Popular Pleasley tea room debuts new 'English secret garden' outside seating area
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The hidden oasis behind Cakefield Cakes Tea Room which features almost a dozen new tables opened on Saturday, May 29 after owner Gemma Lennane wanted to expand their outside seating options after they were unable to reopen outdoors on April 12.
Customers can now enjoy the cafe’s popular afternoon tea outdoors in the new secret garden, complete with hanging baskets and trellis that overlooks the waterside which is home to ducks, geese and swans.
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Hide AdGemma, who previously worked for the NHS, set up the business in Meden Square in May 2019 after she decided to pursue her love of cake making as a full-time career.
The tea room specialises in homemade cakes, freshly baked scones, quiches and Ploughman’s lunches and turned to providing takeaway while the cafe was forced to close for months during lockdown.
"It was extremely difficult being closed", Gemma said.
"I lost most of my staff because obviously it just wasn't viable but we just had to diversify so we offered things for takeaway, we started doing our afternoon teas for takeaway.
"That went down really well."
The Cakefield Cakes owner decided to start refurbishing the outside space when Covid-19 restrictions changed – to allow hospitality businesses to initially reopen outside first as lockdown rules began to ease earlier this year.
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Hide AdShe continued: “It basically grew from the uncertainty of lockdown.
"We knew things weren't going to go back to any kind of normal straight away and we only had six tables outside.
"Customers have loved it, everyone that has come down can't believe it because it was never really used.
"People are really enjoying it, it's just so peaceful, quiet and it goes with everything that we are as a tea room in that it is somewhere to come and sit and relax and just waste away your day.
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Hide Ad"It just takes a bit of weight off really, we can't always rely on the wonderful weather but it is just that thing of when I go out now I sit outside because I just feel that you've got that bit more space and you're not inside with a lot of people."
Gemma has plans to use the new ‘oasis’ as a venue for small weddings and outside functions in the future.
The business owner also hopes her recently unveiled ‘English garden’ will give customers peace of mind when visiting the cafe, as they now have greater capacity to seat more people outdoors – hopefully making those still feeling nervous about lockdown easing more comfortable.
She added: "I think a lot of people are still quite wary of going out so in the long run it is going to benefit our customers, they are from young to old but everybody just wants to feel safe.
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Hide Ad"It has also given us that lift to think we can actually get back to where we were before lockdown happened and yes we can be better than we were before.
Derbyshire Times readers can get a free soft drink with each lunch purchased at Cakefield Cakes when presenting a copy of the paper.