Another boost for village high street with cafe opening

A NEW coffee shop opens in Wargrave today (Friday).

H’artisan Speciality Coffee will be operating on a takeaway-only basis until the coronavirus restrictions end.

The café, which is at the former offices of Quantum Valuations and Talbot & Associates in High Street, will operate a paperless payment system. It is being run by parish councillor Nick Hart and his wife Sarah, who is a self-employed nutritionist. They live in Cockpole Green with their nine-year-old daughter Izzy.

The café will be open every day and the Harts hope it will become a community hub. The couple bought the freehold for the premises in December 2018 and received change of use permission from Wokingham Borough Council last year. 

The building, which is opposite Woodclyffe Hall, used to be a tea parlour and International Tea Stores in the 1870s.

The whole ground floor was a shop until 1986, when part of it was converted into a flat. In 1994, planning permission was granted to use the remaining retail space for financial and professional use.

The café is the second new addition to the high street in four months after the Daisy Love café opened in October at the former Robin’s Nest art gallery.