Afternoon tea

was once an elegant occasion - sandwiches, scones, cake and tea.
"Ladies" dressed for it. Their hats stayed firmly on their heads as they held the tea cups in the approved manner.
I  thought of all this yesterday. Despite the atrocious weather we went out to afternoon tea. Our dear friend P....collected us in her car and we went off to visit her niece C... and C's partner. We had cake and cheese and biscuits and nibbly things and mugs and sat around the long table. When the Greek neighbours arrived we had more Greek food as well.
And everyone talked a lot.
But I also thought about afternoon tea. I make the Senior Cat a cup of tea for what would have been "morning recess" and "afternoon recess" at school. He doesn't eat cake or even - except on the rarest occasion - a biscuit with it. It is simply a cup of tea.
I know other people who grab the biscuit tin but the biscuits will be the commercial variety. There is an entire aisle in the supermarket which has one side devoted to biscuits. I have never tried most of them, indeed have no desire to do so. 
And I know C... is not at all keen on such things. She is one of those people who takes an intelligent interest in food. C.... knows her cookbooks. 
So yesterday I made one of the few things I can usually make reasonably successfully - a savoury cornbread. It has cheese in it. I have, over the years, experimented. You can add other things to it in a way that it ends up being almost a complete meal in itself. Yesterday I added courgette (zucchini), carrot and chives. I made two loaves - just in case one broke as I was turning it out of the tin.
Neither did. When it was cold I wrapped one ready for C...  I cut the one which was slightly overcooked in half and gave one half to P... so she could share it with her housemate B....
And the other half is there for us today. We won't eat it as afternoon tea but it will, I hope, be good with soup for our light evening meal. 
But I do wonder about afternoon tea. There are all those cakes and biscuits I have never tasted .... not the shop bought variety but the real thing. 
Am I missing out on something?