Difference between revisions of "Mike Piercy meets"

From Lacey Green History

 
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'''March 2025'''The '''Red Lion Tea Room'''.   One of my friends from the tennis club was extolling the virtues of the Red Lion Café and Tea Room at Bradenham so I arranged to visit and chat to Lisa who runs the place.
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.'''Hallmark February 2024Lacey Green Village Store.'''  Report by Mike Piercy
  
Most of you will Know that practically all of Bradenham and its houses is owned by the National Trust. Back in 2017 the Red Lion pub fell vacant and the trust decided they would like to have a tea room in the village.
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It's been 6 months since the Lacey Green convenience store opened so | thought it was high time that we had a Hallmark article reviewing it.  Most of you will remember Clive’s disco shop, this moved to Stokenchurch last winter and the place remained empty for many months. Eventually the builders turned up in early Summer and began ripping out the innards of the building to make room for a bigger shop.  We watched with interest as the shop evolved, new ceilings and floors were installed and floor-to-ceiling fridges and shelves arrived.[[File:LG Convenience Stores Jun 24.jpg|left|thumb|link=https://laceygreenhistory.com/w/index.php/File:LG_Convenience_Stores_Jun_24.jpg]]Finally in June, lorry loads of food arrived and the shop opened for business.  The new owners had decided to join the Londis franchise but the signage hadn't arrived so the forecourt looked a bit sad with just a temporary banner.  Happily that has now been resolved and the proper Londis signs and window dressing have been installed so it looks fully professional.
  
Lisa Hunt has worked in the hospitality industry for years, most recently running a pub in Hurley. She decided that running a tea room would give her a better quality of life and agreed to take on the lease. She converted the building so it now has a kitchen and servery area with two rooms with a dozen dining tables. The ambience is warm and snug with subdued lighting and plenty of room between the tables. There is disabled access but the limitations of the building rule out full disabled toilets.
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I dropped in just after Christmas and chatted with the Manager, who likes to be known as Gumma. She runs the store with her two assistants – Harman and Priya. Her family have a long track record in retail and she was previously in a store in Uxbridge. Gumma has a strong sense of community and likes to Know her clients and chat with them – she seemed very popular when I was there!  The majority of her customers are local elderly residents but she has also a good passing trade from builders and workmen who are working nearby.
  
The majority of the clientele drive to the café and there is a big car park round the back. They also get lots of walkers as there are many beautiful walks around Bradenham – and dogs are welcome. Though most visitors are of a mature age, young families and children come too.
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I had thought that parking might be a problem, but Gumma assures me that she keeps an eye on customers and delivery lorries to ensure that they do not block the pavement for child buggies or children going to and from school.
  
The prime reason for visiting is the quality of the food. Lisa is very proud that all the items on the menu are home made and cooked from scratch. She employs a specialist pastry chef to ensure high quality. The menu features plenty of vegetarian and vegan items and the gluten-intolerant people are also catered for.
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Gumma told me that the shop is designed as a convenience store, selling top-ups to the big weekly shop that people may do at Asda or Tesco. he core items are newspapers, bread, milk, eggs etc.  They seem to have one of everything and have a very extensive selection of beers and wines at very low prices. She does a few local deliveries to her elderly customers and is thinking about setting up to do daily newspaper deliveries. She is keen to listen to her customers and has a little book where the Staff write down anything they are asked to get in.  The recent addition of hot food and hot drinks is in answer to customer requests.
  
In recognition of this the Red Lion was awarded the Best Cafe or Tea Room in Bucks at the Food and Drinks Award last October. Her loyal regulars had entered the competition without Lisa's knowledge and it came as a massive surprise when she won.
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Her plans for 2024 include reorganising the shelving and till area to increase the selling space available, enabling her to introduce more promotions.
  
The Cafe is very busy nowadays – even in winter, and Lisa recommends that you book your table in advance – especially at weekends.
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The store is open from 7am to 10pm 365 days per year so do use it as much as possible and keep this great local resource going.

Latest revision as of 05:20, 25 September 2025

.Hallmark February 2024. Lacey Green Village Store. Report by Mike Piercy

It's been 6 months since the Lacey Green convenience store opened so | thought it was high time that we had a Hallmark article reviewing it. Most of you will remember Clive’s disco shop, this moved to Stokenchurch last winter and the place remained empty for many months. Eventually the builders turned up in early Summer and began ripping out the innards of the building to make room for a bigger shop. We watched with interest as the shop evolved, new ceilings and floors were installed and floor-to-ceiling fridges and shelves arrived.

LG Convenience Stores Jun 24.jpg

Finally in June, lorry loads of food arrived and the shop opened for business. The new owners had decided to join the Londis franchise but the signage hadn't arrived so the forecourt looked a bit sad with just a temporary banner. Happily that has now been resolved and the proper Londis signs and window dressing have been installed so it looks fully professional.

I dropped in just after Christmas and chatted with the Manager, who likes to be known as Gumma. She runs the store with her two assistants – Harman and Priya. Her family have a long track record in retail and she was previously in a store in Uxbridge. Gumma has a strong sense of community and likes to Know her clients and chat with them – she seemed very popular when I was there! The majority of her customers are local elderly residents but she has also a good passing trade from builders and workmen who are working nearby.

I had thought that parking might be a problem, but Gumma assures me that she keeps an eye on customers and delivery lorries to ensure that they do not block the pavement for child buggies or children going to and from school.

Gumma told me that the shop is designed as a convenience store, selling top-ups to the big weekly shop that people may do at Asda or Tesco. he core items are newspapers, bread, milk, eggs etc. They seem to have one of everything and have a very extensive selection of beers and wines at very low prices. She does a few local deliveries to her elderly customers and is thinking about setting up to do daily newspaper deliveries. She is keen to listen to her customers and has a little book where the Staff write down anything they are asked to get in. The recent addition of hot food and hot drinks is in answer to customer requests.

Her plans for 2024 include reorganising the shelving and till area to increase the selling space available, enabling her to introduce more promotions.

The store is open from 7am to 10pm 365 days per year so do use it as much as possible and keep this great local resource going.