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Dining at The Old Hall

Join us for delicious evening meals, Sunday lunches or afternoon teas served on selected dates throughout 2022. We’ve got seasonal menus to suit all tastes, focussed around fresh and local ingredients. Booking is essential, so make yours by calling 01353 663275.

Our dining occasions are open to both residents and non-residents and we love seeing new faces as well as welcoming back our friendly regular faces. Whilst you don’t need an excuse to enjoy spending time here with us, for those couples getting married with us in the future it’s the perfect opportunity to sample our delicious food and drinks and enjoy getting to know the house before your big day. It’s also a great way to reminisce for those who have celebrated with us before and share your experiences with friends and family.

We look forward to welcoming you soon. 

Helping to tackle food poverty

We’ve supported local people suffering from food poverty by donating our surplus Christmas party food to Cambridge Sustainable Food. Due to the pandemic, in 2020 we were forced to close our doors under the then government lockdown rules, however this year saw the return of the Christmas party celebrations at the Old Hall Ely. Adorned with all the trimmings of the festive season (and no less than 22 Christmas trees!) we offered a selection of exclusive and mixed Christmas parties, traditional Christmas dinners and of course mouth-watering desserts!

Unfortunately, despite our requirement for Covid passes, the unpredicted rise of the Omicron variant of Covid and isolation measures meant that a small number of guests or companies felt unable to continue with their parties. With the food already having had been ordered, Mrs M couldn’t stand the thought of it going to waste and wanted to help those who needed it most. She said:

“We completely understand that some people felt unable to attend their planned parties this year. The Omicron variant wasn’t around when many people initially booked their parties, and of course the stricter guidelines for isolation would’ve been detrimental to many businesses if their staff were unable to work. We implemented stricter measures to protect guests and staff but unfortunately that reassurance wasn’t enough and some parties felt the risk was too high, particularly those in the health care sector.

However as we had already ordered the food for the guests we couldn’t see it go to waste. We were put in contact with Cambridge Sustainable Food, a local community support group helping those in food poverty. They rely on donations to ensure everyone in our community gets the support they need. We emailed their friendly team to let them know what we had and someone got in touch right away to arrange collection.”

"We’d like to say you thank you to the volunteers, we are very conscious about all of our waste, including food and are delighted we have found an outlet to help us work towards eliminating our food waste. We intend to continue to support the group going forward and would encourage all other local hospitality venues to do the same rather than let any food go to waste when people need it now more than ever."
Alison Morbey
Owner

Cambridge Sustainable Food is coordinating the emergency food provision efforts in the city in partnership with Cambridge Food Poverty Alliance. We donated prepared portions of pork tenderloin wrapped in bacon, Chicken breast and of course, Christmas pudding to be reheated and distributed those in need over the festive period.

Wonderful winter weddings

What a dream. We’re still reeling from our array of winter weddings, adorned with all the festive trimmings the house has to offer!

There are definitely advantages to hosting a winter wedding, firstly you can guarantee the weather. No. It’s not going to be warm, but you know exactly what to dress for. Yes, you are more likely to be able to get a better date than the busier spring and summer seasons and, of course, the added bonus of the included decorations! The house looks spectacular in the run up to Christmas, so whilst you might not want as many outdoor photos due to the temperature, the indoor ones will certainly be extra special! Seasonal weddings are also amazing as guests tend to be ready to celebrate, whether it’s a pre-Christmas event where everyone is fuelled by the anticipation of the big day or a January celebration to set the scene for the rest of the New Year and brighten the January blues, the guests certainly come with their own added enthusiasm.

This season, our stunning Brides really did steal the show (even with the competition of all 22 stunning Christmas trees!) and it was wonderful to see all of our Grooms dressed to impress! Every wedding we hosted this last month was incredible in its own way, with a variety of entertainers, colour schemes and décor it’s really hard to choose a favourite but I think it’s safe to say it’s really the amazing atmosphere made each one so memorable! We’re truly privileged to be able to share these amazing days and help make our couples big day as perfect as they deserve. Thank you and congratulations to every one of our couples, we hope to see you all again very soon.

If you’re thinking of planning a winter wedding, give our friendly team a call on 01353 663275 to book in a tour or find out more, we can’t wait to meet you!

Tis the season…

The festive season is definitely one of our favourite times of year, the house really does look amazing adorned with an array of lights, trees – a whopping 22 Christmas trees to be precise – and happy guests there really is no better feeling for us. After what has been a bit of a whirlwind year, with lots of uncertainties (thanks Covid!) we have been delighted to be able to open our doors to our guests to enjoy parties here at the old hall again with us, and boy, did we celebrate!

Christmas really wasn’t one to be missed, this year we offered shared and private parties on selected dates throughout December, with delicious menus, offering a selection of local, top quality festive choices (the most popular of which was definitely our Old Hall Christmas dinner, a whopping 162 portions were served!). For our shared parties our entertainment on the evening was an amazing disco, hosted by Cambridge wedding services and our guests could capture the moment thanks to Shaun Scott and his fabulous photo booth. We also saw some fantastic celebrations with our private parties, lots of sore feet and tired eyes were seen the next day from those who chose to dance the night away and stay in our lovely rooms. Our breakfast team certainly heard a tale or two!

What a way to see in 2022! New Year’s Eve was certainly a celebration too. I think overall everyone was delighted to see out 2021 and it showed! A delicious evening meal was followed by dancing until the New Year arrived! Thank you to everyone who made the evening so special.

Christmas at The Old Hall Ely 2021

With all that is currently going on in the world, it does feel like we may never party or celebrate again.

Here at The Old Hall, Christmas is our favourite time of the year, so let’s get ready to party!

Shared Parties

If you are a small group, our shared parties ensure that you get the full atmosphere of an exciting and entertaining Christmas Party.
Saturday 11th December | Friday 17th December | Saturday 18th December
£65 per person inc. VAT (minimum tables of 10 guests). £15 pp non-refundable booking and administration fee upon booking.

Exclusive Parties

We cater for large groups looking for private hire. Our exclusive capacity ranges for 100 up to 180 guests.
Dates available on request.
£65 per person inc. VAT (minimum 100 guests per exclusive party)
£15 non-refundable booking and administration fee pp required upon booking.

New Years Eve

To celebrate, we are hosting a very special Black Tie evening to see in 2022, in our marquee.

It’s the biggest night of the year so lets make it one to remember, with incredible food and entertainment.
£80 per person inc. VAT. £15 pp non-refundable booking and administration fee required upon booking.

Please either call us on 01353 663275 or email us at events@theoldhallely.co.uk to enquire further.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Pre-bookings required for all shared and NYE parties, due to limited availability.

Free Parking onsite.

Winter Afternoon Tea

We are excited to announce that we are offering afternoon teas, dinners and Sunday Lunches at The Old Hall this winter. These will run on selected dates, so do call us to find available dates and to book your table.

The menus will be changed daily and based upon the fresh produce available on that day.

Pre-bookings only. To book your table, either email us on events@theoldhallely.co.uk or call us on 01353 663275.

Visit our restaurant page for more information

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