewhere charging that will never stay in business.

Hang on, this place might just prove me wrong – being as it has been around for the best part of 100 years!

It’s no ordinary scone emporium and, to be fair, this is no ordinary scone.

It’s a Yorkshire Fat Rascal, the house speciality of one of the most famous tea rooms in Britain.

We’re in Bettys in Harrogate. The First World War had only been over for a year when the founder, Frederick Belmont, opened for business in the spa town.

The Swiss confectionary proved mouth-wateringly delightful and it’s now just a mere two years from celebrating its centenary.

The historic building has been undergoing an external wash and brush-up since the start of the year, but the Tea Rooms and the Montpelier Café Bar are unchanged.

We’ve been in some classy cafes, but this has a fantastic sense of history about it.

And we read that the traditions are being very much maintained, with the family owners now in their fourth generation.

The Rascal has to be tried, of course, but not before a couple of rounds of sandwiches, one ham, one chicken.

They are delivered on a cake stand by our immaculately-uniformed waitress (think air hostess, not a hair out of place).

Both are sensational. So, too, is the slice of meringue with fresh fruit and cream that we can’t resist.

Betty's Tea Room, Harrogate — Betty’s Tea Room, Harrogate

As for the Rascal, well it was toasted on the outside, melt in the mouth on the inside, and packed with fruit and citrus peel. Fantastic.

If you do want a sultana or a rarebit scone, they are also available at £2.85.

You can’t rush a tradition like Bettys and as we sit at our oval-shaped marble table, we can see why it’s been pulling in the punters for so long.

There’s a never-ending queue on the stairs but Betty’s is the most well-oiled of well-oiled machines with everyone shown efficiently to a table, either in the main airy level we’re at, or the still-pleasant floor below.

And if you want to take something away with you – a more than perfectly reasonable desire – then you’ll find yourself spoiled for choice in their shop.

There are more than 300 breads, cakes and chocolates and 50 different teas and coffees.

We reckon Bettys will continue to defy time for many a long year to come as an afternoon – or indeed anytime – treat.

It’s an absolute cracker.