The Queen pops in to family café for lunch

Queen Elizabeth popped in to eat at Light Ash Farm Shop and Cafe at Bilsborrow, run by mother and daughter team Edith Morgan and Joanne Dewhurst.

The Queen’s party of 23 enjoyed a delicious meal of Lune Valley smoked salmon with creme fraiche and dill, fillet of lamb with cauliflower and Lancashire cheese puree, crushed new potatoes and seasonal vegetables, and apple crumble with home-made custard.

Her Majesty’s meal at the cafe came after she spent time at Lancaster Castle and Myerscough College during her royal visit to the area on Friday.

Edith and Joanne’s close family all chipped in to help make the Queen’s visit a special one.

They were helped by Joanne’s husband Michael, Edith’s husband William and their other daughters Michelle Dobson and Leah Loftus, as well as their husbands Gary and Ronald.

Gary, a farmer, provided the vegetables while Leah, who runs a florist in Garstang, came up with the flowers to decorate the cafe tables, and Ronald, a farmer and butcher, helped cook the lamb.

“We all met the Queen and each got to shake her hand, “ said Joanne, a former advertising representative at Lancaster and Morecambe Newspapers who opened the cafe with her mum just under two years ago.

“She was absolutely charming and really interested in the business. We were all hugely honoured and thrilled to have her, it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

The family was asked to host the Queen’s lunch after Mark Hudson, chairman of the Duchy of Lancaster, visited the cafe and was so impressed, he asked them if they would like to welcome Her Majesty as a guest.

The cafe and farm shop, which focusses on local produce and is located about half a mile off St Michaels Road in Bilsborrow, is housed in a converted barn next to Edith and William’s farm.